Hello all,
I've found the courage to start digging again and found this tax list
summary for Whitley Co, KY (where Zachariah of Loudon County received his
pension late in life):
Wells, Zachariah 1831 page 36 1 value: 0
Wells, Zachariah 1833 page 36 50 acres Poplar Creek (land first entered by
William Wells) Value: $125
Wells, Zachariah JR 1837 page 22 1 plus 1 dependent, Value: $50
Wells, Zachariah 1838 page 23 1 plus 1 dependent, Value: $50 "one store"
No tax lists have been found for 1832 or 1834.
I wouldn't have thought much about this except for finding a Junior. The
1838 entry is probably Junior and Senior probably passed on between 1833
and 1837. There are a number of other Wells living here as well. In
Alvena Henderson's book, she states that descendents of Richard Wells and
Nancy Brown settled in Floyd Co, KY which is a neighboring county. She
never mentions a Zachariah though.
Perhaps this means nothing more than the Loudon Co Zachariah had a son by
his namesake; but perhaps it means that people such as myself who descend
through Zachariah Jr have some double-checking to do.
On a different note, I saw someone mention a family of Wells coming to Lee
Co from Harlan Co, KY. Harlan Co, KY was formed in 1842 or 1843 and
borders Wise Co, VA. I have also read that the Pennington family was
active in developing a church in Harlan Co. If we could ever get our hands
on some of these early church records, I think we would strike gold.
John