
The Descendants of
James Austin Webb & Lucinda Meece
Compiled by Bonnie Gaunt Snow
James
Austin Webb was born October 29, 1819 in Tazewell County, Virginia, I
have not yet discovered whom his parents were. At some point James
Austin migrated to Pulaski County, Kentucky where he married Lucinda
Meece, daughter of John Meece and Christina Vaught, on October 18,
1848. Shortly after their marriage, James and Lucinda moved to Grant
County, Kentucky where they appear on the 1850 Federal Census.
James and Lucinda bought 100 + acres in the Grassy Creek area of Grant
County. This property is located off Lemon & Nortcutt Rd. on Larkin
Lane. Part of the property is in Pendleton County. They also owned
property and homes in Knoxville
James Austin Webb & Lucinda had the following children:
1. Josephus Webb was born 1851 in Grant County, Kentucky. According to
the Barton Papers he married Miss Lizzie, I have not discovered her
maiden name, or the names of their children.
2. James Madison Webb was born April 29, 1853 in Grant County,
Kentucky; he died October 14, 1922 in Scott County, Kentucky. I have no
other data.
3. Franklin Pierce Webb was born April 25, 1856 in Grant County,
Kentucky; he died November 16, 1947 in Grant County. According to the
Barton Papers married Miss Nettie, maiden name unknown.
4. Tennessee Belle Webb was born January 8, 1859 in Grant County,
Kentucky; she died shortly after giving birth January 5, 1881 in Grant
County. She married Martin Mann in the home of her parents on July 19,
1877. Martin Mann was born October 1, 1855 in Grant County, Kentucky he
was the son of Eli Mann & Lydia Ann Purdy. Martin died September 9,
1904 in Grant County. Tennessee Belle and Martin had two sons, Charles
Austin Mann, born August 16, 1878 and Fred F. Mann, born January 1881.
As was generally the custom of this era, Tennessee Belle's parents
raised her two young sons. Tennessee Belle was buried in the Carter
Chapel Cemetery located on Carter Chapel Road approximately 1/4 mile
south of the Kenton/Pendleton County line. The tombstone states that
she was born 1-8-1850 and died 1-5-1881, wife of Martin Mann. I have
found no other Mann or Webb buried in this cemetery.
5. Augusta Virginia Webb was born circa 1862 in Grant County, Kentucky;
according to the Barton Papers, she married Mr. Kinney.
6. Samuel J. Webb was born circa 1864 in Grant County, Kentucky; he
died June 30, 1936 in Grant County. Samuel married Catherine Marks May
18, 1899 in Grant County in the home of Catherine's parents. Catherine
was born circa 1883 in Kentucky; she died October 21, 1944 in Grant
County. Samuel and Catherine are buried adjacent to his parents in the
Williamstown Cemetery, Grant County, Kentucky. They had at least two
children, Katherine Webb & Iris Webb.
7. Harriet Webb was born April 19, 1868 in Grant County, Kentucky; she
died January 29, 1904 in Grant County from injuries she received in a
tragic fire. She married Thomas Jefferson Hutchinson circa 1898 in
either Grant or Pendleton County. "Hattie" & T. J. Hutchinson had
two children, Webb Leland born October 21, 1899 & Nola. Webb
married Hattie Maude Elliott and Nola married Clyde Sydnor.
THE NEWPAPER ACCOUNT OF HATTIE'S DEATH
Williamstown Courier, Dry Ridge News
Thursday, February 3, 1904 Page 8.
A horrible accident occurred at the home of T. J. Hutchinson, four
miles east of Dry Ridge, at half past eight O'clock last Friday
evening. The family had all retired save Mrs. Hutchinson. A lamp had
been sitting on the mantel under the stovepipe, which had become very
hot from a big fire in a stove. As Mrs. Hutchinson picked up the lamp
to blow it out she said to her husband, "This lamp is awful hot," and
as she proceeded to put it out it exploded. The oil flew all over her,
and she was enveloped in flames in a moment. She seized some comforts
and tried, with the aid of Mr. Hutchinson, to smother the flames, and
thought they had done so. The husband put her outside the door and
returned to rescue his four children. When he had gotten his children
out he was horrified to find his wife horribly burned. She lingered in
great agony until Saturday morning, when death put an end to her
suffering. Mr. Hutchinson's hands and his face and his body were also
badly burned, but it is thought he will recover. The children were
saved. The house and contents were consumed. Mrs. Hutchinson's funeral
was preached at the Knoxville Baptist Church by Rev. William McMillan,
after which she was buried in the Knoxville Cemetery.
8. Sarah J. Webb was born March 1870 in Grant County, Kentucky; she was
a twin sister to Mary Elizabeth Webb. "Sallie" married Walker L. Atkins
May 4, 1898 in Grant County. Sarah & Walker had at least one child,
Herbert Atkins, born June 20, 1899 in Grant County.
9. Mary Elizabeth Webb was born March 1870 in Grant County, Kentucky;
she was a twin sister to Sarah J. Webb. "Mollie" married Clarence
Nimrod Ashcraft, son of Nimrod Kennison Ashcraft & Amanda Daugherty
on July 25, 1894 in Grant County at the home of her mother, Lucida
Webb. Mollie & Clarence had three children, Cecil Ashcraft, born
November 25, 1897 in Grant County; Iris Ione Ashcraft born March 24,
1901 in Grant County & Coloda Ashcraft, born March 7, 1899 in Grant
County, Coloda married Thomas Dean Webb November 29, 1919 in Grant
County, she died January 1992 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Coloda and Thomas are
buried in the Williamstown Cemetery, Grant County, Kentucky.
10. Cora Eliza Webb was born April 5, 1871 in Grant County, Kentucky.
She died March 23, 1905 in Dry Ridge, Grant County, Kentucky. The cause
of her death was pneumonia. She married Otho Stanley Ashcraft, son of
Benjamin Aschraft & Martha Ann Conner on July 31, 1895 in the
Knoxville Baptist Church, Pendleton County, Kentucky. Cora & O. S.
Ashcraft had two children, Verner Ashcraft, born January25, 1897 in
Grant County & Audrey Fern Ashcraft, born October 24, 1899 in Grant
County.
Notes for this Family: O. S. Ashcraft & Cora Eliza Webb Ashcraft
were my great grandparents. After their marriage, they lived on a farm
located off Lemon & Northcutt Rd. on Larkin Lane. In the fall of
1904 they decided to move to Dry Ridge so that my grandfather and his
little sister would be close to school and church. In the winter of
1905 my grandfather, Verner, age eight, became ill with a virus, and
Cora, while nursing him, caught the virus and died. My grandfather and
his little sister, Audrey, lived with relatives for a few years until
my great grandfather married Ollie Dean Stephens. From all accounts,
Ollie was a wonderful woman. My mother loved her dearly. Ollie and Otho
had a daughter, but tragically their baby daughter died when she was
about two years old. My grandfather had known Ollie for quite sometime,
I have an autograph book that belonged to Ollie. On August 10, 1888,
Ollie's birthday, my great grand father wrote "Remember well and don't
forget, You have a friend in Knoxville yet." I don't know much about
Ollie's family; I believe her father owned a store in Independence,
Kentucky. I think she had a sister, Carrie, and a brother, Forrest.
Cora was a member of the DAR, she made a remembrance quilt concerning
it; the quilt is now owned by my aunt, Barbara.
James Austin Webb died October 14, 1891 in Grant County, Kentucky, the
cause was cancer of the face. The following death notice and Memorial
appeared in the Williamstown Courier:
Williamstown Courier, Thursday, October 15, 1891.
James A. Webb, of near Knoxville, died yesterday morning at 4 o'clock,
of a cancer of the face. The remains will be buried at this place today
at three o'clock by the Odd Fellows.
Williamstown Courier, Thursday, October 22, 1891.
In Memorial:
At his residence in Grant Co. KY, on the 14th inst. James A. Webb fell
into the peaceful sleep which marks the end of each and All. Born in
the Old Dominion, reared among her sons of rugged independence and
toil, he early learned to respect truth and right. His brain was strong
and free. He was true to himself. No more honest child of nature lived.
He was aggressive, and for fraud and shame he prepared many a bomb. He
helped the right with strength, or stabbed the wrong with all his
might. He argued for a higher range of thought, for a happier action of
heart and brain. Like every successful man he was self reliant, and
toiled and searched and thought for himself. From the humble crusts of
poverty he rose to a competence unaided by any except a noble wife. He
too was attacked by that moral leper, the slanderer. Oh what bolts of
wrath and scorn should justly fall upon the guilty heads of those
heartless hypocrites who would not willingly let this aged care worn
traveler on his life's rugged road lie down to his last rest in peace.
They would have lied his life away had it been possible. They live in
an atmosphere where vipers hiss and serpents crawl. Their moral lives
are filled with rottenness, they are infinitely odious and damnable,
but veneered with honeyed words and good appearances. The dead leaves
to his family, as they never can do to theirs, the Nobel heritage of an
honest name. He was a brave and manly soul. He approached the final
hour with a courage born of conscious right. To the writer he said
"Death is Blessing," and he welcomed it as a sweet release from a siege
of pain. He died by the same grand philosophy he had ever lived by, and
now that he is gone from us sadly we miss him. Back to her great heart
Mother Nature has received her own again. To the inevitable decree of
death we all submit alike, for all nature woos man toward the tomb as
the place of his last great sleep. B. C. H. Simpson
The above memorial is strange indeed! Why was James Austin persecuted?
My great aunt, Coloda Ashcraft Webb, remembered her grandfather, who
she called Grandpa Austin. She was very proud of him. She recalled that
James Austin was a friend of Robert E. Lee and that during the Civil
War, Lee offered James Austin a commission in the Confederate Army.
According to Aunt Coloda, James turned down the commission; his
convictions were such that he refused to fight on either side. Could
this be the reason for the "moral leper, the slanderer" and the
"heartless hypocrites" hatred of him? It is my hope that someone will
read this and will know the answers to these questions.
Lucinda Meece Webb died June 11, 1897 in Grant County. James Austin and
Lucinda are buried in the Williamstown Cemetery, located in
Williamstown, Grant County, Kentucky.
Web Family Outline
Generation No. 1
1. JAMES AUSTIN1 WEBB1 was born October 29, 1819 in Tazewell County,
Virginia2, and died October 14, 1891 in Grant County, Kentucky3. He
married LUCINDA MEECE October 18, 1848 in Pulaski County, Kentucky,
daughter of JOHN MEECE and CHRISTINA VAUGHT.
Notes for JAMES AUSTIN WEBB:
Source: The 1860 Federal Census for Grant County, Kentucky states:
James A. Webb, male, age 40, married, born - Virginia, Occupation:
farmer. Lucinda, age 28, female, wife; Josephus, age 9, male; James M.,
age 6, male;
Frank P., age 4, male; Tennessee B., age 1, female.
James Austin attested to the marriage of William Collins & Malinda
Readenour on March 5, 1874.
1860 Federal Census for Grant County, Kentucky
Page No. 111 New Page No. 917
Schedule 1.--Free Inhabitants in_______ in the County of Grant State
of Kentucky enumerated by me, on 7/23/1860 . R.H. O'Hara Ass't Marshal
Post Office Crittenden.
Dwelling 755 Webb, James A. 40 M VA farmer $3075
Lucinda 28 F KY
Josephus 9 M KY
James M. 6 M KY
Frank P. 4 M KY
Tennessee B. 1 F KY
Williamstown Courier, Thursday, October 15, 1891.
James A. Webb, of near Knoxville, died yesterday morning at 4 o'clock,
of a cancer of the face. The remains will be buried at this place today
at three o'clock by the Odd Fellows.
Listing in the Williamstown Cemetery: Section 7-B: James A. Webb age 71
years., 11 months, 15 days, died Oct 1891. Lucinda Webb age 64 yrs., 8
months, 19 days, died 11 June 1897. Buried adjacent: Alberta Webb, wife
of W. J. Webb 10 Dec 1881 18 Mar 1900. J. S. Webb 1864-1936. Kate Webb
1880-1964.
Possible parents: George Webb and Betsey Perdew - Married Mar.10, 1817
in Tazewell, County, VA.
Notes for LUCINDA MEECE:
The June 17, 1897 issue of the Williamstown Courier states that John S.
Webb was appointed administrator of Lucinda Webb.
Children of JAMES WEBB and LUCINDA MEECE are:
2. i. JOSEPH2 WEBB, b. 1851, Grant County, Kentucky; d. October 30,
1925, Kenton County, Kentucky.
ii. JAMES MADISON WEBB, b. April 29, 1853, Grant County, Kentucky4; d.
October 14, 1922, Scott County, Kentucky5.
iii. FRANKLIN PIERCE WEBB, b. April 25, 1856, Grant County, Kentucky6;
d. November 16, 1947, Grant County, Kentucky7; m. NETTIE.
Notes for FRANKLIN PIERCE WEBB:
The Abstract Court Records lists Franklin Pierce Webb as being born
April 25, 1856 another has a male child born to James A. and Lucinda
being born March 17, 1856. I don't know which is correct.
3. iv. TENNESSEE BELLE WEBB, b. January 08, 1859, Grant County,
Kentucky; d. January 05, 1881, Grant County, Kentucky.
v. AUGUSTA VIRGINIA WEBB, b. 1862; m. ? KINNEY.
4. vi. SAMUEL J. WEBB, b. 1864, Grant County, Kentucky; d. June 30,
1936, Grant County, Kentucky.
5. vii. HARRIET "HATTIE" WEBB, b. April 19, 1868, Dry Ridge, Grant
County, Kentucky; d. January 29, 1904, Dry Ridge, Grant County,
Kentucky.
6. viii. SARAH "SALLIE" WEBB, b. March 1870, Pendleton County, Kentucky.
7. ix. MARY ELIZABETH "MOLLIE" WEBB, b. 1871.
8. x. CORA ELIZA WEBB, b. April 05, 1874, Grant County, Kentucky; d.
March 23, 1905, Grant County, Kentucky.
Generation No. 2
2. JOSEPH2 WEBB (JAMES AUSTIN1) was born 1851 in Grant County,
Kentucky8, and died October 30, 1925 in Kenton County, Kentucky9. He
married LIZZIE.
Children of JOSEPH WEBB and LIZZIE are:
i. RUSSELL3 WEBB.
ii. CORRINE WEBB.
iii. NETTIE WEBB.
3. TENNESSEE BELLE2 WEBB (JAMES AUSTIN1) was born January 08, 1859 in
Grant County, Kentucky10, and died January 05, 1881 in Grant County,
Kentucky. She married MARTIN MANN11 July 19, 1877 in the home of the
bride's father, James Austin Webb, in Grant County, Kentucky, son of
ELI MANN and LYDIA PURDY.
Notes for TENNESSEE BELLE WEBB:
Tennessee Belle Webb Mann is buried in the Carter Chapel Cemetery
located on Carter Chapel Road approximately 1/4 mile south of the
Kenton/Pendleton County line. The tombstone states that she was born
1-8-1850 and died 1-5-1881, wife of Martin Mann. No other Mann or Webb
is buried in this cemetery.
From the date of her death and the birth of her son, Fred, it is likely
that she died during or shortly after childbirth. Her two sons were
raised by their Webb grandparents.
Notes for MARTIN MANN:
Martin Mann's birth record states that he was born on Falmouth Rd. The
son of Eli Mann & Lydia Ann Purdy of Grassy Creek. (1855
Certificate of Birth # 2)
Martin Mann remarried after the death of his first wife, Tennessee
Belle Webb. He is listed as living with his brother, Tilford Mann, on
the 1900 Federal Census for Grant County, Kentucky. They are living in
the Crittenden Precinct, dwelling 292. The census states that Tilford
is the head of the house hold but he is listed as a farm laborer and
Martin is listed as a farmer. Also living in this dwelling were
Martin's second wife, Lenie, their son, Russell and their daughter's
Mattie and Carrie. Martin's son Fred, from his first marriage, is also
listed. Source of Martin Mann's death is from Grant County Deaths,
1904. Cause of death was cancer of the bowels.
Children of TENNESSEE WEBB and MARTIN MANN are:
9. i. CHARLES AUSTIN3 MANN, b. August 16, 1878, Flingsville, Pendleton
County, Kentucky; d. October 13, 1966, Gardnersville, Pendleton County,
Kentucky.
ii. FRED MANN, b. January 188112; m. ARTIE.
4. SAMUEL J.2 WEBB (JAMES AUSTIN1) was born 1864 in Grant County,
Kentucky, and died June 30, 1936 in Grant County, Kentucky13. He
married KATHERINE MARKS May 18, 1899 in At the home of the bride's
father in Grant County, Kentucky.
Notes for SAMUEL J. WEBB:
John Samuel is buried adjacent to his parents in the Williamstown
Cemetery, Williamstown, Kentucky.
Notes for KATHERINE MARKS:
Kate Marks Webb l is buried adjacent to her husband in the Williamstown
Cemetery, Williamstown, Kentucky.
Children of SAMUEL WEBB and KATHERINE MARKS are:
10. i. KATHERINE3 WEBB.
ii. IRIS WEBB14, b. January 1900.
5. HARRIET "HATTIE"2 WEBB (JAMES AUSTIN1) was born April 19, 1868 in
Dry Ridge, Grant County, Kentucky, and died January 29, 1904 in Dry
Ridge, Grant County, Kentucky15. She married JEFFERSON HUTCHINSON.
Children of HARRIET WEBB and JEFFERSON HUTCHINSON are:
11. i. WEBB LELAND3 HUTCHINSON, b. October 21, 1899, Dry Ridge,
Kentucky; d. May 02, 1978, Dry Ridge, Kentucky.
ii. NOLA HUTCHINSON, b. September 1893; m. CLYDE SYDNOR.
iii. LEROY HUTCHINSON, b. October 1889.
Notes for LEROY HUTCHINSON:
Leroy may be a child from a previous marriage of Jefferson Hutchinson.
6. SARAH "SALLIE"2 WEBB (JAMES AUSTIN1) was born March 1870 in
Pendleton County, Kentucky. She married WALKER L. ATKINS May 04, 1898
in Grant County, Kentucky.
Notes for WALKER L. ATKINS:
Walker and Sarah were married at the residence of Rev. G. W. Hill in
Williamstown, Grant County, Kentucky. Witnesses to the marriage were
Clarence Ashcraft, brother-in-law of the bride and Charles Atkins,
brother of the groom.
Child of SARAH WEBB and WALKER ATKINS is:
i. HERBERT3 ATKINS, b. June 20, 1899.
7. MARY ELIZABETH "MOLLIE"2 WEBB (JAMES AUSTIN1) was born 1871. She
married CLARENCE NIMROD ASHCRAFT July 25, 1894 in At the residence of
the brides mother, Lucinda Webb Grant County, Kentucky, son of NIMROD
ASHCRAFT and AMANDA DAUGHERTY.
Children of MARY WEBB and CLARENCE ASHCRAFT are:
i. CECIL WEBB3 ASHCRAFT, b. November 25, 1897, Grant County,
Kentucky16; d. December 05, 1972, Jefferson County, Kentucky17.
12. ii. COLODA ASHCRAFT, b. March 07, 1899, Grant County, Kentucky; d.
January 1992, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
iii. IRIS IONE ASHCRAFT, b. March 24, 1901, Grant County, Kentucky.
8. CORA ELIZA2 WEBB (JAMES AUSTIN1) was born April 05, 1874 in Grant
County, Kentucky, and died March 23, 1905 in Grant County, Kentucky.
She married OTHO STANLEY ASHCRAFT July 31, 1895 in Knoxville Baptist
Church, Knoxville, Kentucky, son of BENJAMIN ASHCRAFT and MARTHA CONNER.
Children of CORA WEBB and OTHO ASHCRAFT are:
13. i. VERNER F.3 ASHCRAFT, b. January 05, 1897, Grant County,
Kentucky; d. May 05, 1971, Wilcox, Arizona.
14. ii. AUDREY FERN ASHCRAFT, b. October 24, 1899, Dry Ridge, Grant
County, Kentucky; d. May 1972.
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