JOSEPH ATWILL AND WIFE, CELIA SIMMONS

MARYLAND TO BULLITT COUNTY, KENTUCKY TO MEADE COUNTY , KENTUCKY

Compiled by Ann Sipes  atsgene2002 [at] yahoo [dot] com

In the spring of 2008, Bob Cline, of Bullitt County asked me to do a bit of look-up in Meade County for Joseph Atwill/Atwell, just to find the identity of his children.  Mr. Cline was trying to compile some history of a cemetery in Bullitt County where Simmons family members are buried. This cemetery has since been removed to make room for development.  An article about the movement of the Simmons/Henderson Cemetery in Bullitt County appeared in the March 2009 issue of Wilderness Road, the publication of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society.  I thought that some of the research that I completed in Meade County records concerning the Atwill family might be of interest to members of both societies. Bob’s research in Bullitt County certainly augmented that found here in our records.

I first looked in the little book by George L. Ridenour, Early Times in Meade County, Kentucky to see what I could find out about Joseph Atwill. One of the first references, on p. 45 concerning him was this paragraph.

“In 1816 the steamboat Hornet was built at the Brandenburg Landing.  October 9, 1821, Hayden and Atwill listed “two shares in the Steamboat Hornet at $100 each.  In litigation styled “John Welch vs. Hornet Steamboat Company “the names of the following appear: William L. Mc Gehee, Solomon Brandenburgh, Edward Hayden, residents of Kentucky and Lewis Carroll and Caleb Morton, “not inhabitants of the commonwealth. “  Ridenour goes on to write, “while General Benjamin Shacklett, Solomon Brandenburg, Joseph Atwill and others were experienced flatboat men they were not successful with steamboats. The three boats built at Brandenburg were some of the e arliest boats constructed in the West where there were so few transportation facilities.”

On p. 46 of Ridenour’s Early Times in Meade County history he again speaks of Joseph Atwill as “an old flatboat man. His career on the river was long and honorable.

After his marriage he moved to a round-log cabin near Brandenburg.  Soon after purchasing a large tract of land he built a double hewn log house a story and a half high with chimneys of dressed stone. This house stood near the Atwill spring below Brandenburg.”

In Meade County, Kentucky Deed Book B, p. 97 (although the General Index says this deed in on p. 51 it is not.) can be found the deed in which Solomon Brandenburg and Elizabeth, his wife, of Meade County sold to Joseph Atwill also of Meade County, Kentucky, 435 acres of land, a short distance from the Ohio River “where Atwill now lives”. The deed was dated 13 July 1830. According to the deed the land began at a black oak tree near Atwill’s house and a short distance nearby the west corner at the head of Atwill’s spring, adjoining a line of John May’s 2000 acres survey and also a beginning corner of 60 acres of land conveyed by Patrick Darby to said Brandenburg, also adjoining Zadock Lovelace’s line.  If Atwill owned the land on which his house was already built when he bought land from Solomon Brandenburg, that deed would probably be found in Hardin County. Joseph Atwill’s will is recorded in Meade County Will Book B, p. 226. I simply abstracted this will for the most important points, hoping all the children might be listed. This was not to be, but it is very interesting and suggests that there were several surviving children. I had already determined some of their names from the 1850, 1860 and 1870 censuses for Meade County, Kentucky. Part of the will reads:

I, Joseph Atwill, Senr. Of Meade County, Kentucky do appoint my executor hereinafter named to pay all my debts. He is to set up a trust fund in the hands of my son, Edward H. Atwill and I constitute him a trustee to dispose of my estate (after my death) amongst my children, first making my wife a just and comfortable living. My home farm is pretty much all I have left. He is not to sell it unless she agrees to it. I have made a list of previous advancements for him so that he will know how best to equably dispose of the estate after my wife’s death.

The will was written 6 Feb 1866, proven by two of the witnesses, J.C. and J. G. Walker, on 14 October 1867 and recorded by Jno. C. Walker, Clerk of the Meade County Court on 18 December 1868.

There are several other deeds or transactions in the Meade County Records concerning Joseph Atwill. There were several in which he sold land to others outside the family and a couple in which he is hiring or buying Negroes. Just a year before he wrote his will, he gave some land to his youngest son, Thomas H. Atwill for $10 and “love and affection of Joseph Atwill for Thomas, “my youngest son”, a parcel of land known as Barbour’s 3000 acres, also a part of tract where Joseph Atwill now lives, adjoining corners were Robert Stith’s land, a corner of E. H. Atwill, a stone in the Leavenworth road, H. Haynes’s line and C. Haynes line. This deed was recorded in Meade County Deed Book L, p. 90 and dated 3 July 1865. Then, On 25 April 1867, (and recorded in Deed Book L, p. 410) Joseph Atwill deeded another 199 and 1/4 acres to Thomas Atwill his son, a parcel of land near the Ohio River, also adjoining E. H. Atwill’s corner, the same Leavenworth Rd, and a lot of River Bluff, adjoining Stith’s line near the Old School House. An interesting paragraph is included in this transaction.  “In addition it is understood upon a first distribution of the estate of said Joseph Atwill among his children if it should not be enough to give to each one an amount equal to amount given to E. H. Atwill and if said Thomas Atwill shall have received more than his equal share he is to refund such excess so as to make all the children of said Joseph Atwill have equal shares in his est ate.” The deed was presented to the clerk on 14 June 1867 and it was recorded 25 June 1867.

The following deed names more of the children after Joseph Atwill’s death.  In Meade County Deed Book M, (Vol II of M), p. 405 dated 22 December 1869, were listed Edward H. Atwill and Sally W. Atwill his wife; Thomas H. Atwill and Amy his wife; Squire L. Helm and Sarah Ellen, his wife; Dr. Jno. V. Withers and Martha J., his wife; William M. Bruce and Frances M. His wife; Richard L (or S.) Skillman and Hester E. his wife; adult heirs and children of Joseph Atwill decd.,of the first part sold to Garland F. Hendricks and Elijah B. Ashcraft for $9465 to be paid as follows; $5955 paid in hand and then $1485.50 to be paid one year from this date; $1487.50 to be paid two years from this date; and then $540 to be paid three years from this date; three notes are given to bear interest from this date and a lien is retained. Two certain tracts of land in Meade County on the Ohio River where Joseph lived and died, beginning on the Ohio River at upper corner of Barbour’s’ 3000 acre tract, adjoining E. H. Atwill’s land, Thomas Atwill’s line to the River bluff and along the bluff, first tract of 357 acres along the meanders of the Ohio River, $8925 and the second tract of 54 acres for $545. There was reserved one half acre that the family graveyard stood on and the grantors were at liberty to fence the graveyard. This was produced 14 January 1870 from the Commission Clerk of Jefferson County Court. Acknowledgments from the Breckinridge County Clerk for Richard Skillman and his wife and from the Knox County, Missouri Clerk on behalf of John V. Withers and Martha J. Withers were also presented.

In the same Volume 11 of Meade County Deed Book M on page 408, it was found that Squire L. Helm and William M. Bruce and their wives had already sold this land to the parties of the second part, Hendricks and Ashcraft, deed dated 22 December 1869 and E. H. Atwill and his siblings and their spouses had made an agreement that a good deed be presented.

I had studied the 1850, 1860, 1870 Meade County Censuses for Joseph Atwill and other Atwills previous to my courthouse study on Monday, May 19.  Several other names came to light that were not mentioned in these deeds or his will.  After the courthouse study (which is not complete really, the books are getting heavier and more difficult for me to handle there, so after three hours, I just had to stop), I had some lunch and then headed to the Meade County Public Library. The first thing I looked for was an Atwill family file and here I found a treasure.... Bible Records. Unfortunately, no title pages were duplicated, but the dates for the copies were jotted across the tops, and the forms in which they were presented seemed to be authentic.  No address was given, but a name was presented as the donor.  Mona Atwill Clupper at one time had these Bibles in her possession.  She is a direct descendant of Joseph Atwill through his son Joseph.  I will attempt to locate her or her children.  Before I abstract the list of Joseph and his wife, Celia Simmons Atwill’s children, let me quote from the History of Meade County, Kentucky, 1824¬1991 which was compiled by Laura Young Brown and Maire Coleman.  The articles concerning the Joseph Atwill family were contributed by Mona Atwill Clupper who at the time of publication lived in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She could be found listed in whitepages.com as aged 92, but no address was given for her when I searched in May of 2008.

Mrs. Clupper wrote that “Joseph Atwill came from Ann Arundel County, Maryland about 1804, when he was only eighteen years old and at that time was addressed, Esquire. He was a friend of Edward Hayden whose father and grandfather had led groups of people from Maryland to Kentucky. He and Edward Hayden became partners in the rafting business and grew quite wealthy. An inventory of October 9, 1821 (also mentioned in Ridenour’s Early Times in Meade County) showed they had goods at Yellow Banks, Little York, Rockport, Boonesville, Indiana and Boonesboro, Kentucky. They also had deposits, drafts, and bills due them in Baltimore, Maryland, New Orleans, Louisiana and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their total business assets amounted to over $25,000. Joseph Atwill acquired over 5,000 acres of land and had a plantation below Brandenburg, where all the bricks for his large house were made on the place and the lumber cut by the slaves. It is built near the Atwill Spring; a splendid example of early mason’s brickwork.” At breakfast the slaves had Bible readings, sang spirituals, prayed and had a devotional. After supper they were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic.  Joseph Atwill was very good to his slaves.

He was a kindhearted man and would do anything for the comfort of his men”.

In her article Mona A. Clupper apparently quoted from Ridenour’s Early Times for I found the same things mentioned there.  During the earthquake of 1811, Atwill was on the river with a party of men with flatboats.  The boat sank so he grabbed a tree whi ch had been shaken from the river bank and was rescued the next morning by passing boatmen.”

“However, the most important part of his life was his marriage to Cecilia Simmons who was the daughter of William Simmons and Elizabeth Miles from Maryland.  William and Elizabeth moved from St. Mary’s County, Maryland to Bullitt County, Kentucky where Cecilia was born September 2, 1798.  Joseph Atwill was born November 11, 1786.  He married Cecilia Simmons on August 14, 1814.  To this union were born fourteen children. Mona’s list of the children in the history book denotes only the years of their births. The following dates are listed as they were recorded in the Bibles. These were the last three lines of Mrs. Clupper’s narrative.  “Cecilia passed away with pneumonia July 28, 1844 leaving nine children under the age of twenty-one.  She was a devout Christian and reared her children accordingly.  On November 27, 1845, Joseph married a widow, Judith Caffin Moreman.   There were no children by this marriage.  There are no Atwills in the county since 1980, but they are buried in the Atwill and the Cap Anderson Cemeteries.  An end of an era.”

The Atwill Bible Record Owned by Mona Atwill Clupper in 1991

There is a note written in modern script stating that the Bible is from 1816.  There is no Title page, but there are xerox copies of the actual record pages from a Bible.  Mrs. Clupper wrote that Joseph and Celia (sometimes spelled Cecilia) Atwill had fourteen children, but only thirteen Atwill children’s names are recorded in the Bible. I believe she may have counted the name of one of the children’s spouses, as William McKendree Bruce’s birthdate is entered at the top of the page. I will list the children as they appear in the Bible record, and will add in italics, the information that Mrs. Clupper gave in her article for the Meade County History Book. 
1. William S. Atwill was born on the 27th day of July 1815-died at the age of 33.
2. Edward H. Atwill was born on the 29 July 1817.  In the Simmons Bible, hi s middle name was given as Hayden.  Edward Hayden born 1817, married Sarah Wathen
3. Mary Elizabeth Atwill was born on the 3rd day of January 1819, married John Be aty
4. Sary Elen Atwill was born on the 8th day of March 1821. Married Squire Helm
5. Samuel S miley Atwill was born the 6th  day of February 1823, a physician, married Seany Wathen
6. Joseph Atwill, Jr. was born the 28th  day of September 1824. A physician, died at age of thirty-nine.
7. John Caldwell Atwill was born the 22nd day of May 1826, a physician, died at the age of thirty-six. In Meade Co. Marriages in 1856, it is recorded that Dr. John C . Atwill m.
Mary E. Davis, d/o E. Davis, and that she was b. in Clermont Co., Ohio, ats.
8. James Atwill was born the 17th of November 1827. Married Mary Davis.
9. Rebecca Ann Atwill was born 12th day April 1829. Married William Bruce (I do not see this marriag e in the Meade Co. Marriage Abstracts by Miller, ats.)  See Simmons Bible record.
10. Anderson Atwill, does not appear in the bible record, but Mrs. Clupper says he was b orn in 1831.  I believe he does appear in the Meade County Census for 1850, aged 19-a ts
11. Martha Jane Atwill was born the 21st of April 1833. Married Dr. John V. Withers
12.  Hester Eliza Atwill was born October the 27th, 1834. Married Richard Skillman.
13.  Margaret Frances Atwill was born September the 20th, 1836. Married William Bruce [sic] This marriage does appear in Meade C ounty Records,, Vol. II for 1856, and he is listed as widower, b. Hancock Co., GA., ats.
14.  Henry Thomas Atwill was born the 20th of September, 1838 . Seen as Thomas H. In deeds and named so by Mrs. Clupper, Married Amy Hamilton

The Atwill Graveyard in Meade County, Kentucky

The Atwill Family graveyard, a referral to which is made in the deed mentioned previously can be viewed online at the Meade County Library website: www.meadereads.org. There is a complete printout of the cemetery listings in the Genealogy section at the library site.  I jotted down those listings from the Atwill cemetery.  The listing begins with a brief description of the graveyard’s location. Unfortunately it does not give a road number, just “located on Abbott Ashcraft farm between Brandenburg and Battletown.”  But I believe this would be KY 228.  It is probably “below” Brandenburg meaning down river a bit.

Charles P. Atwill, s/o J. and I. D. 11 Sept 1882 , aged 2 mos. 11 days, s/o John Lewis and Ida.
E. H. Atwill b. 29 July 1817, d. 19 Aug 1888 Joseph Atwill b. 24 Nov 1786, d. 8 Oct 1867, h/o Celia Simmons Joseph R. Atwill, s/o J. L. And I. D. 8 Mar 1881, aged 1 mo., 8 days Rebecca Ann Brooks Atwill, footstone, no headstone, d /o Joseph and Celia Sallie C. d/o J.L. and I, b. 14 Feb 1888, d. 8 May 1888 Samuel S. Atwi ll, M.D. b. 6 Feb 1823, d. 7 July 1851, aged 38 years, m. 22 Oct 1846 to Chas. Seany Wathen Sarah W. Atwill, w/o E. H. Atwill b. 28 June 1823, d. 26 Oct 1906 Thomas H. Atwill d. 11 May 1872, aged 33 yrs, m . 27 Sept 1866, Amy Hamilton William Samuel Atwill, footsto ne, no headstone BAB, footstone, no headstone Horace Pate, former slav e Ross, Jim, former stone (broken stone, no name found, but these dates-28 May 18912, d. 31 July 1892

NOTE: I have found Celia Simmons name spelled bot h “Celia” and “Cecilia” in the history written by Mona Atwill Clupper and in the Bible record.

The webmaster didn't include the Simmons information because of the story length.  If you are interested in the rest of the story contact Ann Sipes at atsgene2002 [at] yahoo [dot] com (atsgene2002 [at] yahoo [dot] com)