Fast Horses, Guns, and Bourbon

A friend of mine jokes that I have the ability to find all the bootleggers and horse traders in your ancestry.  Well, I’m not sure about that, but you have to admit that they might be some of the more interesting characters that sit on the branches of our family trees.  

I do have some horse traders and perhaps you might think of them as the used car salesmen of another era.  But, I’ll start today with a gunsmith, an essential occupation on the frontier.  

The “Kentucky Rifle”, was actually developed and initially made by German gunsmiths in Pennsylvania.  They are the ones who modified the old German “jager” rifle to make it lighter and more usable on the American frontier.  These were the weapons of the Kentucky long hunters like Daniel Boone, who ventured into the Kentucky wilderness on long treks to hunt and bring back fur and skins.  The gunsmith was also skilled as a woodworker and silversmith, creating beautifully carved stocks with silver inlays.  By 1785 European made barrels and mass-produced locks could be imported, but the gunsmith was still needed to rifle the barrel, carve the stock, and fit the lock.  Of course repairs were also a source of income.

In 1784 my 5 G grandfather, Lynn West came to Georgetown Kentucky from Virginia with his uncle Edward West.  He was only about 9 years old at the time and probably an orphan.  Edward West opened a gunsmith business, in Georgetown, just after the town had become incorporated by the Virginia legislature.  At this time Kentucky was still part of Virginia.  Georgetown is located in the bluegrass region of Kentucky, not far from Lexington.

Lynn West learned the trade of a gunsmith as he worked the shop with his uncle.  At the age of 22 he went back to Virginia for a time, marrying while he was there.  He and his wife, Susan Jackson, returned to Georgetown and he resumed his work in the gunsmith shop.  They expanded the business to include the manufacture of other implements such as pewter plates and basins.  Lynn also became a breeder of thoroughbred horses and had a racetrack just north of the town.  In 1836 Lynn died and the gunsmith business seems to have been taken over by his eldest son Lewis, who did well and employed several hands that barely kept up with the demand.

I am a descendant of Lynn’s second son, Preston, who followed his father’s interest in horse breeding.  What I know about Preston West comes mostly from tracking him in the census pages, but I like to imagine that he might have been a high-energy colorful personality, even though I have no basis for that assessment.  He was married three times, with the first two wives being sisters and he had at least nine children.  Tracking him through the records of history has been difficult.  His first wife, Elizabeth Crawford died in 1835, at the age of 26, leaving behind a son and two daughters.  About a year after Elizabeth’s death Preston married her sister Elvira, but little seems to be known about her except that she appears to have had at least two sons, one of which became a physician and served as a surgeon in the Confederate Army.  I don’t know when Elvira died but by the 1850 census Preston is married to Elizabeth, a native of South Carolina.  She is about 20 years younger than Preston, and they had several children.  At this time (1850) they are living in Charleston, South Carolina, and Preston is listed as a horse dealer.  He must have been fairly successful because he lists his estate value at $5000, which is about $137, 000 in today’s dollars.  A slave owner, he is recorded as having two slaves in 1850, a black 30 year old male and a 36 year old mulatto female.  

My next view of Preston West is in 1860.  He is listed in the Charleston directory as the owner of a livery stable at 56 Queen street, in the heart of downtown old Charleston.  His house is nearby at 97 Queen Street.  The 1860 census lists him (now age 55) with his wife and 4 children.  He’d prospered since 1850 and now listed his real estate holdings at $5000 and his personal estate at $7000, a total value today of over $300,000.  According to the 1860 slave census he owned 11 slaves.  My image of him begins to tarnish at this point.  Did he trade not only horses, but also slaves?  Charleston was a major point of entry for slaves and there was a large slave market there.  In 1860 there were 950 whites, 255 slaves, and 77 “free persons of color” living just on Queen Street.  My current opinion is that I don’t think he was in the business of trading slaves.  I found just a few transactions of Preston’s in which the sale of slaves was involved.  All of those transactions were the sale of slaves owned by deceased persons for whom he was the estate’s executor.  My guess is that the slaves he owned were for labor in his own business and home.  Was that better than being a large slave trader?  I suppose so, but he was a part of this cruel system that viewed humans as something that could be owned.

In April of 1861 Confederate troops fired on Ft. Sumter, marking the start of the Civil War.  And August 22, 1863, was the beginning of a long bombardment of downtown Charleston by Federal troops.  Pictures show a city practically decimated.    Did they stick it out or perhaps return to Kentucky?  What happened to their home and livery stable on Queen Street?   I have very few clues and the trail runs cold.  I haven’t found Preston or his wife Elizabeth in any censuses after 1860.  Their sons Edwin and Emmitt are in the 1870 census (19 and 20 years old) living in Charleston, S.C. and seem to own and run a hat store.  There is a transaction for Preston in Charleston, dated in October of 1869, but it is just a bill of sale for a mule. 

According to The West family register: important lines traced 1326-1928, by Letta Brock Stone (1928), Preston West died in 1894 in Kentucky.  There is a Preston West listed in the Cave Hill Cemetery database (Louisville) with a burial date of November 1, 1894, but whether or not this is my Preston West, I cannot determine.  Perhaps someone there in Louisville will help me by checking out his grave for more information.  The 1887 Louisville directory lists two Preston West’s, one a farmer at 1020 8th street, and the other a laborer at 628 East Street.  In 1890 the Louisville directory has one listing for a Preston West, located at 1223 W. Broadway.  These directory listings are poor evidence because I know that others named Preston West were in the area at that time. 

Mysteries like this keep us going back to our family trees and I’m sure that some day I’ll make it to Charleston and discover some additional piece of the puzzle of Preston West, the horse trader, and his family. 

By the way--- I have yet to find a bourbon maker or a moonshiner in my family tree.


-Mary

Update 10/2010:  I found this short death notice in the Weekly Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) dated Dec. 24, 1888:
WEST- On Sunday morning at 8 o’clock, Mrs. Elizabeth M. West, wife of Preston West, Sr., in the 67th year of her age.

My Connection:
Lynn West—Preston West--- Mary Elizabeth West---Gustavus Hardin---Nanine Hardin---Emma Fairleigh—Elizabeth Fairleigh--me

SEE UPDATES TO THIS STORY IN COMMENTS BELOW.  MORE INFORMATION CONTINUES TO BE UNCOVERED.


6 comments:

  1. UPDATE 5/9/2013-- I found the death notice for Preston West. He died in Charlestown, Indiana:

    Jeffersonville News (Jeffersonville, IN) October 31, 1894
    DEATH OF PRESTON WEST
    Preston West died at his home at Charlestown this morning in the 92nd year of his age. His death was due to complicated diseases.
    Deceased numbered among the oldest inhabitants of Clark County and was well and favorably known within its borders. His surviving children are O.O. West, the well known turfman of this city; Mrs. Bettie Hardin, Richmond, Va., Mrs. E. Wigginton, Mrs. Wm. Frisbie, Louisville; Ed. and Nettie West of Charlestown and one son residing in Charlestown, South Carolina. The time of the funeral is not announced but the interment will be in Cave Hill Cemetery.

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  2. Also- found the death notice of his son Orville West:

    Jeffersonville Daily Reflector (Jeffersonville, IN) August 13, 1909
    ORVILLE O. WEST IS DEAD
    Was Captain in Command of General Morgan’s Troops.
    Orville O. West, captain in command of General Morgan’s troops, which he accompained in their famous raid through southern Indiana, died Wednesday night of old age, at his home in Jeffersonville. He was born in Georgetown, Ky., and was eighty--two years old. His brother John West, also present during the Morgan raid, was killed later at Shiloh. His uncle, John West, is ninety-two years old and is an inmate of the Confederate soldiers’ home at Pewee Valley, Ky. A widow, four children, thirteen grandchildren and one great-grandchild survive. One son, Orville Jr., live in Los Angeles, Cal.

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  3. MORE RECENT INFO WHICH INDICATES THAT DURING/AFTER THE CIVIL WAR PRESTON DID RETURN TO LOUISVILLE AND SOUTHERN INDIANA:
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1872 > Caron's Annual Directory of the City of Louisville > 264
    West, Preston, trader, bds 282 Walnut, bet 7th and 8th
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1876 > Caron's Directory of the City of Louisville > 306
    West, Preston, stocktrader, bds 300 4th nr Broadway
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1878 > Caron's Directory of the City of Louisville > 322
    West, Preston, trader, r 271 Walnut, nr 7th
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1879 > Caron's Directory of the City of Louisville > 346
    West, Preston, livery stable, 60 Main, nr Brook, r 271 Walnut nr 7th
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1880 > Caron's Directory of The City of Louisville 1880 > 358
    West, Preston, trader, r 271 Walnut, nr 7th

    1880 United States Federal Census Kentucky > Jefferson > Louisville > 135 > 44
    Preston West, 78, horse dealer, bp. KY, father’s bp. VA, mother’s bp. VA
    Elizabeth West, 54, wife, keeping house, bp. So. Carolina, father’s bp. Ireland, mother’s bp. (can’t read it)
    Julia A. West, 15 daughter, at school, bp. So. Carolina, father’s bp. Kentucky, mother’s bp. So. Carolina, attended school within the year
    Jennie Thomas, 22, servant, single, can’t read race, bp. KY, father’s bp. KY, mother’s bp. KY

    Kentucky > Louisville > 1881 > Caron's Directory of The City of Louisville 1881 > 390
    West, Preston, stockdealer, r 271 Walnut nr 7th
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1883 > Caron's Directory of The City of Louisville 1883 > 477
    West, Preston, livery stable, ns Green bet 7th and 8th, r 1020 8th
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1884 > Caron's Directory of The City of Louisville, For 1884 > 430
    West, Preston, livery stable, ns Green bet 7th and 8th, r 1020 8th
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1885 > Caron's Directory of The City of Louisville, For 1885 > 429
    West, Preston, r 1020 8th
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1886 > Caron's Directory of The City of Louisville 1886 > 454
    West, Preston, stock trader, 1020 8th
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1887 > Caron's Directory of The City of Louisville 1887 > 503
    West, Preston, farmer, r 1020 8th
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1888 > Caron's Directory of the City of Louisville > 529
    West, Preston, r 1020 8th
    Kentucky > Louisville > 1889 > Caron's Directory of the City of Louisville > 560
    West, Preston, r 1020 8th

    Jeffersonville News October 29, 1894
    Preston West, Sr., residing at Charlestown, was thought to be dying last night of old age, he being 94 years old.

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  4. Appreciate your blog concerning West families of Kentucky. My ancestors were in Christian & Todd Counties, while many of my cousins were in Logan & Simpson Counties. Some cousins were in Owen Co., KY. We are all of the FTDNA West Surname Project Group #5. I have recently began a blog to help our yDNA cousins can work on connecting our various branches of this family. We call it the WEST Family Project. Visit us at the URL provided. My name is John G. West of Evansville, Indiana.

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  5. Hi Mary. I am also part of the WEST Family Project mentioned by John, above. My husband is in Family Group #5, descended from Wests in Simpson County, KY who moved to Pueblo, Colorado. Over at the West Family Project Blog, we just posted up information about Lynn West, in which I mentioned your blog site. Preston West is also part of Family Group #5. You'll find that you can now trace your family back to John West who d. ca 1744. Come over and enjoy the info! And thanks so much for yours. Go to:

    http://westproj.blogspot.com/2013/10/lynn-west-b-1775-d-26-jan-1836.html

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  6. Joy and John--Thanks so much for letting me know about the WEST Family Project!!! You have a wealth of good & well- researched information there and I am eager to add from it to my family files. My blog has more of a story-telling approach, but if anyone is looking for good details with listed sources, check out the WEST Family Project. http://westproj.blogspot.com

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