I have another of my treasures to share with you today.  This is an old tax receipt for 1825, given to me by my great-aunt, Lillie Montgomery Goodrich.

Ann Edwards was my 4th great-grandmother, at this point in her life the widow of Edward Barber Edwards who died in 1824.  Ann, or Nancy as she was generally known, was the daughter of Captain John Linton and Ann Nancy Mason, born about 1778 in Loudoun County, Virginia, while the Revolutionary War was raging.  Edward was the son of Jonathan Edwards and Sarah Barber, born April 21, 1768 in Maryland.  Nancy Linton and Edward B. Edwards were married about 1796 – their first child, daughter Susan Clark Edwards, was born in 1797.  In all they had 8 children –  John Linton, Catherine Kitural, Jonathan Joseph, Benjamin Mason, Mary Jane, Martha L. and Sarah Barber Edwards – each and every one given the name of a grandparent or other family member.

After the Revolutionary War, the family continued to live in Loudoun County until the turn of the century.  At that point many moved to the Washington-Nelson County area of Kentucky, buying land and building homes.  In 1818 Captain John and wife Nancy moved, along with the rest of the children and grandchildren – and other family members who were left in Virginia.  Nancy and Edward Edwards were part of this caravan, arriving in Washington County in November of that year.  During the trip through the Cumberland Gap Nancy’s horse was spooked and she was thrown, breaking her leg.  She made the remainder of the trip in a litter, and never walked again.

Of the 8 children of Nancy and Edward, only half married.  Susan Clark Edwards married John Cotton Taylor – November 25, 1828, in Washington County.  John Linton Edwards married Mildred L. Linton – October 13, 1831, in Logan County, Kentucky.  Jonathan Joseph Edwards married Nancy Millie Linton – July 20, 1829, in Washington County.  And Martha L. Edwards married Stephen T. Clarkson -June 19, 1848, in Washington County.  The other four remained unmarried, but cared for nieces and nephews and other orphaned children during their long lives.

Nancy Linton Edwards outlived her husband by 37 years.  She was a tough, pioneering woman, who died at the age of 83 in 1861.

Back to the tax receipt.  The two hundred acres of land was given to Nancy and Edward by her parents, Captain John and Ann Linton, part of the 2,000 acres he purchased before moving to Kentucky from Virginia.  The 4 tithes would be her 4 sons, none were married in 1825, all still living at home.  She paid tax on 4 Negroes and 4 horses.  I believe we would all appreciate a tax of 6 dollars and 18 3/4 cents!