My great-great-great grandfather was Constant Oglesby Sr., who was born about 1748 in Goochland County, Virginia. He married Nancy Coursey, a daughter of William Coursey, date and place unknown. Constant Oglesby Sr. moved on - first to Albermarle County, Virginia, where he appears on the 1782 tax list; then to Edgefield County, South Carolina, where he is listed on the 1790 census. In 1804 he sold his land in South Carolina, probably with the idea of moving to Kentucky. In 1804 and 1805 he is not on the tax lists of Christian County, Kentucky, but his son, Jacob Oglesby was listed there in 1806. On July 8, 1807, Constant Oglesby got a land grant of four hundred acres (in what is now the Apex Community), overlooking Pond River on what is now State Road 189. In 1810 Constant Oglesby Sr. is listed as a resident of Hopkinsville, Kentucky as a shoe cobbler, although this listing could be that of his son, Constant Oglesby Jr, who would have been twenty-two years old at that time. Constant Oglesby Sr died in late 1837 or early 1838 as his estate was appraised January 8, 1838 and sold February 2, 1838. His unmarked grave lies in a cluster of trees overlooking the Pond River Valley. In 1875 Jacob Oglesby, grandson of Constant Sr. donated a plot of ground for a cemetery; this cemetery is southeast of White Plains, Kentucky, on a ridge that extends up from the Pond River bottom land. The road is named Oglesby Cemetery Road. Polly Oglesby, wife of Jacob, is probably the first person buried there as she died in 1877 and Jacob died in 1878; both have small markers under a large cedar tree in the cemetery, which is kept in good condition until the present time.
This research has been a fun thing and a continuing hobby that never has an end as more children are born each year. The most enjoyment has been the many contacts and friends that have been made over the years of doing this search. My thanks go to Mrs. Eva Edwards, a great-great-granddaughter of Jacob Oglesby, first child of Constant Jr. Mrs. Edwards owns a grocery store near Central City that her father, Arthur Oglesby started and it was still going in 1998 as Oglesby Grocery. Thanks also to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Oglesby, who live near Hopkinsville; Paul was born in 1918; he is a great-great-grandson of Jacob.
Billy Oglesby
Note:
Carole Palmer
About the Oglesby Family Article:
Within a year of sending me the Oglesby family information for the Webster County KYGenWeb page,
Billy Oglesby died in Henderson. We were never able to get together for a face-to-face meeting
but we talked numerous times via long-distance phone. He was a delightful gentleman - at age
seventy he was
full of enthusiasm
for the Internet and excited about the possibilities contained in a Webster County web page devoted to
genealogy.
Billy was
still very actively seeking more information about his ancestors. You can read
Billy Oglesby's
obituary online
and you can see a photo of
his tombstone at http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ky/union/cemetery/photo/boxville/oglesby.jpg
The fourth child of Constant Oglesby Jr. was a son, Matthew Wilson Oglesby, who married Susan Knight. They had nine children, with seven living to adulthood; they all resided in Hopkins and Christian Counties except the last son, James Delbert Oglesby, who came to the community of Slaughters in what would later be Webster County. These Oglesby descendants are buried at Sassafras Grove Cemetery between Henderson and Sebree, Kentucky.The third son of Constant Oglesby Jr., Stephen Decatur Oglesby, settled in the community of Ortiz, in what is now Webster County. Stephen married Louisa Betty Knight March 12, 1851 in Christian County, Kentucky. They were blessed with eight children, four boys and four girls before Stephen died March 8, 1870. Stephen and Louisa are buried at Mt. Lebanon cemetery along with their children Franklin Pierce Oglesby, Nancy Oglesby Fraser, and Mary Oglesby Ezell. The youngest child, Louisa, married and lived in Henderson. The other children stayed in Webster County, around Sebree and Poole.
The seventh child of Constant Oglesby Jr., Gustavas Adolphus Oglesby, is my great-grandfather; he also settled in the Ortiz area in Webster County. He married Mary Elizabeth Shelton, the daughter of Josiah Cyrus Shelton, who had moved to Henderson County the first time when Mary Elizabeth was about six years old. The Shelton family stayed in Kentucky for awhile but they did not like it and moved back east. After awhile, they decided they had rather be in Kentucky and they moved back, coming over the Highland Lick road in Christian County, Kentucky, camping by a big spring, near what was then White Plains, located near the present day Fruit Hill. Gustavas and Stephen Oglesby happened by the Shelton's camp. The older Shelton girls were grown and quite attractive and the Oglesby boys decided to continue on with the Sheltons. In 1852, Gustavas Adolphus Oglesby married one of the younger Shelton girls, Mary Elizabeth, in Henderson County. They had eight children while living in Ortiz, with two others being born after a move to Union County.
Gustavas (Doc) Oglesby served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was a short man, five feet six inches tall, with fair complexion and blue eyes. During his period in the service, he was accidentally hit in the mouth by another soldier, knocking out his front teeth; he was awarded a pension for his injury.
Until Stephen Oglesby died in 1870, he and his brother Gustavas lived near each other. A year or so later, Gustavas was again on the move.
In 1872 when my grandfather, David Wilson Oglesby was four years old, the family moved from Ortiz near Mt. Lebanon Church between Dixon and Sebree across Highland Creek, to near where White Lick Creek runs into Highland Creek in Henderson County. In the 1880 census, the family was living in eastern Union County, not far from the Webster County line. A daughter was born October 1873, but she died in January 1874. Nothing more is known about this child but her birth and death are recorded in a family Bible. Another child, Floyd Thomas Oglesby, was born March 13, 1877; he married Merty Stone and they had two children.
David Wilson Oglesby, who was 104 years old when he died March 21, 1973, married Martha Whitledge, who died in 1942. They were the parents of eleven children, six of whom were still living in 1973. A 78-year-old daughter, Miss Lora Oglesby, died days after her father died, and they had a joint funeral service. Read the obituary of David Wilson Oglesby online and see his photo. He and his wife were buried at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Bordley, Union County KY.
My father was Lester Oglesby, who was born in 1891. I am sending a photo of my dad and my granddad that was taken in 1954. Click here to see that photo.
Submitted by Billy Oglesby
If you have written an article about the history of your ancestors in Webster County please consider placing it online. If you have a published article that was written by someone else, you must secure permission before it can be used here. Contact Carole Palmer
for further information.
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