The roots of the Paxton name can be traced back to the lowlands of Scotland, near the English border, where a castle bears the Paxton name. Generally speaking, Paxtons may originally have had their roots in central England. One colorful story is that a James Paxton was among those who revolted against Cromwell, and that he fled to Scotland. From there, some of his descendants presumably migrated to Ireland when the plantations were opened there by the British in an effort to establish a citizenry on the island more sympathetic to English rule. In the mid-1700’s, large numbers of these Scotch-Irish sailed for the New World, settling in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
Botetourt County, Virginia was formed from the county of Augusta in 1769. The county is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the extreme western part of the state not far from Roanoke, and originally included several counties that were to become part of West Virginia. The original influx of settlers had a heavy concentration of immigrants from Ireland who were actually of Scottish ancestry. Among those were three men, believed to be brothers, bearing the Paxton name, who came from the Ulster Province in northern Ireland. There are also indications that another relative, perhaps an uncle or cousin, settled in Maryland. The three brothers are believed to have settled in Pennsylvania initially, with at least two of them moving into Virginia when Benjamin Borden developed his land grant.
The Paxtons were a prolific group, and followed the common practice of repeating family names through succeeding generations. As a result, several individuals of the same name appear in the same or contiguous areas who are contemporary with each other, but who are, in fact, cousins or even uncles. The resulting confusion over establishing parents, siblings and offspring will likely never be entirely cleared away.
For this reason, this particular volume begins its story with Abner Jehu Paxton. He was born about 1817 in Botetourt County, Virginia. There is, however, some debate regarding the indentity of his parents. There is some evidence, and many researchers believe, that he is the son of William Paxton (son of Thomas Paxton and Mary Plott) and Hannah Abbott. However, there are also indications that Abner is William’s brother, and not his son; a conclusion drawn by Dr. Burton, who researched this family extensively a number of years ago. I ascribe to Dr. Burton’s view, in large part because of marriage patterns between the Paxton and Elmore families involving several of William’s known siblings: Abner fits into those patterns perfectly.
In October 1839, Abner married Hester Elmore in Botetourt County. Hester was the daughter of William Elmore and Hannah Huffman. Abner’s sister Rachel married Hester’s cousin, Zedekiah Elmore; and Abner’s sister (Sarah) Catherine married Zedekiah’s brother (and Hester’s cousin) Joel Brounlon Elmore.The 1850 census for the county shows Abner and Hester living in between Joel Elmore, and Joel’s father, James Elmore; Abner’s brother William was living on the other side of James. Abner gave his occupation as laborer.
Apparently Abner was ready to move on, for sometime after 1850, he moved his family from Botetourt County and settled in Craig County on a farm within a few miles of the county seat of Newcastle. By 1860 he is shown as the constable of Craig County on the Craig County census.
Although rather old for a soldier, Abner served for the Confederacy. He appears on a muster roll for Company K, 22nd Virginia Infantry at Camp Lee, with an enlistment date of September 1, 1864. His commanding officer was Major Peyton. He appears on another muster roll for the same Company and Regiment with an enlistment date of September 18 at Winchester, under a Lieutenant Smiley. He then appears on a roll of prisoners of war received at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. The roll states that on September 22 he was captured at Fisher’s Hill and was sent to Point Lookout, Maryland. He was paroled at Point Lookout on January 17, 1865 and transferred for exchange. He was admitted to Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond on January 22, but he deserted the hospital on January 24. He reappears at the Wayside Hospital (General Hospital No. 9) in Richmond on January 28, 1865. There is no mention of what ailment or condition he may have been suffering which required his admissions to the hospital.
One family tradition states that after the war, Abner travelled to Kanawha County, West Virginia, near East bank, to visit his daughter Eliza and his son Cephas. While there, Abner is supposed to have fallen and broken his leg. Back in Virginia, Hester panicked at the news, sold the property they held at a cheap price, and loaded her children on a wagon to travel to Kanawha County. Supposedly, Abner broke down and cried when he discovered Hester had sold their property. Soon after, they were offered land and settled at Horner’s Fork in Clay County. The land had belonged to a William Paxton, which court records identify as Abner’s cousin. This William may have been the son of Thomas Paxton and Dicena Cartwright, who had settled in Kanawha County as early as 1820, and who would have been Abner’s third-cousin.
The children of Abner Paxton¹ and Hester Elmore are:
2A Sarah Jane b. 1837
2B Elizabeth A. b.c. 1841
2C Cephas Shelburn b. Apr 1843
2D Eliza Adeline b. Dec 1846
2E Caroline b. May 1847
2F Hester Leurinda b. 1850
2G Winfield Worth b. Oct 1853
2H Mary M. b. 1856
2I Harriet b. Oct 1857; d. 1932 without issue
After the death of Hester in January 1882, Abner married the widow of Hiram Samples, Elizabeth Hall. The marriage was performed by William Paxton, a Justice of the Peace, on December 16, 1883. Earlier that year, Abner had secured a deed to a 29-acre piece of land reaching fromTwistabout Creek to Dismal Creek, where he built a 2-story log house. The house was used as a barn in later years, and torn down in the 1930’s.
The last record appearing for Abner is dated October 1888, at which time he deeded some land in Union District to his grandson, William Brisendine. Abner doesn’t appear in the 1900 census, so presumably he died sometime between October 1888 and 1900. There is no official death record for him, but he is buried in Sams Cemetery near Procious in Clay County.
Second Generation
SARAH JANE PAXTON (2A)
Sarah Jane Paxton is the oldest known child of Abner Paxton and Hester Elmore. She was born about 1837 in Botetourt County, Virginia. She lived in the household of her parents until after 1850.
There are no clear records as to what happened to Sarah. Tradition states that she married James Brisendine (also spelled Brizendine and Brisantine) sometime after 1860, as she appears in her father’s household in the 1860 census. No record of the marriage has been found, however. James was almost certainly the son of Reuben Brisentine and Nancy. They appear in District 8 of Botetourt County in 1850, as did Sarah’s family, and by 1860 they were living in the Craig’s Creek area of Craig County next door to another Paxton family.
It’s likely that James fought in the Civil War, as he would have been of prime age to do so. He may well have been the James R. “Brisenine” that enlisted in Company B of the Virginia 28th Infantry on May 15, 1861, for the locale of enlistment was Craig County.
The children of Sarah Paxton and James Brizentine are:
3A1 William, b. Aug 1869
3A2 Cissy, b.c. 1870, died c1872
A certain amount of confusion surrounds Sarah, her children, and her husband. Sarah died on May 6, 1870. Curiously, it was a cousin that reported the death and not her husband. James may have died shortly before Sarah, for their two young children are living in the household of Sarah’s parents, and William and his grandfather remained close throughout their lives. There are, however, two alternative possibilities. One is that James died during the Civil War, and that neither of the children bearing his name are actually his. The other possibility is that he survived Sarah, but didn’t take responsibility for the children.
ELIZABETH A. PAXTON (2B)
Elizabeth, the daughter of Abner Paxton and Hester Elmore Paxton, was born about 1841, probably in District 8 of Botetourt County, Virginia where her family was living at the time of the 1850 census. There is another Elizabeth A. Paxton with the same approximate birthdate living in District 51 of Rockbridge County, Virginia in 1850; they are almost certainly cousins to some degree, as Botetourt and Rockbridge Counties were both formed out of the parent county of Augusta, which is where the Paxton patriarch established himself.
Elizabeth married her cousin, Samuel B. Paxton, a son of Thomas Bryant Paxton and Mary “Polly” Britts. The date of her marriage is uncertain, but it was not as early as 1860: Samuel was still living at home, coincidentally only one house away from James Brisendine, who is believed to have married Elizabeth’s older sister, Sarah.
They probably married early in 1861, just before Samuel enlisted in Co. Bo of the 28th Virginia Infantry. Her husband was wounded twice: once in the First Battle of Manassas in April 1863, and again at Gettysburg in July 1863. He recovered from his wounds to fight again in the Second Battle of Manassas and at Lookout Point.
After the war, Elizabeth and her husband moved to the Walton District of Roane County, West Virginia, for they appear in the 1870 census for the district. They settled there, and Samuel took up farming.
Elizabeth and Samuel had thirteen children total, eight of whom were still surviving in 1900. The known children are as follows:
3B1 John, b. 1864, died in infancy.
3B2 Charles L., b. 01 Oct 1866
3B3 Hester Frances, b. 11 Jan 1868
3B4 Maggie B., b.c. Apr 1870
3B5 William Silas, b. 24 Jul 1872
3B6 Mary “Mollie” Elizabeth, b. 24 Jan 1874
3B7 Wiley B., b. 09 Sep 1878
3B8 Ernest Dountain, b. 15 May 1883
3B9 Worthy Cephas, b. 15 Feb 1885
3B10 Phoebe E. b. 1887, died young
Elizabeth and Samuel both died sometime between 1910 and 1920, as they both appear in the 1910 census. They are both buried in the Paxton Cemetery in Long Ridge, Roane County. Some researchers show Samuel as the son of William Paxton and Hannah Abbott, as they do for Abner.
CEPHAS SHELBURN PAXTON (2C)
Cephas was born April 28, 1843 in Craig County, Virginia. His name might actually have been Josephus, as in later years he appears with his name in that form on censuses.[i] He lived on the family farm in the Valley of John’s Creek, working as a laborer, probably on the farm. When the Civil War broke out, Cephas enlisted in Co. K of the Virginia 22nd Infantry on October 2, 1863. He very likely participated in the battle at Droop Mountain, West Virginia on November 6, which was a a defeat for the Confederate forces. There were a number of skirmishes over the next year throughout the various counties that came to form West Virginia, until Cephas was mustered out about fourteen months later, on April 25, 1864 at Camp Gauley, West Virginia.
On October 18, 1866, Cephas married Sarah Jane “Sallie” Slack in Kanawha County. She was the daughter of Nathan Henry Slack and Mary Elizabeth Hall. Where precisely Cephas and Sallie went is unclear, because they have yet to turn up in any of the census returns for 1870. By September 1874 at the latest, however, they were living in the “Upper District” of Kanawha County, probably the Cabin Creek area, because the birth of their son John Henry is recorded there.
Cephas may have suffered physical problems, for rather than working his own farm, he worked as a farm laborer. There are suggestions he may have had liver or stomach problems. By 1900, he was renting a house in the Black Diamond precinct of the Cabin Creek District and working as a foreman on a nearby farm.
The children of Cephas Shelburn Paxton and Sarah Slack Paxton are:
3C1 William Worth, b. 26 Jul 1868
3C2 Samuel A., b. 01 Oct 1870, died 04 Jul 1892
3C3 Mary Elizabeth, b. 20 Nov 1872
3C4 John Henry, b. 20 Sep 1874
3C5 Hester Ann “Hettie”, b. 25 Mar 1877
3C6 Josephus “Cephas” Shelburn, Jr., b. 09 Jan 1879
3C7 Virgie Harriet, b. 12 Mar 1882
3C8 Sarah Catherine, b. 25 Apr 1883
3C9 Maggie A., b. 27 Jul 1885
3C10 Julia Adeline, b. 25 Nov 1887
According to the “Virginia Regimental Histories Series” which is an online database compiled from a variety of military records sources, Cephas died on January 1, 1918 in Kanawha County. He is believed to have survived his wife, with some researchers placing Sarah’s death in 1910.
ELIZA ADELINE PAXTON (2D)
Eliza was born to Abner and Hester Paxton on December 20, 1846 in Craig County, Virginia. She lived on the family farm while her father fought for the Confederacy, and moved with her family into what became West Virginia after the war. On June 29, 1865 she married (James) Henry Moore, who was the son of Franklin Moore and Adeline Unknown.
The couple lived in the Cabin Creek District of Kanawha County, where Henry worked as a farm laborer. Over the next few years, Henry gave up farming and began working in the coal mines, and the couple eventually bought a house in Cabin Creek.
The children of Eliza Paxton Moore and Franklin Moore are:
3D1 Octavia Frances, b. 27 Mar 1866
3D2 Lorena Belle, twin, b. 17 Oct 1867
3D3 Nancy Louise “Nannie”, twin, b. 17 Oct 1867
3D4 Emma, b. Nov 1870 believed to have died before 1880
3D5 Enos Franklin, b. 11 Nov 1873
3D6 John Richard, b. 16 Jul 1874
3D7 Mollie Susan, b. 12 May 1876
3D8 Edith Edwards, b. 30 Sep 1878
3D9 Anna Eliza, b. 12 Dec 1881
3D10 Fannie J., b. 12 Apr 1883
3D11 William Robert, b. 09 Aug 1885
Some researchers place Henry’s death in October 1909; in any case, by 1910 Eliza appears as the head of the household and is shown as being widowed. He was survived by Eliza for several years. She died sometime before 1920, possibly in 1919.
CAROLINE PAXTON (2E)
Caroline was born in May 1847 in Craig County, Virginia. She lived on the family farm, and moved with them into Clay County after the Civil War. On June 11, 1867 she married William Remley Dodd in neighboring Roane County. He was the son of William C. and Malinda (Skaggs) Dodd. The young couple settled in Roane County, where William farmed.
Caroline and William continued to live in the Walton District of Roane County. It was there that she contracted some illness and died of “fever” when she was only thirty six years old. Caroline died on March 12, 1883—just twelve days before her mother-in-law would pass away.
The children of Caroline Paxton and William Dodd are:
3E1 William J., b. 10 Apr 1868
3E2 Mary Ellen, b. 11 May 1871
3E3 Laura Alice, b. Oct 1873
3E4 Marthy Eveline, b. 19 Nov 1875
3E5 Malinda Hester, b. 02 Dec 1879
3E6 Harriet Lou, b. 16 Nov 1880
After Caroline’s death, William remarried. The name of his second wife was Matilda Gibson, the daughter of James B. Gibson and Mary “Polly” Ross Hobbs. They continued to live on William’s farm in Roane County until they reached an advanced age.
For the record, the children of William Dodd and Matilda (Gibson) Dodd are:
Both William and Matilda died sometime after 1930, as the census for that year shows them living in the household of daughter Lessie (Dodd) Taylor in Charleston.
HESTER LEURINDA PAXTON (2F)
Hester was born near New Castle in Craig County, Virginia on May 8, 1851. She lived with her parents on the family farm, and by all accounts was a colorful character. In her late teens, Hester had a liaison with Robert Owen “Bob”Samples, who was the son of John W. Samples and Roseanna (Jarrett) Samples. The result of this relationship was a son, nicknamed Hugh.
Hester apparently had a fondness for another of the Samples boys, because a few years later she produced another son, known as Dave, who was fathered by Samuel W. “Short Sam” Samples. Sam was the son of Jesse Alexander Samples and Malinda (Unknown) Samples. Both of these boys were raised in their early years by Hester’s parents.
Hester apparently decided to settle down, for about 1876, she married Henry Taylor Burdette. He was the son of Daniel and Susan (Johnson) Burdette and had been born in became Nicholas County, West Virginia after the Civil War.
Henry had the reputation of having quite a temper and being willing to fight at the drop of a hat, and she was known to have an extreme fondness for smoking a pipe. The couple settled down on a farm in the Union District of Clay County, not far from Hester’s parents. Apparently, Henry’s stepsons joined them, at least on an occasional basis, for they appear in the household under Henry’s surname in the 1880 census.
The children of Hester Leurinda Paxton are:
3F1 Abner John “Jehu, Hugh” Samples, b. 15 Feb 1870, son of Robert Owen Samples
3F2 George David “Dave” Samples, b. 11 Jan 1873, son of Samuel “Short Sam” Samples
The children of Hester and Henry Burdette are:
3F3 Mary Mandy, b. 18 May 1877
3F4 William Cephas, b. Oct 1878
3F5 Adam Webster, b. 05 Mar 1880
3F6 Henry Patrick, b. 27 Feb 1885
3F7 Eliza Ann, b. 07 Apr 1887
3F8 Emma May, b. 12 Aug 1892
3F9 Unknown Child, died young
Hester spent the rest of her life in Union District, dying there on April 10, 1926 after battling influenza for several months. She was buried in Sam’s Cemetery. She was survived by Henry for several years. He died on February 4, 1931.
WINFIELD WORTH PAXTON (2G)
Known as Worth, Winfield Worth was born on October 6, 1853 near New Castle in Craig County, Virginia. He joined his family in the Union District of Clay County after the Civil War, helping his father Abner work the farm. He moved with the family into Clay County, West Virginia after the Civil War, but didn’t remain at home long. Family members state that Worth was working as a lumber spotter for a lumber company, and that he travelled quite a bit through neighboring counties, especially Fayette. It is likely that it was during this travelling that he met his future wife, as her family lived there.
On April 27, 1871 Worth married Malinda Pyrena “Rena” Burnside in Kanawha County. She was the daughter of George Alexander Burnside, Sr. and Julia A. Woodrum, who had moved to Fayette County from Mercer County, Virginia after the Civil War.
It’s unclear why they were married in Kanawha County, or where precisely Rena was living in the years just prior to her marriage. Her elderly parents had moved into the home of one of their sons prior to 1870, but Rena was not with them. By 1880, however, Worth and Rena were living in Fayetteville, where Worth’s occupation is listed as farming.
Sometime in the next several years, Worth moved his family back into Clay County. He was renting a farm in the Henry District by 1900. Next door lived his daughter Laura, and her husband. Perhaps as he aged farming grew to be too difficult, for in the next few years he moved out of Henry and to the town of Ivydale in Henry District and began working in a grist mill. His daughter Laura and her family moved with them, and her husband took a job with the railroad.
There is no record on file for Rena’s death; family members place it late in the year of 1910. Worth took a second wife, an Isabelle “Belle” Malinda Weaver. She had previously been married to a Moore and a Belcher. According to the family, the new couple only lived together for a week or so before separating. Family belief is that a divorce was never filed, the couple simply lived the rest of their lives separately. They had no children.
The children of Worth and Rena are:
3G1 Charles Abner, b. 12 Jun 1872
3G2 Laura Belle, b. 12 Aug 1874
3G3 John Riley, b. 18 Aug 1878
3G4 Alonzo Shelburn, b. 15 Jul 1881
3G5 Harris Leonard “Clyde”, b. 17 Jan 1884
3G6 Barbara Ellen, b. 07 Apr 1886, died 1895
3G7 Robert Henry, b. 19 Nov 1888
3G8 Bertha Harriet, b. 07 Mar 1891
3G9 Jesse Howard Patterson, b. 11 May 1895
3G10 Unknown Child
Rena died sometime late in 1910 or in early 1911. No death record has yet been found for her, although some researchers confuse her with Worth’s second wife, an Isabelle Malinda who was born about 1855 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and who died in 1942.Later in life, Worth moved in with his youngest son, (Jesse) Howard, where he remained until his death on December 17, 1931.
MARY M. PAXTON (2H)
Mary M. Paxton was born in 1856 near New Castle in Craig County Virginia, on the farm of her parents, Abner and Hester (Elmore) Paxton. She appears to have moved with the family into Clay County, West Virginia, although she is strangely absent from the 1870 census. Perhaps she was visiting relatives at that time, which may have been likely as she gave birth to a son in November of that year, who was fathered by Alex Samples. In any case, she doesn’t resurface in any “official” records until 1879, when she married Adam Procious on May 29. He was the son of William and Catharine (Unknown) Procious and had been born in Mahoning Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania in 1845. Adam was previously married to Elizabeth Furlong, daughter of Reuben and Nancy (Unknown) Furlong, by whom he had at least two children: Anne and William W.
Mary and her husband settled into farming in Union District, living nearby to several families to whom Mary had connections, including Burdette, Blakeney and Samples. They remained on the farm, and Adam appears to have died sometime before 1900, as Mary is shown as the widowed head of household, presumably sometime after 1890, as they had a child born early in 1891.
Despite the fact that Mary appears to have lived virtually her entire life in Clay County, records are spotty. The 1900 and 1910 censuses are consistent in that Mary had a total of twelve children, although the 1900 census shows only five still living, and the 1910 census indicates six. However, to date, vital records have only been located for eight of those children. The children of Mary (Paxton) Procious and Alex Samples are:
3H1 Floyd Jacob Samples, b. 30 Nov 1870, fathered by Alex Samples*
The known children of Mary (Paxton) Procious and Adam Procious are:
3H2 Lilly Belle, b. 27 Nov 1880, died in infancy
3H3 Irvin, b. 27 Dec 1882, died 1883
3H4 Donna, b. 12 Dec 1883
3H5 Vernella “Nilly”, b. 17 Oct 1885
3H6 Daisy, b. 24 Sep 1886
3H7 Minnie Dahlia, b. 24 Jan 1889
3H8 Lola H., b. 12 Mar 1891
Adam appears to have died sometime between 1891 and 1900. He was survived for several years by Mary, who continued on the farm until at least 1910. When Mary died is unclear, for she doesn’t appear in the 1920 census, and as yet no death record has been found in her name, nor is there any indication that she remarried.
*The death certificate of Floyd Jacob Samples lists his parents as Mary Procious and Alex Samples. The Alex referred to was likely Alexander, the son of Andrew M. and “Avaline” Samples who were living in Union Dist. In 1870, even though Alex would only have been in his early to mid-teens at the time.
Note: Superscripts and source notations have been removed from webpage version.
WINFIELD WORTH PAXTON (2G)