Genealogy: Simple Gifts: Francis (Frank) Edmondson

Francis Edmondson was born July 27, 1802 near Rheatown, Greene County, Tennessee to Samuel and Elizabeth Johnson Edmondson. Greene County is in the rolling foothills of eastern Tennessee in the shadow of the Appalachian Mountains. Francis was the fifth of ten children. Samuel moved to Tennessee about 1780 from North Carolina with his parents, Solomon and Susannah Wilkinson Edmondson.

He and Elizabeth Johnson were married in Greene County on September 25, 1791.

Samuel Edmondson bought 200 acres at the head of Sinking Creek. This was adjacent to Solomon Edmondson and Wm. Handley (Deed Book 2, p. 254.ns ) On May 13, 1792 Solomon Edmondson (Samuel’s brother) bought 200 acres at the head of Sinking Creek, adjoining Samuel. On Dec. 6, 1806 Samuel Edmondson sold 200 acres on Sinking Creek. His father Solomon Edmondson, sold 200 acres on Sinking Creek on Sept. 30, 1807. At this time the family must have moved to Knox County because on October 10, 1807. Solomon Edmondson bought 93 acres in Knox County on the south side of Beaver Creek, and the north side of Beaver Ridge. The same day he bought another 150 acres adjoining the first tract. This was witnessed by Samuel Edmondson.

Sometime before 1827 Francis's mother Elizabeth died in Knox County. His father Samuel married Rebecca White on January 7, 1827.

Francis Edmondson married Jane Grayson on February 3, 1828. Jane was born December 12, 1800 in Knox County, Tennessee to John and Jane (Nancy) Grayson.

John Grayson was referred to as Big Ben so I am thinking his middle name must have been Benjamin. Apparently the Edmondson’s and Grayson’s lived very close to each other because Francis’s brother John married Jane’s sister Sarah Grayson.

Francis and his brother Solomon went to Indiana and settled in the same area. They filed for Sections 27 and 28, 3 miles northeast of the village of Mooresville on December 17 and 18, 1829. . Both Francis and Solomon are listed in theMorgan County in the 1830 census.

“When Frank left Knox County, Tennessee, he came by wagon, probably pulled buy oxen, because it took six weeks to drive from Beaver Creek, Tennessee, to his land in Morgan County. His young wife and small daughter, Caroline, came along, so the whole family, together with all of their possessions, came in that one wagon. Somewhere we have been told that Frank rode a horse, and his wife drove that one wagon. Their arrival was safely made through the mountains over the Cumberland Gap, across Kentucky on the Wilderness Trail, and they probably crossed the Ohio River at Madison. The only road northward was through Vernon, Columbus, and Franklin, where they could intercept the Whetzel Trace. They probably went westward to the bluffs of White River at Waverly. From there only a few miles were through a dense forest, and they probably had to cut a trail to reach the farm by wagon.
A cabin was built and the next fall Benjamin Grayson was born in that little cabin. The neighborhood was not to Frank's liking, too much work on Sunday, as a place to raise a family, so he began looking around for a better location.
Francis found land on the newly located Terre Haute Trail, west of Belleville on Mud Creek, which he entered in the land office at Crawfordsville. This entry was for eighty acres in section 10, Township 14 North, Range 1 West, in Liberty Township, Hendricks County, and was dated November 23, 1831.

He had learned that a nearby settler had also picked out this same tract, so he started to the Land Office at Crawfordsville on horse back and rode all night. When the office opened for business the next morning, Frank was sitting on the doorstep waiting to enter this land. After the entry was made and he was leaving the office, this other settler rode up on a badly spent horse and learned that he was too late.” (C. V. Edmondson, Family Historian 1963)
“On this land Francis Edmondson built a cabin, and here his second daughter, Elizabeth was born. This cabin was his home until about 1879, when it was burned to the ground with nearly all its contents. The new home he built on the old site is still standing (and still standing in 2011). The children attended school at Chapel School located in what is now the Clayton Cemetery, then nearby Kinderhook or Mitchell school just south of the crossroads of the old National Road and Clayton Hazelwood Roads. They all later attended the Belleville Academy.

Frank Edmondson became a man of considerable means and occupied a high place in the community. He was a charter member of the First Baptist Church at Clayton, which he helped organize and is said to have donated the land on which it is built.
He was tall in stature and rather austere in looks, but is said to have a dry sense of humor. In his later years, he wore a beard. He was frugal in his habits, cautious in business, and honest in his commitments. His rule of business was never to let the sun set, owing any man, even his hired help whom he paid at the close of each day. He had little confidence in banks, so he kept his money at home where he stored it in a wooden maul which was hollowed out and used as a doorstop. During the Civil War he would accept only gold, but after the war, when paper money was greatly depreciated, he saw a day when it would be worth face value, so then he bought all he could with his gold.” (C. V. Edmondson, Family Historian 1963)

Francis and Jane Grayson Edmondson had three children: Belinda Caroline born February 2, 1829, in Knox County Tennessee, died January 26, 1900 in Putnam County Indiana; Benjamin Grayson born September 10, 1831 in Morgan County Indiana, died March 12, 1919 in Hendricks County Indiana and Elizabeth Jane Edmondson born June 24, 1837 in Hendricks County and died June 14, 1931 in Hendricks County Indiana.

Jane Grayson Edmondson died on July 26. 1882 and Francis Edmondson died soon after on November 19, 1885. They are both buried at Clayton Cemetery just down the road from where they lived for 54 years.

Will of Francis Edmonson

Know all men by these presents, that I, Francis Edmonson, of Clayton in the County of Hendricks and State of Indiana, being of sound and disposing mind and memory do make and publish this my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all former Wills by me at any time made heretofore.

First:: After the payment of my debts and funeral expenses I give to my son, Benjamin G. Edmondson one hundred and sixty acres of land described as follows: The North East Quarter of Section fifteen (15) Township fourteen (14) North of Range One (1) West in Hendricks County and State of Indiana.
Second:: I give to my daughter, Belinda C. Ader, the sum of Six Thousand Dollars in money.
Third:: I give to my daughter, Elizabeth J. Marley, One thousand Dollars in cash and all of the home farm on which I now live, containing one hundred acres be the same more or less, which lies in the South West corner of the South West Quarter of Section ten (10) Township Fourteen (14) North of Range one West in Hendricks County and State of Indiana.
Fourth:: I bequeath to my said three children, Benjamin G. Edmondson, Belinda C. Ader, and Elizabeth J. Marley all the balance of my estate to be divided equally among them.
Lastly:: I appoint my said son, Benjamin G. Edmondson, to be the executor of this my last will and testament.