The West Chronicles

Recently, I asked ChatGPT to go through my blog and give me ideas for what I could do to make my website more accessible to new visitors. It suggested a welcome page. After I did that, it told me I didn’t need a curation of posts on the welcome page like it suggested because of the sidebar widgets that do the same thing. 😂 Alright then.

One of the things that post showed me though, was that all of my recent posts focused on my Dad’s side of the family. That didn’t seem fair, so I decided, freshly healed from an AI migraine, to give myself a West family migraine. 🙃

Where Did We Leave Off?

It looks like my last West post was when I was figuring out about Isaiah and his Z-ladies. This is where we realized that Isaiah West was married twice and both wives names started with Z ^{1 2}. I started to fill in the children information but then I didn’t move back from Isaiah. In fact, I am still frustrated with not having found any death record for Isaiah or his wives. I know about when all of them died but no record pinpointing a date.

According the FamilySearch Wiki, statewide registration didn’t start until 1911 and general compliance wasn’t achieved until 1917. This about sums up my experience on the matter. The counties I am researching were generally pretty good at record keeping. Usually I can find something in the county records. For deaths though, until 1912-ish, there just isn’t much luck for Bracken and Pendleton counties in Kentucky.

For Pendleton County, the local newspaper, The Falmouth Outlook is digitized and on Newspapers.com so that has helped tremendously. The West records have mainly been in Bracken County though and the newspapers online are spotty. I guess I should mention that I’m looking for online sources for now and making a list for a future genealogy trip. I know I usually show a heavy focus on online records but I do look in person too eventually. This is the curse of living so far from my ancestor origins. I’m sure anyone reading this knew that, but it’s always good to be clear. 😂

The above chart shows how the family looks when you have Isaiah West, his two wives, and then his children with each wife (so far). The reason I say so far is I’m not sure I have all of Zerelda or Zemiah’s children. The gray boxes indicated children who died without having been married or had children. Zemiah was recorded as having given birth to 10 children, with 5 still living in the 1900 US Census ³. As you can see in the chart, the five living in 1900 are accounted for and so are the two who died before 1900. Isaiah M. West only appeared as a 7 month old infant in the 1880 US Census ⁴. Charles R. West was listed in the 1875 Bracken County death returns ⁵.

In our Z-Lady timeline we mentioned Sally Ann West-McClanahan, Isaiah’s sister. We know Isaiah and his son, Henry, were living with Sally’s family in 1860⁶. Right next door to the woman he would marry in 1861⁷. We know about her will where she leaves her property to Jackson West ⁸. We know she was listed as living with him in 1900 and her relationship also said Aunt ⁹. So where else have we found some extended family cross-overs when filling in the basic information of Isaiah’s children?

Henry A West

In 1900, Henry and Lafayette West were living in Hazelwood, Missouri. It’s important to also note that they married sisters. In Henry’s household there is a cousin living with them, Henry A. Harrison, born Jun 1843 in Kentucky ¹⁰.

McClanahan Sightings

When you are searching your family, some names just keep popping up and McClanahan is one of those for me. I knew that Isaiah’s sister was a McClanahan by marriage, so I tend to want to track down every mention of a McClanahan and figure out which branch they are from, and there are a lot of branches.

I had found this article for my Great-Grandma Lula’s marriage and happened to notice that it said officiated by Rev. J. F. McClanahan ¹¹. I want to say I saw his name on the marriage record too but I just didn’t put it together at the time. I know, I would save myself so much time if I would have done all this the first go round. 😂 Can’t dwell on that though, just have to blunder on and do it right this time around. So Rev. J. F. McClanahan was actually related through Zemiah Black’s side through her sister Lucy, who also married a McClanahan ¹². Another Black sister also married a McClanahan by the way ¹³. So there is either a McClanahan section coming up here, or in another blog post soon. 🤣 Undecided yet, as I write.

In Michael West’s obituary they mention a cousin, B. F. McClanahan ¹⁴. I’m fairly certain this is the son of Sally West-McClanahan.

I’ll be honest, I have not tracked down all these connections yet in this family reunion article ¹⁵. 🙃 I am in a little over my head with all the new leads.

What Have I Recently Found?

So what have I been looking at the has me writing an update on the West family? Well, FamilySearch Full Text Search is to blame once again.

This is a Deed record¹⁶ and I’m unfamiliar with a lot of the older records, which is why I am currently watching a ton of webinars to add to my knowledge on how to really use these records. However, in this records, Joseph West and Benjamin C. West are acting alongside James H. Murray to handle the estate of Isaiah West, deceased. This is not the Isaiah I am familiar with though, because this record is from May of 1835. My Isaiah would be under 10 years old at this time. It lists the “infant heirs” of Isaiah West, deceased. Infant just means not of full age, not an actual infant.

In this record it lists the infant heirs by name: Rebecca West, Edith West, Sarah Ann West, Mary West, Isaac West, Hannah West, Isaiah West, & Alexander C. West.

Isaiah and Sarah/Sally West are familiar to me but how will I know if this is the correct family? I had 26 hits in Full Text Search to go through so bare with me. 🤣

In the Settlement of the estate in 1837 ¹⁷, there is payment listings for Elizabeth West, Rebecca West, William McClanahan (Sarah/Sally’s husband), Benj. C. West and then Jacob Stroube acting as guardian on behalf of the “infant children.” There were many entries of Jacob reporting to the court for these guardians. In the 1841 and 1842 reportings, I found mention of Edith and Mary by their married names mentioning their husband’s names as well.

Remember that Henry A. Harrison, cousin, living with Henry A. West in 1900? That is the son of Hannibal and Edith Harrison. Hannibal and Edith settled in Harrison County, Missouri and had at least 9 children.

Joseph West

There is still a question mark about Joseph West. My wonderful cousin, Christy, says she thinks he was another sibling of the West children and he did sign Marriage Bonds for Sarah/Sally’s marriage to William McClanahan¹⁸ and Mary’s to Abraham Free ¹⁹. I think she is most likely right. Joseph and Benjamin are listed in one of the estate records as acting “for themselves” and “as commissioners together with James H. Murray for the infant heirs of Isaiah West²⁰. Its most likely this means they are sons as opposed to brothers of Isaiah. It’s less likely brothers would inherit alongside Isaiah’s children unless they were co-owners of the land that is being sold. I haven’t found the answer to this yet, so I’m cautiously going to start tracking the records for Joseph and Benjamin while keeping it as a possibility they are brothers, though most likely they are sons.

Conclusions

This chart shows where the connections stand as of today for me. I am also fairly certain that the random headstone I got from Johnsville Cemetery in the early 2000s is Isaac West (brother of Isaiah and Sally) and his wife. It’s taken me a long time to get this much written up though, so it will have to wait for another time.

I also am making an effort to get all my sources up on the database section of the site. I am trying to add sources here, but I am sure I missed some and it’s already taken almost a month to write up all this. 🤣 I am leaving for a quick trip to visit family in Ohio in a couple days, so it’s best to just post this and hold the rest for another entry. I have put up almost all of the records I have recorded so far on the website, but I find myself out of time for now until I am back from Ohio.

What’s Next?

• Research the rest of the West siblings if possible
• Fill in information on descendants of the known West siblings
• McClanahans. So many McClanahans.
• Make a list of things I need to research on site or order.
• Map DNA Matches on this line

Source Citations

1. Pendleton County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds, 1799-1871, 1851-1855 (Bonds Only): 114, West-McClanahan, 30 Apr 1853; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 6 Jun 2026). ↩︎
2. Pendleton County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds, 1799-1871, 1849-1869: 205, West-Black, 4 Nov 1861; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 6 Jun 2026). ↩︎
3. 1900 U.S. census, Bracken County, Kentucky, population schedule, Berlin township, enumeration district (ED) 24, sheet 04-A, dwelling 65, family 65, Isaiah West household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 510. ↩︎
4. 1880 U.S. census, Bracken County, Kentucky, population schedule, Berlin township, enumeration district (ED) 15, p. 568-A, dwelling 260, family 260, Isaiah West household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 404. ↩︎
5. Bracken County, Kentucky, “Death Records, 1852-1965,” 1875 section, Charles R. West; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: 26 Jun 2026). ↩︎
6. 1860 U.S. census, Pendleton County, Kentucky, population schedule, Falmouth post office, p. 671, dwelling 1648, family 1616, Sallie McLanahan household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 392. ↩︎
7. 1860 U.S. census, Pendleton County, Kentucky, population schedule, Falmouth post office, p. 671, dwelling 1649, family 1617, John Black household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 392. ↩︎
8. Pendleton County, Kentucky, Wills, 1841-1967, will of Sally Ann McClanahan (1900); digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 29 Jun 2026). ↩︎
9. 1900 U.S. census, Pendleton County, Kentucky, population schedule, Falmouth, enumeration district (ED) 61, sheet 13-B, dwelling 246, family 248, Jack West household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 547. ↩︎
10. 1900 U.S. census, Webster County, Missouri, population schedule, Hazelwood, enumeration district (ED) 136, sheet 08-B, dwelling 110, family 112, Henry A. West household; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 Jun 2026); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T623, roll 908. ↩︎
11. “Windy Heights,” The Falmouth Outlook, 11 Jan 1918, p. 8, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-falmouth-outlook-taylor-applegate/195546889/ : accessed 29 Jun 2026). ↩︎
12. “Baptist Minister Dies in Bracken,” The Falmouth Outlook, 05 Aug 1960, p. 13, col. 3; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-falmouth-outlook-obituary-for-jf-mc/195549475/ : accessed 29 Jun 2026). ↩︎
13. Pendleton County, Kentucky, Marriage Records, 1799-1962, McClanahan-Black, 24 Jun 1858; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 8 Jun 2026). ↩︎
14. “Michael West,” The Falmouth Outlook, 9 Aug 1912, p. 5, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 Jun 2026). ↩︎
15. “Family Reunion,” The Falmouth Outlook, 26 Sep 1930, p. 5, col. 4; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 Jun 2026). ↩︎
16. Bracken County Court, Kentucky, Order Books, 1792-1924 B: 474, deed transfer by Isaiah West estate, 18 May 1835; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 Jun 2026). ↩︎
17. Kentucky, Bracken County Wills, 1797-1866, settlement for Isaiah West estate (1837); digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 4 Jun 2026). ↩︎
18. Bracken County, Kentucky, Marriage Records, 1786-1915, McClanahan-West, 7 Nov 1836; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Jun 2026). ↩︎
19. Bracken County, Kentucky, Marriage Records, 1786-1915, Free-West, 30 Dec 1840; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Jun 2026). ↩︎
20. Bracken County Court, Kentucky, Order Books, 1792-1924 B: 474, deed transfer by Isaiah West estate, 18 May 1835; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 Jun 2026). ↩︎