The Battle at Fort Supposition Against the Army of Doubt

Artist rendering of the Battle of Thames where the Kentucky Volunteers sought revenge for the Raisin River Massacre.  Remember the Raisin was the battle cry.

By Bob Ferris

Earlier this year I wrote a piece that dealt with the War of 1812 focusing on the frontier campaigns.  There were some interesting stories involving members of the Robb side of my family that descend through my grandmother Edna Dora Robb and my mother Mary Robb Ferris.  This makes sense as many who fought in these battles were from Kentucky and many in this half of my mother’s line travelled through Kentucky on their migration to other parts of the Midwest.  But what about the other half, those from my maternal grandfather’s side of the equation?

The ancestors of my grandfather, Robert Jackson Settles, have been in Missouri for nearly two centuries.  But they too seemed to have traveled from Virginia, Maryland or other states through Kentucky to get to this destination.  Were any in this line of an age, in the right place and did they serve in these campaigns?  Let’s see.

Robert Jackson Settles

When I look at this I come up with eight candidates who are all great-great-great-grandfathers of mine. They are:  Jonas Hammond (1770-?), Joseph Cook (unk.), William Brannum or Branhum (unk.), John Wesley Powers (1768-1820), Joseph Settles (1765-1863), John Fielder (1791-1864), Simeon West (1763-1853) and an unknown person with the last name of Powers.   From here it just becomes a process of elimination or inclusion with the latter urged on its way by serial supposition.   So here we go.

There were some easy eliminations and some that were hard.  For instance, there is simply nothing easily obtainable in regards to Joseph Cook, William Brannum and the unknown man with the last name of Powers.  So those three are easy to dismiss because there is nothing else to do.  Basically dead ends.  

The next set were harder.  I’ve looked and looked for information on Jonas Hammond.  I have seen evidence of his existence and birth in 1770 but not much more other than hints here and there.  I was hitting a little bit of a wall until I stubbled on this musty electronic reference (see above) which talked about brothers Jonas and Jacob heading to Ohio.  Once I had a state then I could dig deeper.   Then I found this reference for a Jonas Hammond passing on in 1809 with an Althina Hammond as executer (see also here).  This county also has records for Jacob.   As Jonas was more than likely deceased in 1809 he too was eliminated which probably leaves us with four, but to make the Jonas Hammond issue even more complicated there is some debate here on Jonas Hammond as some think that our Isaiah Hammond’s father was actually Thomas Hammond born in Baltimore in 1767.  This line has some documentation and would allow for similar supposition but it was not the horse I rode in on from my grandmother's notes.  But all this could change with additional information.  I have many questions about the line I sketched, but the Thomas camp argues for Thomas fathering 24 children and marrying someone 41 years his junior. Could happen, but we are once again left with supposition and doubt.

"My grandfather [Simeon West] was not old enough to take a part in the Revolutionary war. During his life in Kentucky he acquired a competency in land and negro slaves, but he was addicted to intemperate habits that disrupted his family and caused them all to leave home. My grandmother was one of the noblest of womankind. My father was the last of the family to leave home. he was then fifteen years old." From the Life and Times of S. H. West: with an Appendix On Evolution, Religion and Spiritual Phenomena. 

Simeon West who traveled west from Maryland has an interesting name, but from all accounts he was not such a wonderful person.  He was described as intemperate by his grandson and the point was made that his children took great pains to leave the nest early.  As expected, he does not show up on any military rosters for the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812.  So we are left with three candidates at this point.

I was hopeful with John Wesley Powers as I have always been a fan of the one-armed Civil War veteran and explorer John Wesley Powell who famously went down the Colorado River in a wooden boat.  Both of these gentlemen as well as the notorious pistolero John Wesley Hardin were all likely so named in honor of John Wesley the founder of the Methodist faith.  John is hard to trace in spite of his famous name.  We know where he was born and when.  We know he and his wife Naomi were in Kentucky by 1807 because their son Nathaniel was born there.  John at 44 would have been on the old end of things and does not show up on any the troop lists for Kentucky. So we are down to two.

Joseph Settles would have been on the long-tooth end of this too.  But Joseph also married a much younger wife and was still actively producing children during the War of 1812 and more than a decade after.  There is a record of a Joseph Settle associated with the Company G of 17th Kentucky Infantry but that is the wrong person and possibly the wrong war.  Settle and Settles were pretty much equally used for a time so this could have been our Joseph, but it is not.  Which leaves us with one.  

“Henry, my father, lived in Kentucky until 1851, when he emigrated to McLean county, Illinois, where he died September 10 1885. John spent the most of his life in Kentucky, then moved to Missouri, where he died. Eliza married Jack Fielder and lived and died in Pike county, Missouri. Cynthia married Asa B Eades and lived and died in Paris, Kentucky. Elizabeth married Thomas Eades, a brother of Asa, lived a long time in Paris and Lexington, Kentucky and died in Kansas City, Missouri. Caroline married Thomas Stewart, moved to Rush county, Indiana, where she died.”  From the Life and Times of S. H. West: with an Appendix On Evolution, Religion and Spiritual Phenomena. 

John “Jacky” Fielder was the right age and in the right place, but do we have records?  Turns out we do.  First we have records of a John Fielder serving in Captain Coleman Collier’s 4th Company in Colonel Scott’s Regiment of the Kentucky Volunteer Militia .  Then we find that Collier's Company was formed in Nicholas County, Kentucky which is northeast of Lexington.  Checking the records for Nicholas County at this point we find that there are only two Fielders in the county: George and John.  And then we find marriage records for John Fielder and Eliza West on January 17,1814 which matches with the narrative provided by Eliza’s nephew Simeon H. West above.  It is hard to know exactly where John Fielder saw action during the War of 1812, but his company under Captain Coleman Collier was at Frenchtown.  There his company was in the center column of the attack.  How this affected Jacky is not known but he married Eliza days short of one year after this battle.  

By 1850 the Fielders including Jacky and Eliza were fully ensconced in Pike County, Missouri. In fact, it looks like one of the grandchildren was even named Missouri.  It is nice to see hard evidence like this even down to Jacky and Eliza being listed below their married daughter Louisa Settle(s) who was wed to James H. Settles after he came to Missouri from Kentucky with his father Joseph.  Documents bring light and life to supposition and reduce doubt of which there is always plenty in dealing with the past.   

(Note: Simeon H. West cited twice above is notable both as a pioneer of Leroy, Illinois and also as a noted spiritualist who channeled Pansy (a 5th century BC Athenian), Abraham Lincoln and a Kickapoo warrior named Wausaneta.  He was clearly a learned man with an odd set of beliefs.  The word character comes to mind.)