Noah Putman: Statement of Non-importation of slaves--Christian Co KY (1851)

I'm wondering why Noah Putman made this sworn statement.  Kentucky had a non-importation law(1833) that prohibited people from bringing slaves into the state for the purpose of selling them however I thought they had overturned that by 1850.¹ ² I'm wondering if his move was prior to the overturning of non-importation and he just wanted to go on record.  More than likely there was something else that prompted this.  But what?  I do not have his 1850 Census entry located.  His brother Hiram was in  Williamson County, TN during the 1850 Census and both would die in Kentucky by the mid 1850s.

"Deeds, 1797-1912; index to deeds, 1797-1915"

Christian Co KY Clerk of the County Court

Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah(1968)

Digitized by FamilySearch.org

Deeds, v. 34 1851-1852 Film # 463177  DGS 008338543

Image 51 of 429

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTN-GQD4-1

I Noah Putman do solemnly swear that my removal
to the state of Kentucky was with intention of becoming
a citizen thereof and that I have brought with me No slave
or slaves with intention of selling them so help me God
sworn before me-                  --Noah Putman
May 16th 1851
W S Talbott J P


Commonwealth of Kentucky
County of Christian to wit

I Abraham Stiles the clerk of the county court of Christian County aforesaid do certify that the foregoing affidavit of Noah Putman was on this day produced to me in my office by the said affiant & ordered to be recorded whereupon the said affidavit together with the foregoing certificate hath been duly admitted to record in my office given under my hand the 26th day of May 1851


attest Abraham Stiles CCCC
by A J Stiles DC

1. Tim Talbott, “Slavery Laws in Old Kentucky,” ExploreKYHistory, accessed July 18, 2023, https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/180.
2. Martin Asa Earl. 1970 1918. The Anti-Slavery Movement in Kentucky Prior to 1850. New York: Negro Universities Press.  Hathitrust Digital Library:  accessed July 18, 2023, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.30000055061109 .

William Putman Land Entry: Recorded April 1840

"Trust deeds, 1868-1966; deeds, 1799-1965; land entry, survey, plat books, 1824-1902, 1938-1966"
Williamson Co TN Register of Deeds
Microfilmed by TN Dept of Education(1965)
Digitized by FamilySearch.org
Land entry books Apr 1824-Jul 1902  Film # 454843 DGS  8475601
Image 223 of 487
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39N-4SKD-J?i=222
Entry No 1137   William Putman  1 October 1838
Recorded 9 April 1840
William Putman Enters a piece of land lying in
Williamson County District 25 beginning on
an Elm in Putmans old line thence North to
a Pin Oak thence West with Barrs old line
to the line of Jabin Putmans fifty acre entry
thence East to the beginning.

The Conglomerate File

Never judge a book by its cover, nor a file by the contents of the first few pages.  I have two examples in my own research where doing that would have caused me to miss out on documents relevant to my research.

The first case is a probate file.  When the county archives were receiving the record from the courthouse there was an attempt to organize the papers in file folders which resulted in the the combining of the probate files of two men who had similar names.  Most of the papers in the file folder are those of the man who died leaving a will but two of the pages are from another man a similar name who died intestate. The folder was microfilmed and is listed this way in databases of the online companies who carry this record.  I sent an explanation to the county archives and they now have this noted for the file there.  I've also posted comments to the digital records with an explanation in hopes that others could see that the contents were for 2 individuals.

The next example involves a Revolutionary War pension file where two men of the same name were combined. The first 10 pages of the file are for a soldier and the remainder are for a Widow's pension. When closely examined it becomes clear that the two men are not the same person but are people with a similar name.  Had I only read the first 10 pages and decided that wasn't my person of interest, I'd have missed out on the remainder of pages(almost 100) which contain a wealth of information.

You should:  

• Be familiar with the person you seek and their associates. (What distinguishes them from others of the same name?)
• Understand the source type
• Know what should or shouldn't be in the file(ie.  the significance of admin vs executor, etc.)
• Seek an explanation when things just don't make sense or items are missing 

Being committed to read the entire file is a part of reasonably exhaustive research.  Analysis of the source's history is also key.  Seek out a copy of the BCG's Genealogy Standards if you do not already have one.  The 2nd Edition Revised is the most recent printing.  Even if you aren't a professional genealogist, these standards will help to keep your research on track and keep you from building your own brick wall. 

Statement by Wm Harrison of his Rev. War Service

On May 15th of 1820 William Harrison appears before John McNairy, judge of the East & West Districts of Tennessee as part of his application for a military pension based on his service in the Revolutionary War.  After McNairy takes the statement and signs off on it he then sends it on to the Secretary of War, John C Calhoun.  These papers are included in the pension folder of Elvira Harrison(widow of William Harrison)

Image 386:  The "envelope" portion of the documents.
Image 387:  First page of statement by Wm Harrison to John McNairy

Image 388:  Last page of statement by Wm Harrison to John McNairy
Image 389:  Note to John C Calhoun from John McNairy with details

of enclosure from Wm's Capt. Macon and of where to send certificate.

These are just some of the details and the source list below contains information

on where to find the full file.  

Transcription Images 387 & 388

Image 387
District of West Tennessee
On the  15th of May 1820 before me the 
subscriber, a judge of the courts of the United 
States for the Districts of East & West Tennessee
Personally Appeared William Harrison
aged seventy years, resident in the county of
Bedford in the said District who being by
me first duly sworn, according to the law doth
on his oath make the following declaration
in order to obtain the provision made by
the law act of Congress entitled "An act
to provide for certain persons engaged
in the land & naval service of the 
United States in the revolutionary war"
that he the said William Harrison
was appointed and commissioned a
Lieutenant of Captain John Macon's com
pany of the continental army of the United
States during the revolutionary war in 
November 1776 of the North Carolina
continental line in the seventh Regt
commanded by Col. James Hogan
and that he faithfully served his
country until February 1778 at the
Valee(sic) Forge, when he was placed as
a supervisory officer subject to be called
into service when called on, that he was

Image 388
in the Battles of Brandywine and German-
Town, and that he is in reduced cir-
cumstances and stands in need of 
the assistance of his country for support
& that he has no other evidence now 
in his power that what now accompanies
this of his said services.  That he hath
long since lost his commission
sworn to and declared before 
me the day & year given
John McNairy  District Judge
Wm Harrison (signature)
I John McNairy judge do officially
certify that it appears to my satisfaction
that the said William Harrison did serve
in the revolutionary war as stated in the
preceding declaration against the common
enemy for the term of 9 months & was
at one time in the continental establishment
I am also satisfied that he needs the 
assistance of his country for support and
I now transmit the proceeding & testimony
taken & had before me to the secretary
for the department of War.  Witness my
hand the date above
John McNairy
District Judge

This is the back side of the papers which contain the statement

of Wm Harrison to John McNairy detailing Wm's service in the Rev. War 

as well as a note from McNairy to Calhoun and a statement from Capt Macon.

The papers were folded and the back addressed to the Sec. of War, John C

Calhoun.  Note the postmark:  Murfreesboro Tenn May 20 1820

[This was during the time period when Murfreesboro was the capital of TN(1819-1826)]

Source:  
"U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900," database with images, Ancestry(https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/26267:1995 : accessed 12 February 2023), H  > Harris, William - Hawley, James > Harrison, Sarah - Harsin, Garret > image 381-473 of 1112: citing NARA microfilm publication  M804, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Links of Interest: 

Wikipedia entry of John C Calhoun 

FindAGrave entry of John Macon

Wikipedia entry of James Hogun

Checking in: A Few Thoughts on Various Genealogy Topics

I am thoroughly enjoying Legacy Family Tree Webinar's Best of ESM Series which is a perk of their webinar membership.  Each lecture is thought-provoking and motivational in so many ways it's hard to explain.  That said, I'm not going to try but I will recommend that you look into a webinar membership to have access to that series and many more wonderful webinars.  There are so many opportunities for education when it comes to genealogical research methodology and techniques--many of them free.  Just Google your interest.

I've also been revisiting some of the record books from my earlier research armed with my more recent discoveries. Names of previously unknown ancestors and family associates help to pull things together and provide a clearer picture of our family stories.

I also need to revisit the YDNA results of my Cook(e) line.  My brother tested for us and over the years I upgraded it to the BigY.  If only YDNA testing was as popular as autosomal testing.  The cost is what prohibits many from testing. Hopefully that will change and more folks will want to have representatives from their family lines test--especially some of the more common surnames doing that. This would be a good way to prove or disprove a lot of the older research where DNA testing was not available as evidence.  In the Cook(various spellings) YDNA project we most closely match descendants of Shem Cooke of Amelia VA and later of Granville Co NC.  Our group is Rlb and is broken down into further grouping however there is a group of testers who also claim descendance from that same Shem Cooke who are J2.  One of us is obviously wrong (or there is a split after Shem maybe?) but which one remains to be seen. 

US Veterans Administration Payment Cards

If your ancestor served in the US Army or Navy, while you are gathering service and pension records, don't forget to look for a US Veterans Administration Pension Payment Card(s) if he or his spouse(or dependants) were receiving a pension payment between the years 1907 and 1933. See the article at Fold3.com(in link below)to learn more about the information which is included on the card. While I've gotten several Union Civil War Pension files, I've not found these payment cards as part of the pension file though ordinarily, the information contained on them will be on a number of the documents within the Pension packet.  The card provides a nice running list of the rate of the pension as well as the main pension agency responsible for the area in which the pensioner lived.  The images below are snippets of the ones US Veteran's Administration Pension Payment Cards of Army Widow Tennessee Hill(Widow of Henry F Hill).

Sources:  

Fold3, (https://www.fold3.com/publication/964/us-veterans-administration-pension-payment-cards : accessed May 13, 2023), 

"United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-X76D-M?cc=1832324&wc=M6RT-2NP%3A162330801 : 22 May 2014), Hill, Robert - Hill, Zubia L. > image 352 of 760; citing NARA microfilm publication M850 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

"United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-X7DX-F?cc=1832324&wc=M6RT-2NP%3A162330801 : 22 May 2014), Hill, Robert - Hill, Zubia L. > image 350 of 760; citing NARA microfilm publication M850 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

https://www.archives.gov/files/research/military/army/dc/m850.pdf