ELIJAH WAMSLEY (1805 – 1836)
See Jacob Coonce for further information
St. Clair County Democrat, June 13, 1840:
ELIJAH Wamsley was born in Harrison County, Virginia about 1805 and died in Rives County about 1836. He was married May 14, 1828 in Virginia to Lovina Waldo (1810-1868), the daughter of Jedediah Waldo and his first wife, Polly Porter.
In 1818, Jedediah Waldo had taken as his second wife, Mrs. Sarah Shinn Wamsley, the mother of Elijah, so the young couple had no doubt grown up in the same household.
About 1834, Mr. Wamsley brought his wife and their young children to this section, attracted no doubt by the accounts of the county given by his wife’s brothers.
He entered land in what is now Washington township of St. Clair County, about 12 miles from Osceola, out on Brush Creek, southwest and upstream from the farm of the county’s first settler, Jacob Coonce, who was
employed by Mr. Wamsley to help him with his farming.
Elijah Wamsley did not long survive the establishment of his home in this part of the country. In the fall of 1836, he was buried in a woodland graveyard near his place. He was regarded by all who knew him as a man of great worth.
In 1839, Jacob Coonce was married to Mrs. Wamsley and was a kindly stepfather to the Wamsley children. One of the four had died in infancy.
The children of Elijah and Lovina Waldo were: John Wamsley, born 1829 in Virginia. He went from St. Clair County to California in the gold rush on the train captained by his Uncle, William Waldo. He died
October 2, 1849 near Sacramento and was buried there. Adeline (Ada) Wamsley was born in 1833. She was educated at home by her mother and at school in town, where she stayed with relatives. She was one of the
group that made a trip to Virginia by river steamboats on the Osage, the Missouri, the Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers in the summer and early fall of 1849. The other members of the party were Mrs. Waldo P. Johnson and her infant son, William T.; Mrs. P.M. Cox with her daughter Margaret, her son P.M., Jr. and her granddaughter Lelia Crutchfield; Mrs. William McFarland Cox and Roderick Douglas McCullough.
Ada was never robust after this trip and in the summer of 1851, she became ill with typhus fever. She died at the age of 18, September 14, 1851 and is buried in the family graveyard near her father’s place.
Alexis Wamsley was born in Missouri in 1835 and was killed in St. Clair County in January, 1862. He attended the University of Missouri and was graduated in 1856. He had been reading law with Judge Johnson and in 1857 was admitted to the bar. For a time he practiced in Clinton and in 1860 was attorney for the 7th Judicial District. Later, he established himself in the Osceola office of Judge Johnson and looked after his affairs for him when he was away.
In 1859 he purchased the military land warrant for 80 acres in favor of Lawson Thompson, Private in Captain Robertson’s Co., Kentucky Militia, in the War of 1812, and as Thompson’s assignee received from President James Buchanan a patent for the east half of the northwest quarter of section 27 in township 36 of range 26 and added this to the lands he had inherited from his father.
He was married in 1859 at Clinton, to Mary E. (Mollie) Davis, daughter of Col. Davis of Lexington, Mo. Their daughter, Bunnie, died as a child while her mother was in exile during the war years. Their son, Alexis Wamsley, Jr., grew to manhood at the home of his Grandfather Davis and later moved to Colorado.
When Jim Lane’s intentions on Osceola became known here, the bank asked its depositors to call for their money and valuables and Alexis Wamsley was one of the citizens who complied with the request. He was given
several thousand dollars in gold in a small pine box, which he carried out to the Jacob Coonce farm on Brush creek and hid in a crevice of rock in a cave off the stream.
His wife and children had taken refugee in Arkansas with Col. Davis because of the troubled times, but his mother and step-father had not yet been driven out and Alexis Wamsley had stayed on trying to look after his property.
Early in 1862, he was preparing to join his family in the south and came by Jacob Coonce for a screwdriver, saying he would pick up some of his hidden gold, and would stop by before leaving permanently.
His family never saw him again. Some weeks later, his body was found in the woods about five miles from the home of his mother and stepfather. It was months before Mrs. Wamsley, in Arkansas, learned the fate of
her husband.
When the war had ended, the Wamsley gold, except for a small amount supposedly taken by Alexis and taken from his person when he was killed, was recovered by the family.
Mrs. Wamsley later married Dr. Owen of Trinidad, Colorado.
International Genealogical Index:
Elijah Wamsley, born 1800 of Clarksburg, Harrison, Virginia.
Parents: Samuel Wamsley and Sarah Shinn. Batch #9089705
Elijah Wamsley, son of Samuel & Sarah (Shinn) Wamsley. Married Lovina Waldo 14 November 1828 Harrison Co., WV.
Children:
John, born 1829 St. Clair Co., MO; died 3 October 1849 Clarksburg, Harrison Co., WV.
Adeline, born 1832 St. Clair Co., MO; died 1857.
Alexis, born 1835 St. Clair Co., MO; married Mary A. Davis.
Elijah Wamsley of Bridgeport, Harrison Co., WV.
Elijah Wamsley, born 1801 Shinnston, Harrison Co., WV.
Elijaah Wamsley married Levina Waldo 15 May 1828 Harrison, VA. Batch #8400305
Jacob Coonce, born 2 Feb 1806, St. Charles, Mo; died 1878 St. Clair County, Mo.; married Lovina Waldo 1839 St. Clair County, Mo.
Alexis Wamsley, born 1835 Missouri; died Oct. 1962. Father Elijah Wamsley; mother Lavina Waldo. Married Mary E. Davis 1859. Film #457375.
Family Data Collection:
Elijah Wamsley
Spouse: Lovina Waldo.
Parents: Samuel Wamsley & Sarah Shinn.
Born: 1800 Harrison Co., WV.
Died: 1836
Married: 14 November 1828 Harrison Co., WV.
1830 Crawford Co., MO Census:
Elijah Wamsley
Males: 1 age 15-20
Females: 1 age 15-20
1850 St. Clair Co., MO Census – District No. 79 Being:
Line 18, 21 September
237/237 Jacob Coonts, age 45, male, farmer, $2000 real estate, born MO
Lovina Coonts, 40, female, born Virginia
Adaline Wamsley, age 17, female, born MO
Alexis Wamsley, age 15, male, farmer, born MO
Mary Ellin Coonts, age 10, female, born MO, attended school
Elizabeth Coonts, age 6, female, born MO, attended school
David W. Coonts, age 6/12, male, born MO
Mariah Hampton, age 6, female, born MO
1860 St. Clair Co., MO Census - Washington Township:
Page 96, Line 35, Osceola & Howard’s Mill P.O., 10 August
683/652 Jacob Coonts, age 54, male, farmer, $5000 real estate, $7180 personal estate, born MO
Lavina, age 50, female, born VA
Mary E., age 20, female, born MO
Elizabeth A., age 16, female, born MO
David W., age 10, male, born MO
Jackson Thompson, age 39, male, born KY
St. Clair County Cemetery Records:
Horn Cemetery
Coonce, Jacob, age 75 yrs, died 21 April 1878
Coonce, Lavena, 01 January 1810 - 26 April 1868
