ShirekChamove Tree » William Henry Pope (1757-1840)

Personal data William Henry Pope 

• He was born in the year 1757 in Lincoln, Kentucky, USA.Source 1
• Resident in the year 1790: Lincoln, Kentucky, USA.
• He died in the year 1840 in Passover, Camden, Missouri, USA, he was 83 years old.Source 1
• He is buried after 1840 in Grave Hill Cemetery, Passover, Missouri.Source 2

Household of William Henry Pope

(1) He is married to Jeremiah Vardeman.

They got married on July 3, 1785 at Lincoln, Kentucky, USA, he was 28 years old.

Child(ren):

1. William Joseph Pope  1785-1832 
2. John Pope  1789-1857 

(2) He is married to Polly Lair.

They got married on May 5, 1809, he was 52 years old.

Notes about William Henry Pope

The Pope family came to the New World from England in the mid-1600's andsettled first in Lord Balitmore's colony of Maryland. The family patriarch, Nathaniel Pope, was a counselor to King Charles and served him by negotiating several disputes in the troubled colony. Granted large tracts of land in Virginia Colony as a reward for his efforts on behalf of the Crown, Nathaniel moved there and built the "Cliffs," the family plantation. With the exception of one son who found colonial life unsatisfactory and returned to England, Nathaniel's children established their families in Virginia. A daughter, Ann, married John Washington and became the grandmother of George Washington. Several members of the next generation moved to the colony of North Carolina, and it was from one of these families that the Missouri Popes descended. In 1839, four generations of the Pope family left Kentucky and moved to the area that would become Kinderhook and then Camden County. The senior member of these early pioneers was an octogenarian named William Pope. While the long trip must have been a difficult one for him, the experiences of his early life indicate that he possessed a sturdy constitution. A Revoluntionary War soldier, William belonged to the 2nd North Carolina Regiment of the Continental Line which had been dubbed the "hard luck" regiment. On several occasions they arrived at a battle just as the Continental Line was folding and found themselves left alone to cover the retreat. The regiment marched into Valley Forge as the ill equipped army ran low on food and clothing. With supplies unavailable before spring, many died of exposure or succumbed to disease.
With independence won, William followed the Wilderness Trail through the Cumberland Gap into that part of Virginia that would soon become the state of Kentucky. Unable to lay his rifle aside as he arrived at the height of the Indian uprisings in the area, William banded together with his neighbors for the protections of life and property. The danger of the time did not interrupt the normal flow of life. In 1785, William married Jemimah Vardiman of Swedish descent, and she gave birth to two sons, Joseph and John. William's family spent the next forty years in what is now southwestern Russell County in the foothill of the Cumberland Mountains. Besides farming, William worked as a surveyor, and either he or his son John built and operated one of the first grist mills in the area. In 1795, Williams's taxable possessions included one slave, one horse and ten cattle. By 1835, he owned 250 acres, one horse, eleven cattle and one slave. William's son, John appeared on the 1810 tax roll owning one horse. At this time he married Martha Meredith, a widow who had a daughter named Mahala. The family soon grew to include a son, William M. and two daughters, Elizabeth and Jane. John earned a living as a miller and surveyor and for several years served as county constable. The influx of settlers continued at a fast pace, and John soon found himself a part of a well-populated town. His mill was now surrounded by several businesses, including a carding factory and a woolen mill. He now owned 327 acres, land prices were up and buyers were abundant. His step-daughter Mahala and her husband William Northrip had moved to Missouri and had doubtless written of the free and inexpensive land available. His decision made, John sold his land for a good price and moved his family for a new beginning in the Ozark hills, an area very similar to that which he was leaving, but much less populated.
Excerpt from Historical Bibliography, Camden County History by LUcille Keller Harpham, Camden Manor, Apt 14, Camden, MO 65020

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