Ballard County, Kentucky

Families
       Alsay Ann MEREDITH was born September 15, 1818.  Information from different Census years, and from Death Certificates of four of her children, give conflicting information about the State of her birth.  It is known that her mother was named Mary because Mary Meredith is on the 1850 Census of Graves County, KY, living in the household of Richard and Alsay.

       No marriage record has been found for Richard and Alsay.  They first appear on the 1840 Census of Wayne County, TN, living near several Middleton households.  They are shown with 1 son age 5 to 10, and a son and a daughter both under age 5.  Two of their next four children claimed they were born in Perry County, TN, so the family may have spent a few years there between 1840 and 1848.

       Some Middleton researchers believe that Jordan Middleton who married Telitha GOODMAN and that Catherine Middleton who married Lemuel Goodman were siblings of Richard.  Again, there is no documented proof.  Although Lemuel and Catherine Middleton GOODMAN appear to have traveled from Wayne County, TN, to Graves County, KY with Richard and Alsay Middleton.

       By the 1850 Census, Richard and Alsay are in Graves County, KY with 6 children: William B., Susan Elizabeth, Henry Robert, Hanson A., Richard Greenberry, Jr and Mary C.   Also in their household is Alsay's widowed mother, Mary Meredith, who is shown as being 74 years old and born in NC.  The oldest son from the 1830 Census is not with them.  They appear to have only arrived in KY in 1849 or 1850, as their daughter Mary was born in TN in 1849.

       The 1860 Census shows Richard farming in the Cobbs District of Ballard County, KY.  He and Alsay have had four more daughters, Malinda Jane, America A., Sarah Lyla, and Ellen Oliver, and another son George B.  Their two oldest children have married and started families.  It is assumed that Alsay's mother has died as she is no longer in the household.

       The Civil War brought upheaval to the family of Richard and Alsay, as it did to most families of the time.  According to the book, "Ballard's Brave Boys", by M. Juliette Magee, two of the Middleton sons fought in the War. 

       Hanson A. Middleton enlisted and fought with the Confederacy but his Unit and service record is unknown. 

       William Benjamin (Ben) Middleton enlisted April 27, 1864 in Co. F, 3rd KY. Mounted Regiment.  He fought under General Nathan Bedford Forest.  Ben was wounded in Battle of Tishomingo Creek, Mississippi on June 10, 1864, when he was shot in the foot.  He could not walk for over a year, and was allowed to return to his home in Kevil.  He was a 4th Corporal.  He took the Oath of Loyalty in Paducah after the war ended.  In April 1912 Ben applied for and was granted a Pension for his service in the War.  On his Pension Application he stated that he was ill and his only source of income was selling tombstones.  Ben also was a witness for a half a dozen other Ballard County men when they applied for their Pensions.

       On the 1870 Census, District 2, Barlow Post Office in Ballard County, Richard and Alsay are living with their 5 youngest children in the household.  Daughter Mary is unaccounted for.  The older children are all married and living in Ballard County.

       Sorrow struck the family between 1870 and 1880 when death took Alsay Ann, daughter Sarah Lyla (Carter) and her twin sons, and 3 children of son Hanson.  Daughter Mary C. has disappeared from records and may have died.  Some of them may have died in the Cholera epidemic of 1873.  It appears that son Richard Greenberry and his daughter Mary Harriet also probably died during this decade.

       In 1880, the widowed Richard is living in District 5 of Ballard County with his 2 youngest children.  Richard and several of his children were members of Bethlehem Baptist Church for several years.

       By 1900 Richard is 86 years old and living in the Cunningham, Carlisle County  household of his daughter Ellen and her husband Stephen RANSOM.

       Richard lives on until the 1903 Middleton family reunion, as he appears in the photo of that reunion.  He dies before the 1910 Census but the exact date of his death, like Alsay's, is unknown.  Richard and Alsay are probably buried on their family farm but there is no record of their graves.

Richard Greenberry and Alsay Ann Meredith Middleton had 12 known children. 

1. Son, name unknown, born between 1830 to 1835, died between 1840 to 1850.
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Crystal Dingler - County Coordinator
Copyright 2008
Richard Middleton
(Members of this family lived in both Ballard and Carlisle Counties)

       Some say Richard Greenberry MIDDLETON, who was born November 14, 1813, came from the famous South Carolina Middletons.  Some say he was born in Kentucky, went to Tennessee as a child, and then came back to Kentucky.  Others say he must be the son of Hanson Middleton and a grandson of Hugh Tears Middleton of Georgia.  What is for sure is, that as of this writing, no one has found documented proof of his birthplace or parentage.  See photo of Richard.
RICHARD GREENBERRY MIDDLETON
and
ALSAY ANN MEREDITH
4. Henry R. Middleton was born May 3, 1842 in Wayne County, TN.  He married Mary V.
WOMBLE 1868.  Mary, the daughter of Samuel Allen Womble and Mary
Martha CATES, was born September 27, 1841 in Weakley County, TN.

Known children of Henry R. and Mary V. Womble Middleton were:
Rufus R. Middleton born October 21, 1869 and died July 1, 1931.  He married Edna E. SHEPARD and they are buried at Owen's Chapel Cemetery in Graves County.  They had no children.
William Arthur Middleton born 1872.
Samuel R. Middleton born 1877.
Samuel died before 1900, William Arthur was single and living with his parents on the 1900 census.  The 1900 census states that Mary was the mother of 5 children with only 2 living.  Two unknown children were born and died between 1880 and 1900.

Mary died May 21, 1906 and Henry died March 25, 1917.  They are buried at Owen's Chapel Cemetery in Graves County.

5. Hanson A. Middleton was born March 6, 1844 in Wayne County, TN.  Shortly after he
was Paroled from his service in the Confederate Army, Hanson married Georgie Ann ADAMS.  Georgie Ann, the daughter of Thomas Adams and Salita G. FARMER, was born October 22, 1850.  Hanson was a Mail Carrier.  He and Georgie Ann were members of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Carlisle for several years and then members of Antioch Baptist Church in Ballard.  Hanson and Georgie Ann had 8 known children but only 2 are known to have survived to adulthood.

The children who did not survive were:
O. T. Middleton born June 6, 1870 and died May 5, 1872.
Greenbury A. Middleton born January 10, 1875 and died January 11, 1875.
They are buried at Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery in Carlisle County.
Daisy B. Middleton born May 16, 1881 and died February 15, 1903.        
Alex Middleton born 1876 and died November 9, 1889.        
Marandy C. Middleton born about 1873, death date unknown.
The three above are buried at Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery in Ballard County.

The surviving sons were:
William F. Middleton born April 15, 1868 and died February 29, 1916.  He married a Laura JETER, born May 21, 1866, the daughter of Matthew JETER and Mildred TRICE.  Laura died Oct 21, 1950 in Kevil.  They had 2 children, one a son named Odell.
Robert S. Middleton born 1878 and died October 17, 1964 in McCracken County.  In 1909 he married a Georgia L., surname unknown, and they had one son.

Georgie Ann Adams Middleton died September 15, 1894.  Hanson remarried June 2, 1895 to Mary L. Adams.  Mary was born November 12, 1848 and died November 1, 1905.  Hanson died March 19, 1906 and is buried with his two wives at Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery in Ballard County.

6. Richard Greenberry Middleton, Jr. was born about 1846 in either Wayne or Perry County TN.  He went by the nickname Green and the initials G. B.  He married Sarah Jane HUTCHERSON before 1869.  Sarah Jane was born December 1850, the daughter of John Washington Hutcherson and Mary WHITE. 

Green remains a mystery to me.  G. B. Middleton, his wife Sarah Jane, and daughter Mary Harriett appear on the 1870 Census of Ballard twice.  Their household is shown in District 2, Barlow, near his parents, and then again in District 8, Blandville.  That is the last record I can find of him or his daughter Mary Harriett who was born in 1869. 

According to the Ballard County Cemetery Book, volume I, Unsell Cemetery, Green and Sarah Jane had a son, John Lewis Middleton, born October 1, 1875 and died July 4, 1898.  This son John is buried in the Unsell Cemetery.  Sarah Jane Hutcherson Middleton Garrett is buried next to her son John in the Unsell Cemetery with no death date given for her.  The book states that Sarah Jane remarried and was the wife of William E. GARRETT at the time of her death.  I assume that Green died, probably between 1875 and 1880.  He may be buried in an unfound grave like the other family members who died during the 1870s. 

7. Mary C. Middleton was born about 1849 in Wayne or Perry County, TN.  Nothing more is known about her after her appearance on the 1860 Census of Ballard County in the household of her parents.

8. Malinda Jane Middleton was born June 12, 1851 in Graves County, KY.  She married Isaac Hall RANSOM, the brother of her sister Ellen's husband.  Isaac was born May 28, 1852, the son of Richard Madison and Elizabeth HALL Ransom.  Isaac was a blacksmith and carpenter.  Jane and Isaac had 5 known children.

Their children were:
Elishey H. Ransom born about 1874.  Nothing more is known about him after the 1880 Census.
Oliver (Ollie) Hall Ransom was born 1876 and died August 27, 1948 in Carlisle County.  Ollie married Lena Ann MARTIN before 1910.  Lena was born about 1883, the daughter of Robert H. and Adar E. Martin.  Lena died January 4, 1968.  They appear to have been childless.  They are buried at Zoar Cemetery in Carlisle County.
Richard M. Ransom was born 1878 and died November 9, 1947 in Graves County.  He married Sarah Fanny Unknown before 1904.  They had a daughter Orena and a son Vesta.  Sarah died September 4, 1958 in Graves County.
Colie A. Ransom was born 1882 and died May 11, 1929 in Carlisle County.  He married Bonny L. Unknown before 1902.  Bonny was born 1883 and died 1965.  They had one son, Homer, born in 1902.  Colie and Bonny are buried at Zoar Cemetery.
Annie Ransom was born 1884 in Ballard County.  She is on the 1910 Census of Carlisle in the household of her parents and I know nothing more about her.

Malinda Jane Middleton Ransom died February 3, 1929 and Isaac Ransom died April 17, 1926.  They are buried together at Zoar Cemetery in Carlisle County.

9.         America A. Middleton was born 1855 in Graves County.  She married Alfred F. CARTER February 24, 1875 in Ballard County.  Alfred was the brother of her sister Sarah Lyla's husband John.  Alfred was born about 1857 in Missouri, the son of James Carter and Elizabeth JONES.

America and Alfred had 3 daughters by the 1880 Census, Sarah C. born December 1876 and twin daughters Corah and Lory born 1879.  America was dead before March 25, 1883 when Alfred remarried to M. E. HAMMONDS.   Alfred was widowed again and married Mattie J. PRUITT September 15, 1889 and they had at least 4 children.

America is buried in the Carter Family Graveyard in Carlisle County.  Nothing more is known about her twin daughters Corah and Lory.  Her daughter Sarah married Thomas J. MENSER July 30, 1896 in Carlisle.

10.        Sarah Lyla Middleton was born about 1857 in Graves County, KY.  Sometime in the 1870s Lyla married John F. CARTER in Ballard County.  John was the son of James Carter and Elizabeth Jones, and the brother of Alfred Carter who married Lyla's sister America.  Lyla and John had twin sons whose names are unknown.  Lyla and the twins died before the 1880 Census.  Lyla and her sons are buried in the Carter Family Graveyard along with Lyla's sister America.  John remarried, had four children and is buried with his wife Maria in Bethlehem Cemetery in Carlisle County.
3. Susan Elizabeth Middleton was born March 2, 1839 in Wayne County, TN. 
Susan married Lewis Eden HAYS.  See photo of Susan and Lewis.
2.  William B. Middleton (see photo) was born December 22, 1837 in Wayne County, TN.  There is some confusion about both William's middle name and his nickname.  His Death Certificate shows his middle name as Benedict, but in the books, "Ballard's Brave Boys" and "Vital Statistics of Western Kentucky", his middle name is shown as Benjamin.  As to his nickname some sources call him Ben and other sources (the 1880 Census and family lore of some descendants) show him as Dick.  For the sake of clarity, I will refer to him as Ben.

Before 1860, Ben married Caroline C. NEWMAN, born April 23, 1840 in McCracken County.  Caroline was the daughter of Hiram and Winny Newman.  Ben and Caroline are shown living in the Gage and Kevil areas of Ballard County.  They had eight known children, five of whom preceded Ben in death. 

Children of Ben and Caroline Newman Middleton were:
Alvis Henry Middleton born November 8, 1860 and died November 25, 1905.  Alvis married Martha Angeline TERRELL.
Rebecca Fredonia "Dovie" Middleton born October 21, 1862 and died July 26, 1942.  Dovie married James Stewart "Tobie" WILLS.  They are buried at Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Ballard County.
America Cricket Middleton born October 1867 and died February 4, 1910.  She never married.
11.         Ellen Oliver Middleton (see photo) was born July 1859 in Ballard County.  Ellen married Stephen Douglas RANSOM in the early 1880s.  Stephen, a blacksmith and farmer, was born November 11, 1862, the son of Richard Madison and Elizabeth HALL Ransom, and the brother of Isaac who married Ellen's sister Malinda Jane.  Our Richard Middleton spent his last years living with Ellen and Stephen and can be found in their household on the 1900 Census.  Ellen and Stephen died within months of each other in 1922.  They had 2 children.

Their children were:
       Carl Wilburn Ransom born October 1885 and died 1953.  Carl married Lealier (?) M. Unknown before 1910.  She was born 1884 and died 1955.  They are buried together at Bardwell Cemetery.  They had 2 children, Lovata born 1910 and Albert born 1903.
       Dovie Idell Ransom born June 18, 1895 and died November 26, 1962.  Dovie married Thadeus Alexander FRAISER January 14, 1912.  Thad was born April 12, 1889 and died August 23, 1970.  They are buried at Bardwell Cemetery.  They had four children,  Toy Clarence Fraiser who married Helen ALBRITTEN, Lucille Fraiser who married Rayburn HARP, Walter Marshall Fraiser, and Daniel Ransom Fraiser who married Louise SAMS.

12.         George B. Middleton was born January 1865 in Ballard County.  He married
Bennett CURTIS about 1885.  Benniet, the daughter of J. and Manerva Curtis, was born May 1868.  They are on the 1900 Census of Carlisle with a daughter, Esma born June 1887, and with Bennett's widowed mother, Manerva born July 1836. 

By the 1910 Census, they are in Ballard Co and are shown with a son, Boice (sic) born 1906.  Also in their household are their daughter Esma and her husband Albert S. MALCO, who was born about 1886 in Spain.  I have been unable to find this family after the 1910 Census.

I am the ggg granddaughter of Richard and Alsay Middleton through their daughter
Susan Elizabeth Middleton Hays.  I would love to hear from anyone who is connected to the Middleton family.  I would also be very grateful for any corrections to my research and/or more information about any of the lines that descend from Richard and Alsay.

Kathleen Hill   jak.ish@verizon.net
2206 Bataan Road
Redondo Beach, CA 90278

Robert O. Middleton born about 1870.  He is on the 1910 and 1920 Census living with his father.  Nothing more is known about him.
Mary J. Middleton born August 16, 1871 and died November 18, 1910.  She never married.
Thomas H. Middleton born February 6, 1874 and died August 10, 1918.  He married Essie Fannie COTHES November 18, 1896.  Tom stepped on a nail and died of tetanus.  Tom and Essie are buried at Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Ballard.
William Lee Middleton born February 26, 1880 and died February 16, 1949.  He married a woman named Bird whose surname is unknown to me.
Jeremiah B. Middleton born April 21, 1882 and died November 15, 1889.

       Caroline died December 27, 1890.  Ben remained a widower for 37 years until he died of cancer of the hand April 18, 1927.  They are buried at Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery in Ballard County near their sons Alvis and Jeremiah, and their daughters America and Mary.