Whittle-Keeth Families...

​(Unknown publication date)

​​​Missouri had many acres in the Green river valley in 1826. Frederick Kinser died in 1833 leaving his lands and holdings to his wife and children. Susan Kinser Whittle was one of his heirs and she was awarded 100 acres upon his death. She and Joseph Whittle lived on this land and most of their children were born there. I believe they left Kentucky and came to Miller County about 1845.

The children of Joseph and Susanna Whittle were: Nancy, born ca 1820 married Isaac Cross 1841; Lucinda born ca 1824 married John Allen 1840; John Levi born ca 1825 married Nancy Jane Keath 1849; Catherine born ca 1828 married John Keath; Ann Eliza born ca 1834 married 1) Jonathan Allen 2) Nicholas Long; Peter J. born ca 1834 married Serilda Hoskins. There may have been other children who died young.

John Levi Whittle, the oldest son of Joseph and Susanna (Kinser) Whittle, was my great, great grandfather. He was born circa 1825 in Edmonson Co., Kentucky. He was a young man when his family moved to Miller County. On January 2, 1850, he married Nancy Jane Keath in Miller County. She was a daughter of John and Ruhanna (Allen) Keath also of Edmonson Co., Kentucky. Nancy Jane was born in Kentucky circa 1832. In the 1850 census of Miller Co., the Keath and Whittle farms were adjoining. On October 6, 1847, Nancy's brother, John Keath, married Catherine Whittle, a sister to John Levi. The family name of Keeth has been spelled Keith, Keath, and Keeth in the various records I researched.

John and Ruhanna (Allen) Keeth, parents of Nancy Jane and John, were natives of Virginia. Ruhanna was the second wife of John and he was many years older than she. He first married her sister and had several children. After the death of his first wife, he then married Ruhanna and they had five children. I believe John Keath fathered at least 14 children by his two wives. John Keath and Ruhanna Allen (daughter of Stephen Allen and Sarah Radford) were married in Warren County, Kentucky on November 23, 1820. I believe John Keath died in Edmonson County, Kentucky and his wife, with several of the children, accompanied the Whittle family to Miller County in the mid 1840's.

The known children of John Keath/Keeth included: John Keeth who married Catherine Whittle; Nancy Jane Keeth married John Levi Whittle; Daniel Keeth married Susan Hoskins; Soloman Keeth married Mary Ellen Bourne/Boren; Francis Marion Keeth married Sarah Smith Shelton; Lucinda Keeth married Alexander Long; and Sarah Keeth married Joshua D. Cochran.

John Levi Whittle, son of Joseph and Susanna (Kinser) Whittle married Nancy Jane Keath, daughter of John and Ruhanna (Allen) Keeth, in Miller County on January 2, 1850. They homesteaded land in southern Richwoods Township. There they produced 4 children: Josephus born 8 Sep 1856 married Leatha Jane Loveall; Analize born 8 Mar 1858 (died young); Elizabeth born 29 Aug 1860 married Seth Robinson; and Delila T. born 15 Feb 1863 (she was a deaf-mute who never married).

During the Civil War, John Levi Whittle was killed in what was called the 'Elsey farm fight' east of Iberia. It was the only recorded civil war battle in the county. He was buried near the spot where he died and today it is called the Billingsley cemetery. After his death, Nancy Jane married Thomas Owen Workman, a circuit-riding preacher who helped to establish several churches in central Missouri. She had 4 children by Owen including: Richard E. born ca 1869 married Sarah Cochran; James Melvin born 1872 married 1) Violet Stout 2) Elizabeth Steen Spearman; Theodore Benton born 1875 married Elizabeth Loveall; and Paradine born 1866 married Edward Stout.

Josephus Whittle, son of John Levi and Nancy Jane, married Leatha Jane Loveall, daughter of Silas and Amanda (Colvin) Loveall, on August 29, 1878. They continued to live on the Whittle land that his father homesteaded in 1850 and reared a large family. Their children were: James Levi born 1879-died young; Silas A., born ca 1880-died young; Lallah Brooks born 23 Nov 1883 married Frank Andrews; Carrie Gertrude born 18 Jan 1886 married Perry T. Wyrick; Olia Rayford born 6 Nov 1888 married Fannie Jane Luttrell; Arlie Everett born 1890 married Ida Johnson; Bertha Irene born 1894 married Nicholas Shelton; Amanda Elizabeth born 4 Sep 1896 married Chesley Sylvester Wyrick; Otto born 1900 married Sarah Stone; Sylvia Alice born 1904 married Ransome Alexander; and John Wilburn born 1907 married Lois Stites.
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NOTE: My grandparents were Amanda Elizabeth Whittle and Chesley Sylvester Wyrick...(Peggy)

There are many descendants of the Whittle/Keeth families still living on land that was homesteaded by their ancestors almost 150 years ago. Edmonson County, Kentucky is a beautiful land. The Green river valley is rich in corn and tobacco fields and beautiful Mammoth Cave is situated there. One might wonder why these ancestors left this beautiful land and moved on westward into the unknown. I once read a passage that said..."Every man is a modern-day Moses; he hopes to see the Promised Land in his own lifetime."

Perhaps this was the inspiration which drove our ancestors into these new lands in search of a greener valley or a clearer stream. An early Kentucky writer said in 1831..."I found a race of proud optimists, an ardent, boastful, and enthusiastic breed of people, who made a religion of their politics and a creed of their hospitality."....they did not hesitate to venture onward toward a new adventure!