Revised 1997 Sep 21

Eddleman Family Stories

Confusion and Lack of Records

We do not have any document giving date and place of birth or the parents of John Eddleman. I have been writing this biography since around 1946 when I was beginning high school and my father was my only source of information. I did not know that courthouses had old records and we did not know of any family records.

This page has not yet been organized. I am posting a summary to give readers a quick overview of John and his family. Then I am listing all my notes in hopes that readers can help make sense of the confusing aspects by adding their own notes and family traditions. My main confusion is over the fact that the cemetery stones show some of John's childern were born only a couple months apart. Perhaps, these childern are not all childern of John Eddleman. I especially would like to know more about John's life in North Carolina and Kentucky.

The uncertainity begins with who was John's father. During 1950s to 1970s, William Eddleman of Dallas sent me many notes which were consistent with David Eddleman of PA making a long migration to NC then KY but we found no definite record of David Eddleman in KY, but there ws a David Ederman shown on a KY Militia list. Since then a few additional bits of info have been found and all are consistent with the hypothesis that David Eddleman born 17__ in PA, moved to MD then NC then New River area, arriving in KY in 1778 and dying around 1778 to 1780+ and his wife remarrying to John Burger. This hypothesis will be used on this page.

John's Childhood in Kentucky

John was born about 1775 or 1776 in North Carolina according to a census record and Church records mention a David Eddleman living on Abbotts Creek. During that time the land office was not open and any land claimed by David Edelmann or others could not be registered. This was during the 10 years before the outbreak of the revoluntionary war. The family was living in times of great uncertainity. There were troubles between the English King and his American subjects and Abbotts Creek was in the buffer zone which the Governor of NC had established between the Indians and the rich plantations of the Carolina coast. There was the King's prohibition against Colonists pressing over the mountains in Kentucky and other Indian lands.

It seems likely David knew or was familar with Daniel Boone and other Long Hunters who made trips of months or years into Kentucke to trap furs. The Moravian Diaries report on 1776 July 31, "Mr. Edelman came from Holston's River to take his wife and childern thither from Abbotts Creek. He said there was much unrest on account of the Indians, but the people were not frightened and thought they could protect themselves against the enemy."

We next hear of the Eddleman family when David Eddleman was paid for milita service ...1778..... and then in 1783, Catherine Eddleman was granted 345.5 acres on in Fayette County for settling on it in 1778. Thus it appears from 1776 to 1778 little toddler John Eddleman was wandering in the wilderness with his family in search of a home. During those years it was not uncommon for Kentuckians to withdraw from Kentucke to the settlements on New River and Holston River during times of Indian pressure.

---1999 May 2 --to be continued

The 10 years following 1776 were turbulent for the family. All the family except Catherine (mother) and two sons John and Daniel (sons) were lost to death or Indians.

Summary: John Eddleman was born about 1776 in North Carolina and grew up in Kentucky, he was about 4 or 6 years old during the Indian attacks on that area. His brother Daniel was about age 1 or 3 when the Indians carried Daniel away. It is possible his dad (his Dad's name may have been David) and other members of the family were killed or carried away by Indians. It is possible John was carried away or injured, but we have no hint of that. No early Kentucky written reports mention the Catherine Eddleman family except to say Catherine received a land patent for settling on land just east of Lexington in 1778.We suppose John married in Kentucky and KY tax records show he farmed land owned by his stepfather John Burger. John Eddleman moved to Indiana in 1811, buying 160 acres that year from the U.S. Govt. The land was located in in Harrison county, IN, where Buffalo Trace crossed Little Indian Creek. He built a sawmill and later a grist mill on that farm. He and his wife Mary had 10 or more childern. Two infants (George and Mary) are buried on the farm. Westley (age 30) and David (age 25) are buried there and may never have married. Asa (age 30) is also buried there, but Asa had 3 childern who received a share of the estate of John.

I am still trying to establish the birth and death dates for John Eddlman.

Complete text from History of the Ohio Falls Country, published 1882, page169 reads:
"The present fine, large frame grist-mill on Little Indian Creek, in the northeastern part of Georgetown Township, known as "Cook's Mill", was established about 50 years ago by John Eddleman, who built a little log saw-mill at this spot, and subsequently added a small frame grist mill, which he conducted until his death, when the property passed into the hands of (James Eddleman, who sold it to) Samuel Cook. He, after a proprietorship of a few years, demolished the little frame building and erected the present (1882) structure. The present proprieters are D. Cook and Son. The mill contains three run of buhrs, and may use both water and steam power. The business of the firm is quite extensive, as, besides doing a large custom business, they manufacture considerable flour which they ship to foreign markets." See map at the bottom of this page when it is drawn.

Trial Biography of John Eddleman

I call this man John, the mill builder

Age - Year - Event

0 ......1776 .. John Eddleman born in North Carolina; based on fact he paid poll tax in KY 1797
.........Census data were by age range and suggest year of birth as 1770-1775;
.........In the census of 1880, James Eddleman said his dad was born in NC.
.........Recall the tomestone fragment which says 66? years and may be John's grave marker.
From the census data, I had picked 1774 as a likely date for John's birth before I had access to the Kentucky Poll Tax record. Taken together, I am guessing John Eddleman was born 1776 or 1775 and definitely in North Carolina. But the 66? fragment suggests John was born in 1773 if he died in 1839. I do not know the date of his death or the year.
23.....1799 MAR 4 - a John Eddleman married Mary Zumwalt in Harrison County, Kentucky.
25.....1801(estimate) - dau Elizabeth born, married George K. Cline; Elizabeth died before 1844
27.....1803 mmm dd - His son John was born in Kentucky; John never married was lame and built some furniture I call him John the cabinetmaker.
29.....1805(estimate) - son Asa born; married ___; died 183nd was dead before 1844
31.....1807 mmm dd - his son Noah was born in KY
34.....1810 (I believe a son was born, based on Census, it was dead before 1844 (probate)
35.....1811 mon day - John Eddleman purchased land on Little Indian Creek, from the US Govt. On that application he gave his address as Bourbon County Kentucky. The land was in Harrison County, but lies in present-day Floyd County. The 160 acres being the SE 1/4 of Sec 16 lying on Little Indian Creek, few miles NW of present day Georgetown.
37.....1813 mm dd - his son James was born in Indiana
37.....1813 est - dau Katherine born; married Pitman; died before 1844
39.....1815(estimate) - son born; died before 1844 probate (based on census)
41.....1817(estimate) - dau Christiana born; married William Swank; no childern in 1824
43......1819(estimate) - dau Nancy born; married Mathis Harmon on 1841 Oct 28
55......1830(estimate) - John built sawmill on Little Indian Creek on his farm, later a grist mill
63......1839(estimate) - John Eddlman dies
..........1843 Feb 12 - Court settles estate by dividing farm among the heirs.
..after 1867 - Estate of John's widow Mary Eddleman is settled.
64.....Census of 1840 lists Mary Eddleman (his wife) as head of household; John Sr is dead

John Eddleman's Wife and Marriage Date

We have not found any record of John's marriage, but Mark Hickman found a John Eddleman married Mary Zumwalt in Harrison County, KY, in 1799. In 1980 I estimated he married about 1795-1800, but I do not recall on what basis, probably I used age and census records. According to Census records his wife was born in Virginia. Mark Hickman says there is a family tradition that she was instead a Ute squaw. I once saw a picture of James, her son and he was very tall, black hair, and perhaps had high cheek bones, but I had never heard of any wife being Indian. I do think Minnie Arabell (Eddleman) Bruce mentioned an Eddleman in Ky married an Indian. John probably married in Kentucky.

The settlement of John's estate does not give the date of his death. The fragment of marble says 66 years, 6 months, 12 day (the 66 and 12 are not certain) and we have no proof this was John's grave stone.

Childern of John and Mary Eddleman

It appears neither John nor Mary ever had any other spouse.

I once believed they had 10 Childern. I am using census data, markers in John Eddleman farm cemetary, and other sources such as settlement of the John Eddleman Estate and settlement of the estate of the mother Mary Eddleman. This is a list of what I know about each child beginning with the first born that I know about. I encourage the reader to come to his own conclusions because I get sets of twins born days or months apart. For geneology purposes the task is simpler because we have the settlemen of the John Eddleman, the father and mill-builder, listing the childern that survived and had childern. Therefore I will make two lists; the second being the childern that had childern.

# ...Birth....Name

1. 1801? - Elizabeth Eddleman
2. 1803 - John Eddleman, Jr.
3. 1804 May - Asa Eddleman; died 1834 Oct 15
4. 1807 - Noah Eddleman
4a. 1809 Dec 29 - Mary Eddleman; died 1812 June 15; stone was easy to read (positive)
5. 1810? - boy died before probate
6. 1813 - James Eddleman
7. 1813 - Katherine Eddleman
8. 1815? - boy died before probate
9. 1817 - Christina Eddleman married William Swank
10. 1819 - Nancy Eddleman Married Mathias Harmon on 1841 Oct 28
11. 1822 Apr 11 George Eddleman, infant in grave A in John Eddmena Farm Cemetary

This is my second list of the childern of John and Mary Eddleman.

This is the list of childern that we are positive about. We can move childern from the above list to this second list when we have more information.

A. Elizabeth Eddleman. Born about 1801? in KY; Married George K. Cline and had childern: John and Julia Ann Cline. Elizabeth died before her father. Don Sparling is a descendent of Julia Ann and has found 500 of her descendents.

B. John Eddleman. Born 1803; never married, was crippled (my dad Claude said), but notice he owned 160acres north of the Mill farm; died ___________ buried in Milltown Cemetery. He was a cabinet maker and I have seen a bed, and nightstands he built. They were owned by a Swedish Engineer in Louisville. (More later in the John Jr. biography - not written).

C. Noah Eddleman. Born ???????; Married Margaret ------; His childern were Adam J (died in Civil War), Mary Ann, Sarah Jane, James M, and William A. Noah died ----- and buried ______

D. James Eddleman. Born 1813; married _______; had childern: Isaac Windell, Ernest J, Sarah Jane, Adam Monroe, and Marian Francis (my grandfather); died ______ buried Milltown Cemetery.

E. Katherine Eddleman. Born 1813? Married ___Pitman and had childern: James, Mary, Andrew, and Wesley Pitman

F. Christiana Eddleman. Born 1817? Married William Swank. I believe they moved to Burlington, Iowa. I do not know if they had childern.

G. Nancy Eddleman. Born 1819? Married Mathias Harmon. I know nothing more of her.

________________ Notes of possible use in writing this page.

I believe John bought this land where the Buffalo trace crossed little indian creek. Can stand on the new concrete bridge an view the mill site. Or what I think is the site. The creek bed is 20 feet wide, but is mostly dry year around with only a flow of maybe 50,000 gallons per day in dry weather. I have not found any evidence of a dam. Some mills used no dam. They just diverted some water to a flume which ran to the mill.

The Eddleman cemetary can still be seen on this farm. Inscriptions are listed elsewhere on these pages. We do not have much family tradition about this mill. My dad frequently mentioned it as the oldest known Eddleman family, but I do not know that he ever visited the site and I made no effort to find it until about 1978 when I discovered Cooks Mill road on a Floyd county map and about that time I found Eddleman Cemetary listed in a study completed by a veterans group. They gave location of the cemetary and wrote: No veterans.

I have drawn a map (not yet on this site) of the area showing the dates all the properties were purchased from the U.S. Government. The surrounding lands were purchased by others mostly 10 to 20 years after John Eddleman purchased his land in Jan 1911. At that time the British still had some hopes of reclamining the Northwest territory until the peace treaty of the War of 1812. British did not give up Detroit about 1800.

The History of the Falls Book says Indians still returned to the area to try to capture white-tail deer by driving them in tangles of honeysuckle. My experience is that deer love honey suckle thickets. During the last few years a herd of 10-12 white-tail deer has occupied such a thicket only 1.5 miles from the center of Palmyra. White tail is the native deer of the Eastern USA.

John Burger purchased land patent jan 30, 1811 in prest ay Floyd county Indiana. At time of purchase he lived in Burbon County KY.

John Eddleman, son of Catherine, builder of a grist and sawmill on Big Indian Creek.

Daniel Eddleman, son of Catherine, childhood among Indians at Lafayette, Indiana, and farmer in southeastern Indiana. But he preferred hunting to farming.

John Eddleman, son of John and a batchelor cabinet maker, his bible is extant.

eg260 = John Eddleman and Daniel Eddleman pay Poll tax in Bourbon County KY

to be continued

Suggestions, corrections, and comments are appreciated: Contact Harold Eddleman indbio@disknet.com

The cross on the map below shows the exact location of the Eddleman Cemetery on John Eddleman's farm on little Indian Creek in present-day Floyd County Indiana. John's water powered water and grist mills were exactly south of the cemetery on the south side of the road. The mills were where the map show a small circle. I am not absolutely sure of all this. I will visit the site and edit the map if I must. The creek ran parallel to the road, crossed the road and then runs northly 200 feet west of the cemetery.

Click on the map to browse. Icons will appear at the right margin. Click higher markers to zoom out to see state highways and Interstates. All the roads pictured above are county roads. Most of the area east of Kepley Road is expensive tract housing built since 1975. John's farm is still a farm, but it is not farmed the folks have a few riding horses.