Hello,
I'm researching soem early Knox county IN families, the most
mysterious of whom is the WILKINS family about whom I know very little.
They are believed to have migrated to Knox Co IN with the WIDNER family
& a BLACKBURN family in 1798 apparently from present day Hardy County,
West Virginia (in the eastern panhandle) or thereabouts, it was then of
course just Virginia & had been until recently Hampshire County. The
ever helpful Lee Widner has been my native guide in developing the above
theory.
I have found the following information from a family group sheet at
the National Genealogical Society in Arlington VA which was submitted by
a reputable Widenr researcher whose name I failed to note (gotta fix
that). JOHN W. WIDNER was born June 22, 1772 in "Virginia" (probably
Hampshire/Hardy Co) he married MARY WILKINS, born Aug. 23, 1773 in
Pennsylvania (which is not far from Hardy Co.)
They moved to Knox Co, near Vincennes in 1798 along with a "COL.
BLACKBURN" & Mary's brother ANDREW WILKINS who was a Lieut. leading a
company (which did not see much action) at Tippecanoe in 1811 & became a
judge, justice or lawyer later becoming an "Esq.". A Jacob Widner was
with them who I believe to have been John's father (or possibly an older
brother), he appears in Hardy Co records as Jacob Weidner, neighboring
Blackburns & Wilkinses. Jacob Widner appears to have died shortly after
the 1807 Territorial Census of Indiana.
In 1805 (if memory serves) the Widners et al. moved to new lands
further away from Vincennes which had been scouted by John Widner. When
their township was subdivided out of Busseron Township it was redubbed
Widner Township in John's honor. Supposedly John Widner had been making
shingles at the governors house when the Gov. & a friend returned from a
fox hunt & spoke of the area as showing signs of exceptional fertility.
John immediately received permission from the gov. to settle there.
In the early days of the Township John Widner would have a circuit
riding Wesleyan Methodist minister give services there once a month.
Soon the CAPTAIN CHARLES ( & Judge William) POLKE & BRUCE & ISAAC
MCCOY families (who had previoulsy lived in Shelby Co KY & Vincennes)
moved to Widner Twp. The youngest Polke brother, Robert Tyler Polke
married Eilzabeth "Betsey" Widner. The Polke clan founded the Maria
Creek Baptist Church.
It is quite possible that the Wilkinses were descendants of the
Robert Wilkins the Indian Trader clan of 1720's Conestoga, Pennsylvania.
There was the above named father (born in Wales) & 3 sons John, Thomas &
Charles, all Indian Traders & associates of Captain Charles Polke's
family ( his father Charles Polke the Indian Trader, grandfather Edmund
Cartlidge Jr. & granduncle John Cartlidge both Indian Traders). This is
a distinct possibilty, but so far as I can tell no one knows who Andrew
& Mary Wilkins parents were. There are numerous other Wilkins families
around of course. There is a Pennsylvania marriage of a Thomas Wilkins &
Mary Jaggard June 8, 1762, I've found listed on the web but no location
in PA is specified!
I have lots more info on some of these families if anyone is
interested. If amyone knows anything I haven't mentioned here please let
me know- Thanks, Don K donepg(a)erols.com