Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Zenas H. Vernor

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Descendants of Zenas H. Vernor

Generation No. 1

1. ZENAS H.³ VERNOR (HENRY², WILLIAM¹)^1,² was born July 14, 1808 in North Carolina, and died June 25, 1856 in Nashville, Illinois. He married MARTHA A. WATTS^2,³ October 20, 1831 in St. Clair County, Illinois, daughter of JAMES WATTS and CHARLOTTE PARKER. She was born May 23, 1816 in Georgia, and died August 12, 1885 in Nashville, Illinois.

Notes for ZENAS H. VERNOR:
Biographical sketches of Zenas Vernor and several of his descendants appear in various written histories of Southern Illinois and Nashville, Illinois.

The following is excerpted from a sketch of Zenas Vernor that appeared in a history of Washington County, Illinois published in 1979. It was written by Helen Smith (a descendant).

" (Zenas), with relatives and friends, came to Illinois in 1830 from the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains in Tennesee. They travelled in covered wagons settling first in St. Clair County. While there he met Miss Martha Parker Watts and they were married October 20, 1831. In 1833 they moved to Nashville bringing with them Martha's younger brother, Amos Watts, who lived in their home until adulthood. Zenas opened the first blacksmith shop in Nashville, a business important to the early settlers. Later he owned and operated a general store and then became prominent in politics. He served as County Judge and was elected to serve in the Constitutional Convention. He served three terms as State Representative.

"Zenas Vernor built a home for his family, a two-story house of hand hewn limber which was razed in (the 1970's)...Before there were any church buildings in the town, the Vernor home was open to the Methodists and Presbyterians for a house of worship, and many town meetings were held there.

"Zenas Vernor died June 25, 1856 at the age of 48, survived by nine of his eleven children."

Additional details in Zenas' life are found in "A History of Southern Illinois" by George Washington Smith published in 1912. (This work also contains information on Zena's father (Henry Vernor), and his siblings.):

"Zenos enlisted for service against the Black Hawk in 1832 and was in the field for several months before the old chief surrendered at Prarie du Chien in 1833...(Zenas) was not a man of culture and broad education, but posessed a good mental poise, and his native ability commended him to his countrymen, for they sent him to the constitutional convention of 1848 and made him a member fo the lower house of the state legislature in 1850. In political matters he was a Democrat. He died in June, 1856, in Nashville, on his farm, after having spent some years as a blacksmith and in mercantile pursuits."

One more published history adds a conflicting detail: In "History of Washington County, Illinois", originally published in 1879 and republished by the Historical Society of Washington County in 1990, a sketch of George Vernor notes that 'Zenos' Vernor was born in South Carolina. This history also adds that Zenos' family emigrated to Tennessee in 1813.

A final note: In some cases 'Zenas' is spelled 'Zenos'. I have chosen the former, based on the inscription on his grave marker, which I visited in 1994. One can only speculate that this is due to the generally inaccurate spelling of the early 19th Century, or perhaps because some later descendants with the same name used the 'o'.

Children of ZENAS VERNOR and MARTHA WATTS are:

	i.	JAMES H.⁴ VERNOR, b. December 5, 1832; d. March 9, 1856.
	ii.	WILLIAM Z. VERNOR, b. October 30, 1834; d. March 11, 1838.
2.	iii.	CHRISTIANA AUGUSTA VERNOR, b. August 18, 1837, Nashville, Illinois; d. December 21, 1910.
3.	iv.	GEORGE W. VERNOR, b. October 23, 1839, Nashville, IL; d. March 12, 1915.
4.	v.	DANIEL HATTON VERNOR, b. April 21, 1842, Nashville, IL; d. September 3, 1864.
5.	vi.	FRANCIS MARION VERNOR, b. October 12, 1844, Nashville, IL; d. March 1, 1913, Salem, Illinois (East Lawn).
6.	vii.	DR. RICHARD ENLOE VERNOR, b. December 19, 1846, Nashville, IL; d. April 4, 1922.
	viii.	MARY CORNELIA VERNOR, b. March 7, 1849; d. February 1, 1903; m. JAMES B. STOKER; d. Unknown.
	ix.	JOSEPH AMOS VERNOR, b. January 19, 1851; d. June 26, 1879.
7.	x.	LAURA HARRIET VERNOR, b. February 13, 1853; d. March 29, 1906.
8.	xi.	JOHN H. VERNOR, b. 1854; d. 1929.

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