knew each other in adulthood. James Henry, the youngest child, who would have been only two or three years old at the time of the separation with his siblings, was evidently placed with another family. James Henry grew up having only a faint recollection of his family, recalling only that he had an older brother George who had played with him. The estimate of the year being 1820 or so, for the trip "west" is based on James Henry Maupin having been born in 1818 and the unlikelihood of his remembering anything before the age of 2l or 3 years of age, such as his recollection of "an older brother named George who had played with him." In 1833, at the age of 15 years, James Henry Maupin had two guardians appointed by the court. This makes one wonder if perhaps the mother didn't die until that time. James Henry learned the saddler trade from on of his court appointed guardians, Daniel Nolley, in Callaway County, Missouri. The other guardian was James Henry's cousin George Maupin, son of Mosias, who was the son of Jesse and Lucy (Jones) Maupin. George Maupin was, therefore, a nephew of his father's brother, Jesse Maupin, Jr. In 1834, Elizabeth Maupin married Marshall Ballew in St. Louis County, Missouri. By 1838, she and Marshall, her brother George, and sister Mary were living in that portion of Greene County, Illinois that was to become Jersey County the following year. Mary married Lewis F. Lynn in Greene County, Illinois, in 1838. In the 1840 federal census of Calhoun County, Illinois, finds George apparently living with Lewis Lynn and his wife Mary Maupin. Elizabeth (Maupin) Ballew and her husband lived nearby. By 1841, James Henry was living in Jersey County, Illinois where he married Mary Whisman. It seems highly coincidental that James Henry should end up in the same county and state as his three older siblings. Sometime in the 1890's, when James Henry was an old man, he happened to meet my great-grandfather, Francis M. "Frank" Lynn, the son of James' older sister Mary. Frank had a general store in the village of Otterville, in Jersey county. He had gone to the nearby city of Alton to get supplies for it, but it was growing dark. he knew he wouldn't make it back to Otterville before total darkness set in. At a farm he stopped and asked an old farmer if he could park his wagon on his property until the light of day would make it possible to continue the journey. James Henry Maupin was not a particularly friendly man, according to his great-grandson Leland Maupin of Otterville, Illinois. Apparently loneliness and curiosity made him go and
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start a conversation with my great-grandfather, Frank Lynn. It was no doubt when James Henry introduced himself as a Maupin, that Frank told him his mother's maiden name was Maupin. Upon further comparing of notes, it was discovered that James Henry was the long lost younger brother of Mary (Maupin) Lynn. Unfortunately, Mary, her sister Elizabeth and brother George had died many years before. In 1988 a Maupin researcher by the name of Bill Albertson of Kansas City had gone to many of the Missouri courthouses collecting wills and probate records of Maupins. I contacted him and after searching his many files of Maupin material, he found a guardianship paper for James Henry Maupin. This guardianship paper gave the name of his father as "Jesse Maupin." In 1991, Bill Albertson, in his continuing quest for Maupin data, found another mention of Jesse's name, in the survey records of Cumberland County, Kentucky. Jesse Maupin is recorded as a chain carrier for the surveyor. (A chain was used for measuring land, as it was surveyed.) In the obituary of James Henry Maupin, Cumberland County, Kentucky was given as his birthplace in 1818. It is unfortunate the guardianship record didn't also give James Henry's mother's name. The mother's name of Susanna would have been sufficient proof that the parents of the four orphan children were indeed, Jesse Maupin and his wife Susanna Dent. It is, however, the opinion of Bill Albertson, and this researcher, that other circumstantial evidence leads to the conclusion that the parents of the four orphans was surely Jesse and Susanna (Dent) Maupin. One of these circumstances is that Jesse's sister Nancy "Ann" Maupin married Francis Murphy. Francis Murphy was the brother of Susanna's mother, or in other words, her uncle. A researcher of the Murphy family by the name of Eva Conner has sent Bill Albertson some important data. This data places Francis Murphy and his wife Ann Maupin in Cumberland County, Kentucky when the 1820 and 1830 federal census were taken. There is a record of Jesse and Susanna (Dent) Maupin, giving Power of Attorney to sell some Dent land, found in Book 8 p 166 of Henry County, Virginia records. Jesse and Susanna were living in Grainger County, Tennessee at the time, as were Susanna's brothers John, Benjamin and William, who also gave Power of Attorney. This Dent land was being sold to settle the estate of Susanna's father Shadrick. The land was sold to James Murphy. Susanna's mother had a brother James, so this James was probably Susanna's uncle.
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