William Traughber (20 March 1744 – 1826)

On 18 October 1771, William “Droarbach” and Jacob Reif (his son and son-in-law) made bond in York County as administrators of Michael Droarbach, who had died intestate sometime in 1771.  On 21 October 1771 they filed an inventory of the estate of “Michael Traurbogh, late of York Township.” And on 1 December 1772 William Trorebach and Jacob Reiff filed the final accounting and settlement of the estate of Michael Trorebach.1  William was also co-executor of the 1770 will of his brother Adam.2 and William and Nicholas Trorbach were appointed guardians of Adam’s six children.   Although his brother Nicholas left the state sometime in 1772, William Trorbach remained in York County for the next several years. He is apparently the same William “Drorbach” on the 1779 tax list of York County, Pennsylvania taxed on 200 acres in York Township. He does not appear on the tax lists of 1780-1783.

He moves to “Carolina” and Virginia

On 26 August 1779 he petitioned the Orphans Court of York County to appoint a replacement as guardian of his brother’s children because “the said William is about to remove out of the State into Carolina”.3 And on 19 February 1780 the replacement guardian, George Sprenkle, acknowledged receipt of the orphans’ funds and released William “Trourbach” of responsibility for their estates.  While it is possible that he actually did move to Carolina, he was in Rockingham County, Virginia within a year.

Unfortunately, all of the early deed records of Rockingham County have been lost. However, the acknowledgements of deeds are preserved in the surviving court minute books. In them, we find that William Traughber and Nicholas Traughber both bought land from Andrew Hudlow, the deeds proved on 22 May 1780, and that William made additional purchases by deeds proved on 23 April 1782 and on 22 March 1784.4 He was also mentioned several times in the court records beginning in 1784, including his appointment as administrator of the estate of one Christopher Roadamour.

Unknown Wife

His wife’s maiden name is unknown, and even her given name is somewhat mysterious.   On 29 March 1786 William and his wife “Elizabeth” acknowledged a sale of land to John Eddy.5 Then on 28 July 1788 William Trobough and his wife “Catherine” acknowledged a deed to Catherine Sively.6  From these records, descendants have assumed that he had only one wife named Elizabeth Catherine.   It does appear that there was only one wife, as the Friedens church records show that the son Henry was born in 1785 and christened in 1786 to Wilhelm and Chatrina Trorbach, the same window of time in which her name was recorded as Elizabeth. Wilhelm and Katharina Trorbach were sponsors for another baptism in 1797. However, the same church records called her “Maria Chatr. Trorbach” when she sponsored a neighbor’s baptism in 1788. Chatrina Trorbach was a communicant in the Freidens church in 1791, 1792, and 1794 as well. Whatever her name, and whoever she was, “Catharine” seems to have been her usual name.

In the state census taken in 1784 for Rockingham County, William “Trobough” headed a household of ten whites, presumably himself and his wife and the seven known children born by 1784 plus one other person.   On 20 December 1787 in adjacent Augusta County, he was surety for the marriage of a widow named Elizabeth Shaver. Three years earlier he had posted bond for her administration of the estate of her husband, Peter Shaver, back in Rockingham County. The 1788 militia vouchers of Captain George Huston’s company in Rockingham County listed William Troubaugh, sons Jacob, Michael and William C. (plus 6 horses), from which we can infer that all three sons were over 16. The 1792 tithables for the same company listed Wm. Trourbough, 2 s(ons) Adam & Wm. Apparently the sons Jacob and Michael had left the county.

Meanwhile, it appears that the sons of Adam Trarbach, for whom William had been a guardian, had moved to Lincoln County, NC.  On 28 January 1790 Adam Trorback of Lincoln County bought 300 acres on Allens Creek in Lincoln County. He added an adjoining 100 acres five years later, selling most of this land on 19 May 1797. On 10 January 1793 Jacob Trurebough of Lincoln County bought 7.75 acres on Howard’s Creek in Lincoln County, North Carolina with Michael “Drerbach” a witness. William Traughber “Jr.” was in Lincoln County on 18 November 1794 when he bought 200 acres from Lodowick Prost. On 13 January 1796 “Wilham Troarbauh” and Jacob “Trorebaugh” witnessed a deed to Jacob Bollinger, both apparently German. On 26 December that year Jacob “Drobough” of Lincoln County bought an additional 256 acres on Howards Creek, with “Wilham Troarbauh” a witness.

To Logan County, Kentucky in 1809

William Traughber was said by his great-grandson to have moved from Rockingham County to Logan County, Kentucky in late 1809. A letter written by John Logan Traughber Jr. in 1889 reads as follows (rendered out of sequence to improve clarity):7 The letter is excerpted out of sequence to improve clarity.

“…William [Traughber], the grandparent of John L. Traughber, Sr. was born in Germany, and came to America sometime before the Revolution, from which war he was exempt because early in life he had suffered the loss of one of his eyes…The Rockingham Colony arrived in Logan County, Kentucky, just before Christmas in the year 1809. At the time William Traughber took the five months ride, he was 68 years old. He was born in 1758. He lived 17 years in Logan County, Kentucky and in 1826, at the age of eighty-five, he died in Maryland and his son, Henry died the following October…Though he had several other sons, he gave the property embraced in the Shaker town site to his son Henry, on condition that the latter would support him in his last years. The old man died somewhere between 1822 and 1826 …

Henry Traughber married Eva Nail in Virginia. She had a brother John Nail who went with them to Kentucky and from there went to the War of 1812, before the end of which he died. She also had two sisters, one married John Weaver, who died in Alabama; the other sister marrying Adam Pin___, 8 who died in Logan County, Kentucky…To Henry and Eva Traughber were born three children, one of whom died in infancy. Their oldest child was a son, the two younger were daughters. One of them married in Logan County, Kentucky, a man named Jubal Burton, and was the mother of one child, a son named Oliver. After moving a great deal, they settled in Du Quoin, Illinois, when Jubal Burton died, and where at the present time, (Sept. 1889), his widow and son are…

John Logan Traughber and Ellen Keziah Ross were married in Logan County, Kentucky, December 23rd, 1829…Ellen K. Ross was born in Logan County, Kentucky, May 15th, 1813, her parents being John and Elizabeth Ross, who were married in Fluvania County, Virginia.

The children of John and Elizabeth Ross were Priscilla, George, Arabella, Sophia, Clarissa, Peter, James Crewdson and Ellen Keziah. Of these several died while small, and four lived to marry.”

A similar family legend comes to us from the Hudlow family. Susannah and Elizabeth Hudlow were orphans bound out to William Traughber in Rockingham County.  Their descendants believe they were moved to Logan County about 1809 along with William Traughber. Susannah Hudlow married Jacob Mefford Sr. at about this time.

His arrival in Logan County in 1809 cab be confirmed.  He was William Traughber Sr. “now of Logan County” when he bought 194 acres near the Tennessee state line bordering his son Michael, from Thomas McLean on 6 April 1810.9 (Thomas McLean was indeed a Shaker, as John L. Traughber Jr. intimated.)  On 17 November 1810 he bought an adjoining 20 acres “on the side of an old road” with his son John a witness.10 He is not enumerated in Logan County in the 1810 census (only his son Michael appears) and may have been enumerated in the now-lost census of adjacent Robertson County, Tennessee. William and his sons seem to have all settled near or adjoining the lands of Michael Traughber just south of the present town of Adairville, some on lands bordering or straddling the state line with Robertson County, Tennessee. We therefore find records for them in both counties. William Traughber Sr.’s land was south of Adairville on “the road to Nashville” (that was also called the “old Gallatin road” in some deeds.)

William disposed of all his land in two transactions.   On 2 September 1817 he sold 91 acres of his 214-acre parcel to his son-in-law John Wideck, “reserving the privilege of getting water out of a sinkhole spring on sd. tract near Wideck’s house”.11  The remaining 123 acres he gave by deed of gift to “my loving son Henry Traughber” on 8 May 1818.12  This was evidently the typical arrangement of gifting land to a younger son in exchange for caring for an aged parent. William’s wife was not mentioned and may have been dead by this time, although the 1820 census does show a female over 45 in the household.

By the 1820 census, we find William Traughber Sr. and his sons Michael, William, and Henry as heads of household in Logan County.13  A fourth son, John Traughber, had died but his widow is listed in Robertson County along with Jacob Traughber.

William Traughber’s Estate

William Traughber died intestate, either in late 1826 as suggested by John Logan Traughber Jr.’s letter, or in early 1827.  (The reference to him dying in Maryland is mysterious, though he may have been traveling to visit relatives.)   An inventory of his estate was taken on 19 May 1827 and an estate sale was held the same day.1415  His son Henry Traughber was administrator of the estate, but died himself before recording the estate sale and final settlement.   The inventory and estate sale were both recorded by Adam Pence, the administrator of Henry Traughber, deceased, who was administrator of William Traughber deceased.16

At the time he died William Traughber owned no real estate, and his personal property was quite modest. The estate consisted mainly of a slave named Hannah and about $700 in loans to Michael Traughber, Henry Traughber, John Widick and others.  The estate sale yielded $150 for the slave and only $139.46 for his personal property.  Purchasers at the sale included his sons Henry and William, as well as “Little Henry” Traughber, John Traughber, and William Traughber “Junior.”   Notably, no widow participated in the estate sale.   Adam Pence recorded the final settlement on 24 April 1829, showing a balance of $913.69 mostly in notes receivable.17

Identifying His Children

There is no record found that identifies all his children, although we can infer most of them from other records. Tax lists in Rockingham County tell us that he had sons named Jacob, Michael, William, Adam and John.   John Logan Traughber Jr.’s letter adds a sixth son named Henry, the son with whom William Traughber was evidently living at the time of his death.  Marriage records for two daughters, Elizabeth and Catherine, also exist.  And we have a clue that there may have been a daughter named Anna.

One final note: In the Cook v. Cook chancery case of 1820, testimony was given that Nicholas Troarbach had impregnated a young woman named Elizabeth Rine (sometime in 1769 or 1770 as Michael Troarbach was still alive at the time). Her brother John Rine gave a deposition in the case, stating that his sister was living with William Troarbach at the time. In the course of his testimony he testified that “[William] Troarbach with whom she lived was a married man & had two children”. That suggests the third son was not born until 1771.

The Children

  1. Michael Traughber (c1767 – by Dec 1826) See separate page.
  2. William Traughber (6 September 1770 – 12 October 1854) He is apparently the William C. Traughber listed as a tithable in 1788. He was confirmed in the Friedens church on 20 May 1804 as a 33-year-old adult.   He does not separately appear in Rockingham tax records, so was apparently one of the unnamed males taxed to his father. William evidently came to Logan County, Kentucky with his father about 1809. He sold 340 acres in Logan County in four separate transactions to James Settle, all on 4 February 1813.18  In each case he signed the deeds as “Trawbough”. How he acquired this land I don’t know. The only early deed I found was a purchase of 20 acres bordering his brother and father in 1810. On 4 July 1814, Michael Traughber deeded “his brother” William Traughber a 31-acre grant by Michael near the state line.19  I’m not sure which other deeds apply to him, given the presence of another William Traughber in the county. He is in the 1850 census of Logan County, age 80, with wife Mary (age 60) and his son James. He and his wife Mary are both buried in the Traughber-Cook Cemetery in Logan County, where their gravestones bear their birth and death dates. She was evidently a second wife, as her birth date is recorded as 1782, much too young to have been the mother of the elder children. It appears that there were two sets of children. His first wife was apparently named Barbara, as the Friedens church records show the birth of a daughter named Chatrina in December 1792 to William and Barbara Trorbach, baptized two months later with William Trorbach (presumably Senior) and wife the sponsors.

    1. Henry Traughber (c1795- c1857) He married Catherine Rust 25 February 1817 in Logan County.20  Catherine was the daughter of Jacob Rust, as Henry and “Caty” were among his heirs in 1824.21   He is apparently the Henry Traughber who bought 132 acres in 1828 on the state line in Robertson County.22   He is in the 1850 census of Robertson County, age 54, with wife Catherine and two children. He died before the estate of his father was settled, as three of his daughters sold his interest in his father’s estate. Census records indicate he had two sons, but I’m not sure who they were. The five daughters implied by census records seem to include the following:

      1. Elizabeth Traughber She was the wife of George W. Babb and identified as a daughter of Henry Traughber in a multi-party deed in which they sold their interest in the estate of William Traughber to James S. Traughber on 26 April 1856.23
      2. Eliza Traughber. Though it’s hard to believe, there were daughters named both Elizabeth and Eliza, as both were parties in the same deed. Identified as a daughter of Henry Traughber and the wife of Samuel J. Murphy, she sold her interest in the estate of William Traughber in the same deed as her sister Elizabeth. There is a marriage record in Robertson County, Tennesse for the marriage of Eliza Traughber and Samuel J. Murphey dated 26 February 1850 and solemnized by Daniel G. Baird, a neighbor, on 3 March 1850.24
      3. Frances Traughber (c1828 – ?) She was the wife of Joseph F. Drake of Graves County and identified as a daughter of Henry Traughber in the same multi-party deed in which they sold their interest in the estate of William Traughber to James S. Traughber on 26 April 1856. The couple had been in Henry Traughber’s household in 1850.
      4. Sarah Traughber (13 May 1827 – ????) Traughber Cemetery On 23 January 1856 Jackson Rust and his wife Sarah, of Graves County, Kentucky deeded their interest in the estate of William Traughber to James S. Traughber.25  She seems to have been a daughter of Henry rather than William; the price was the same as the price paid to the other heirs of Henry Traughber. She had married Jackson Rust in Robertson County on 6 March 1842.26
      5. Mary Traughber (c1831 – ?)  She was in Henry Traughber’s 1850 household.
    2. Barbara Traughber   Married James Ivey On 5 January 1855, James Ivey of Graves County, Kentucky and his wife Barbary “being a daughter of William Traughber” sold their rights in the estate to James S. Traughber.27
    3. Jacob Traughber On 13 August 1855, Jacob and his wife Catherine, of Clay County, Illinois, sold their interest in the estate to James S. Traughber.28
    4. Daniel Traughber (30 November 1802 – 11 August 1881) On 13 October 1855, Daniel and his wife Elizabeth sold his interest in the estate to Jacob Mefford.29 They are listed in the 1850 census of Logan County with five children: Richard, Marietta, Henry, Rose A., and Sarah A. He and his wife are both buried in the Traughber-Cook Cemetery in Logan County, as is their son Richard.
    5. Ann Traughber On 13 October 1855 John Chapman and his wife Ann. “daughter of William Traughber” sold their interest in the estate to Jacob Mefford.30
    6. William Traughber On 26 April 1856 William Traughber of Christian County, Kentucky sold his interest in the estate “of my dec’d father William Traughber” to James S. Traughber.31
    7. Sarah Traughber She appears to have been the same Sarah Traughber who married Jacob Mefford in Robertson County on 27 December 1849.32   Jacob Mefford evidently had a full share in the estate of William Traughber on behalf of his wife, and bought other shares of the heirs.
    8. Alexander C. Traughber (7 March1823 – 1 December 1897) He married Rebecca Simmons on 22 January 1846 in Robertson County.33  He is in the 1850 census of Robertson County, age 26, with wife “Rebecky A.” and two small children. He was identified as a son of William Traughber in the same multi-party deed in which several heirs deeded their interests in the estate of William Traughber.[See 33] He and his wife are buried in the Traughber Cemetery in Robertson County.
    9. Mary Ann Traughber She was the wife of George Simmons and identified as a daughter of William Traughber in a multi-party deed in which they sold their interest in the estate to James S. Traughber on 26 April 1856. [See 33] The marriage of M. A. Traughber and George W. Simmons occurred by license dated 26 October 1850 in Robertson County.34
    10. James S. Traughber (5 June 1829 – 5 July 1861) Apparently the youngest son, he bought the interests of several siblings in his father’s estate. I didn’t track him further, but he seems to be the James S. Traughber buried in the Traughber-Cook Cemetery.
    11. John Traughber He is apparently the John Traughber, age 56 in the 1850 census of Logan County. His wife and children are identified only by their initials. On 3 May 1859, John Traughber and Mary his wife participated in two pro-forma deeds with Jacob Mefford and James S. Traughber designed to split the estate of William Traughber.35
  3. Adam Traughber (c1780? – 1845) 1780?? The Augusta County tithables suggest he turned 16 after mid-1788 but before mid-1792. Like his brother John he was apparently taxed to his father in Rockingham County until 1806, after which he was taxed separately through at least 1813, the last year checked. He appears on tax lists as “Troarbough” and similar variations although he and his children seem to have preferred the truncated spelling “Trobaugh”. As Adam “Trouerbough” he married Catherine Pence on 1 January 1800 by bond dated 3 December 1799 in Rockingham County.36 They remained in Rockingham, where Adam died in 1845 leaving the widow Catherine and five surviving children named John, Abner (also called Absalom), Lydia (wife of Samuel Fisher), Deanne (wife of Henry Tutwiler) and Elizabeth (wife of Conrad Miltabarger) according to a suit against his estate.  37  Two other children had predeceased him, apparently without heirs of their own.  His widow Catherine, age 80, was head of household in 1850. He and his children appear to have settled on the name “Trobaugh”.
  4. Catherine Traughber (c1783 – ) There is a record in Rockingham County of the marriage of Catherine “Trowerbaugh”, daughter of W. Trowerbaugh, to John Wideck (Weydig) in 1801.38 John Wideck was taxed in Rockingham through 1807 but not in1809 or thereafter (the 1808 tax list is missing), thus evidently moved to Kentucky with his brothers-in-law. As mentioned above, William Traughber deeded land to John Wideck in 1817, and Wideck witnessed several Traughber deeds in that decade. John Wideck, aged 41, of Robertson County, Tennessee testified in Augusta County in 1820 that he had earlier lived in Rockingham County.39 A history of Macon County, Illinois states that “John Widick was born in Rockingham County, Virginia and removed to Macon County in 1826” with his wife “Cohorine” Traughber.40
  5. John Traughber (18 November 1785 – c1820)   His birth and baptism (on 10 September 1786) are recorded in the Friedens church records in Rockingham County.  He and Henry were twins, not separately taxed in Rockingham County until 1806.  As John Trobough he married that same year to Elizabeth Tofelmire in Rockingham County.41  He was subsequently taxed in Rockingham through 1810 but not thereafter, thus was surely the John Traughber who bought 34 acres in Robertson County, Tennessee on the state line with Logan County on 15 November 1810, with William Traughber a witness.42  On the same day, and from the same person, he bought an adjoining 200 acres on the other side of the state line in Logan County, Kentucky, with John Wideck a witness.43  This land was adjacent to land owned by William Traughber, his brother. He bought another 164 acres nearby the following year on 11 October, with Michael Traughber a witness.44  He must have died before the 1820 census when his widow Elizabeth headed a Robertson County household of two boys under 10, two boys 10-16, and one girl under 10. In June 1822, guardians were appointed for his five minor children, with William Traughber and Michael Traughber, Aaron Orndoff, and Henry Helterbrand named as the guardians.45  The division of his real estate by William Troughber, his administrator, occurred in Logan County, Kentucky on 4 April 1827, with the land split among the five children with dower land to the widow.46   His widow Elizabeth made a deed of gift to her son Jonathan Traughber on 14 September 1830 of 11 acres and a house “that was layed out for me out of the estate of John Traughber…including the dwelling house where I now live…reserving the smallest room below stairs to live in so long as I live…” 47 On the same date, Henry Traughber and Jacob and Polly Cook “the legal representatives of John Traughber deceased” deeded to Jonathan their interest in the dower land of John Traughber’s estate.48  Two years later, on 12 November 1832, Levi Traughber deeded his interest in the dower land to his brother Jonathan.49   Elizabeth Traughber, the widow, is in the 1830 Robertson census (age 50-60) with two boys (20-30 and 10-15) and one girl (15-20) at home. We know (see below) that she was still alive in 1855, and the 1850 census shows her as age 75. She is buried in the Traughber-Cook Cemetery on the state line in Logan County next to her son Michael. Her headstone shows her birth date as 15 August 1781 and her death on 16 January 1860.

    1. Henry Traughber (15 January1806 – 1850s?) The Friedens church records list his birth (and baptism on 19 October 1806) to John and Elizabeth Drohrbach (in German). He may have been the Henry Traughber age 20-30 in the 1830 Robertson census, with a second male age 15-20 who was likely his brother Michael. He was 21 or over in 1830 when he deeded his interest in the dower land to Jonathan Traughber. On 10 April 1829, Henry Traughber and Naomi his wife sold the land he had inherited in the estate distribution.50  Henry and Naomi sold land to his brother Jonathan in 183551 and bought it back in 1841, and he and Naomi again sold land in early 1842.52  He is in the 1840 census of Logan County but by 1850 was enumerated Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, age 44, with wife Naomy and a 16-year-old son named George. Both Henry and Naomi were apparently deceased by 1860 when their son George sold his father’s remaining Logan County land.53
    2. Jonathan Traughber (c1808? – ?) He is in the 1830 census age 20-30 with an apparent wife and no children. He sold his inherited land, plus that which he had purchased from his siblings, on 7 January 1837.54   His wife “Brownetta” signed the deed. By 18 January 1841 he was in Carroll County, Missouri when he and his wife “Brewnet” sold his remaining land in Robertson County to Henry Traughber, presumably his brother. He and his wife “Brunetta” of Carroll County sold the dower land to Jacob C. Cook on 28 September 1855 describing it as adjacent to the Tennessee state line and where Elizabeth Traughber, Jonathan’s mother, still lived.55
    3. Levi Traughber (9 April 1811 – 17 February 1888)   He sold his interest in the dower land to his brother in 1830 and sold his own inherited land on 2 May 1839.56  He is in the 1850 census of Robertson County, age 39, with wife Mary and four children. His wife Mary was the daughter of Joseph Fiser, whose 1839 will names her and Levi and their eldest child Joseph Martin Traughber (1833-1915).57  He is apparently the Levi Traughber buried in the St. Michael’s Catholic Church Cemetery of Robertson County with wife Mary Ann (Fiser). Their headstones are the source of birth and death dates.
    4. Michael Traughber (20 December 1815 – 29 August 1856) He was probably in his brother Henry’s household in 1830. He is in his mother’s household in 1850, unmarried. Somehow, Jonathan Traughber ended up with Michael’s share of the estate. He is probably the Michael Traughber “lunatic” whose administration was granted to Levi Traughber in 1856.58  He is buried next to his mother in the Traughber-Cook Cemetery on the state line in Logan County, and his headstone contains his birth and death dates.
    5. Mary Ann Traughber She was the “Polly”, wife of Jacob Cook Jr., who deeded her interest in the dower land to Jonathan Traughber in 1830. Jacob Cook and his wife Mary sold her inherited land to her brother Jonathan on 29 October 1836.59  I haven’t tracked the Cooks, but this might have been the same couple as the Jacob C. Cook and his wife Mary who in 1855 purchased the dower land from Jonathan Traughber.
  6. Henry Traughber (18 November 1785 – 1827) His birth and baptism (on 10 September 1786) are recorded in the Friedens church records in Rockingham County. Henry was evidently one of the males taxed to William Troarbaugh in Rockingham County as he never appeared as a separate taxable. He was confirmed somewhat belatedly in the Friedens church in 1808, the record noting that he was aged 23 since the previous November.   Just as John Logan Traughber’s letter states, a record exists for the marriage of Eve Nail to Henry Traughber in 1809 in Augusta County.60 He does not seem to appear in the 1810 census, and may have been in Robertson County, whose census is lost.   Henry first appears in Logan County on 10 May 1815 when he bought 10 acres adjoining his father’s land.61  William Traughber Sr. made a deed of gift to his son Henry Traughber of 123 acres on 8 May 1818, describing it as “all of that tract of land and plantation whereon which I now live”.62 Henry was administrator of his father’s estate but died himself, intestate, within a few months of his father. He was deceased by 19 May 1827 when his brother-in-law Adam Pence filed his father’s estate sale which had been conducted by Henry. The inventory of Henry Traughber’s estate was recorded 14 November 1827 and the estate sale was recorded two days later.63  In both cases, the administrators were the widow Eve Traughber and her brother Adam Pence. There were apparently only two children, John and Sally. Eve Traughber had remarried to Joseph Fiser by 28 March 1836 when “Joseph Fiser and Eve, his wife, formerly widow of Henry Traughber”, John Traughber and his wife Ellen, and Jubal Burton and his wife Sally jointly sold the land Henry Traughber had acquired from his father “upon which Henry Traughber died”.64 Joseph Fiser made his will in Robertson County, Tennessee on 24 December 1839 naming wife Eve and several children (one of whom was the wife of Levi Traughber, 4.3 below.) Eve was evidently still alive when Fiser’s will was probated in September 1845.65

    1. John Logan Traughber (10 March 1810 – 8 January 1895) On 12 January 1830 Eve Traughber and John Traughber, heirs of Henry Traughber, sold an unspecified tract to Jubal Burton.66  The next year John Traughber and Ellen K. his wife sold 58 acres inherited by John to Jubal Burton.67  That means he is the John Traughber who married Ellen Keziah Ross by license issued 20 May 1829.68 The marriage date was three days later, according to the records of their son John Jr. He is age 40 in the 1850 census of Logan County, listed as John L. Traughber with wife Ellen and seven children: Robert, James, W. Bruce, Marquis S., Mary, Susan, and Harmon. There were two others born after 1850. John Traughber and his family moved to Carroll County, Missouri shortly after 1850. A son, John Logan Traughber Jr., wrote a letter in 1889 identifying his parents and providing some information about his ancestors, which is summarized above.
    2. Sarah Traughber (c1812 – aft 1880) On 12 January 1830 Eve Traughber and Jubal Burton and his wife Sally, heirs of Henry Traughber, sold 58 acres to John Traughber, identified as another heir.69 Sally Traughber had married Jubal Burton by license granted in October 1829.70 At some point they moved to Illinois where they were enumerated in Saline County in 1850, Sarah aged 38, with a 19-year-old son named Oliver.   In 1860 and 1870 they were enumerated in Perry County, Illinois where Sarah was age 48 and 52, respectively. By 1880 Sarah, age 68, was widowed and living in DuQuoin, Perry County with her son Oliver Burton.
  7. Jacob Traughber (c1771 – ?) He is listed as a son of William Traughber in the 1788 tithables.   Whether or not this is the same person as the Jacob Traughber who later appears in Robertson and Logan County is unprovable but it seems more likely that person was his nephew.

  1. York County Orphans Court Docket Book C, page 88. []
  2. All of these Adam Drorbach estate documents are photocopies of unbound sheets, obtained in the courthouse. I do not know into what book these documents were copied. []
  3. York County Orphans Court Docket Book D, page 114. []
  4. Constance & Louise C. Levinson, Rockingham County, Virginia Minute Books (3 books covering 1778-1792), p60 etc. []
  5. Ibid. p320. []
  6. Ibid., p788. []
  7. Posted in at least two locations on the internet, but I believe the original posting was by Kristy Williams on the Carroll County, Missouri website: http://us-gen.com/mo/carroll/pioneers/traughberrecords.htm. []
  8. This was Adam Pence, who married Elizabeth Nail in Rockingham County in 1808 and who died in Logan County in 1859. []
  9. Logan County Deed Book C, p91. []
  10. Logan County Deed Book C, p238. []
  11. Logan County Deed Book F, p225. []
  12. Logan County Deed Book F, p259. []
  13. The household of William “Trober” appears to include his son Henry’s family. Henry’s family was perhaps counted twice, once under his own name and once under his father’s. The household of William “Trober” is identical to the household of Henry “Trober” with the addition of a male and female over 45. []
  14. Logan County Will Book C, p403. []
  15. Logan County Will Book C, p207. []
  16. Logan County Will Book D, page 81 and pages 208-9. []
  17. Logan County will Book D, page 208-9. []
  18. Robertson County Deed Book J, p147, p484, p487, and p500. []
  19. Logan County Deed Book D, p157. []
  20. Marriage records of Logan County prior to 1818 are now destroyed. However, this marriage was recorded on a loose card copied many years ago by the Russellville DAR chapter. []
  21. Logan County Deed Book O, p141. []
  22. Robertson County Deed Book V, p73. []
  23. Logan County Deed Book 35, p140 , in which five children sold their interests to James S. Traughber. []
  24. Robertson County Marriage Book I, p174. []
  25. Logan County Deed Book 34, p523. []
  26. Robertson County Marriage Book I, p54. []
  27. Logan County Deed Book 33, p392. []
  28. Logan County Deed Book 34, p91. []
  29. Logan County Deed Book 34, p84. []
  30. Logan County Deed Book 34, p257. []
  31. Logan County Deed Book 34, p429. []
  32. Robertson County Marriage Book I, p174. []
  33. Robertson County Marriage Book I, p119. []
  34. Robertson County Marriage Book I, p188. []
  35. Logan County Deed Book 36, p457 and p463. []
  36. Virginia Valley Records, John Wayland, p11. The marriage return is also in John Brown’s journal. []
  37. Rockingham County Chancery Court Case No.17 []
  38. Virginia Historic Marriage Register, Rockingham County Marriages, 1778-1850, Vogt, John & T. William Kethley, Jr. (Iberian Press, 1984), p413. []
  39. Chalkey, Vol. II, p214. []
  40. History of Macon County, Illinois, John W. Smith (Rokker’s Printing, 1989), p296. []
  41. Vogt, p220. []
  42. Robertson County Deed Book J, p31. []
  43. Logan County Deed Book C, p234. []
  44. Robertson County Deed Book J, p147. []
  45. Robertson County Will Book 3, p402. []
  46. Logan County Will Book D, p18. Executed in Logan County Deed Book P, p63, p64, p65, p66, and p67. []
  47. Robertson County Deed Book V, p381. []
  48. Robertson County Deed Book V, p450. []
  49. Robertson County Deed Book W, p291. []
  50. Logan County Deed Book Q, p621. []
  51. Logan County Deed Book U, p93. []
  52. Logan County Deed Book Y, p72. []
  53. Logan County Deed Book 37, p332. []
  54. Logan County Deed Book U, p538. []
  55. Logan County Deed Book 34, p130. []
  56. Logan County Deed Book V, p402. []
  57. Robertson County Will Book 12, p459. Will dated 24 December 1839 and probated September 1845. []
  58. Robertson County Will Book 16, p276. []
  59. Logan County Deed Book U, p507. []
  60. The marriage bond exists in Rockingham County, and the marriage is recorded in Rev. John Brown’s journal. In both cases the exact date is unreadable. []
  61. Logan County Deed Book D, p311. []
  62. Logan County Deed Book F, p59. []
  63. Logan County Will Book D, p83 and p58 respectively. []
  64. Logan County Deed Book U, p269. []
  65. Robertson County Will Book 12, p459. []
  66. Logan County Deed Book Q, p470. []
  67. Logan County Deed Book R, p29. []
  68. Logan County Marriage Index 1818-1900, Book 1, p83. []
  69. Logan County Deed Book Q, p349. []
  70. Logan County Marriage Index 1818-1900, Book 1, p83. []