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Descendants of Thomas Billiou/Bilyeu

23. ISAAC⁷ BILYEU (JOHN⁶ BILLIOU/BILYEU, PETER⁵, ISAAC⁴, PIERRE³, JEAN², THOMAS¹) was born 1780 in Allegany,Allegany, VA, and died Aft. 1853 in Carroll County, Ak // buried at the head of Big Indian Creek. He married MARY ANN WORKMAN Abt. 1802 in Overton Co., TN, daughter of JACOB WORKMAN and ELIZABETH WYCKOFF. She was born 1787 in Cumberland , Allegany Co., Maryland, and died Bef. 1860 in Carroll County, Ak // buried at the head of Big Indian Creek.

Notes for ISAAC BILYEU:
Settlers were coming into Missouri and Arkansas for many areas, and from Overton County, Tennessee, other families who would be closely connected to the Melton's had began to enter Missouri on the westward trek. These included three brothers: William, Isaac and John Bilyeu, descendants of French Walloons whose ancestor had settled in New Amsterdam and 1661.

      Moving westward with the Bilyeu families were other families; among these were: Clinkenbeard, Harp, and Davis.

      Isaac Bilyeu died about the close of the Civil War , or after the war ended, according to granddaughter of Isaac Bilyeu's son Stephen. He died in Carroll County, Arkansas in the home of the son Stephen Bilyeu. He was buried near their home, at the head of Big Indian Creek, Carroll County, Arkansas. His wife Mary Ann and their son Jacob Bilyeu had been buried their earlier. It is not known whether Isaac owned Land their at the spring, or whether they were squatters. Records in Carroll County, Arkansas burned many years ago so none are available to show landowners at that date. Big Indian Creek rises in North Central Carroll County, Arkansas; flows North into Missouri and into Table Rock Lake in Stone County, Missouri. At that time the Creek flowed into White River.

WAR OF 1812
The Jenkins article says William Bilyeu served as a private in Capt John Kennedy's Company of the First Regiment Western Tennessee Militia Volunteers.
Isaac, according to the same article served in the First Regiment of Bradley's Tennessee Volunteers
Listed in Capt. John Kennedy's Company of Overton County, First Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Militia Infantry are:
Isaac Belyou, John Belyou and William Belyou.
This company was in service from 4 Oct 1813 to 28 Dec 1813.

Also signing a Petition of Inhabitants of Overton County is Peter Bilyeu.
The petition was read in the TN General Assembly on 26 Oct 1813.

The earliest Overton County Deed Books A,B & C - (1801-1813) lists John Bilyeu, Cornelius Bilyeu, Samuel and Oliver Bilyeu, James Bilyeu, John Bilyeu Sr., Peter Bilyeu. Books D & E - (1814-1825) lists Isaac Bilyeu, Andrew Bilyeu, Cornelius Bilyeu, C. Bilyeu, James Bilyeu, John & Isaac Bilyeu.
(note* the above Cornelius and Samuel were likely born about 1780-1793, this would put them earlier than any of the Cornelius or Samuels I have, perhaps children of the Peter Bilyeu's brothers that I have no listing for.)
There is a James Bilyeu b: ca 1780, NJ/MD, d: ca 1835, Overton Co, TN. Spouse: Unknown.
Children: Elizabeth, John S., Lydia, Cyrus, Jesse, Andrew and James Jr. that I can not place.

Isacc and brothers John, and William volunteered from Overton Co., Tn., in Bradley's 1st Regt. of Tenn., in the campaign against the Creek Indians; (War of 1812).
Listed in Capt. John Kennedy's Company of Overton County, First Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Militia Infantry are:
Isaac Belyou, John Belyou and William Belyou.
This company was in service from 4 Oct 1813 to 28 Dec 1813.

Also signing a Petition of Inhabitants of Overton County is Peter Bilyeu.
The petition was read in the TN General Assembly on 26 Oct 1813.

The earliest Overton County Deed Books A,B & C - (1801-1813) lists John Bilyeu, Cornelius Bilyeu, Samuel and Oliver Bilyeu, James Bilyeu, John Bilyeu Sr., Peter Bilyeu. Books D & E - (1814-1825) lists Isaac Bilyeu, Andrew Bilyeu, Cornelius Bilyeu, C. Bilyeu, James Bilyeu, John & Isaac Bilyeu.

A John Bilyeu, Sr. is in 1820 Census for Overton Co., TN along with Isaac, Oliver, and Peter. Overton Co. TN court records for 1815-1824 show the following Bilyeus (mostly for jury duty): Andrew, Cornelius, Isaac, James, John, Oliver, Peter, William. The Isaac (b. 1779/1780), John (b. 1775) and William are also documented as serving in War of 1812 from TN. William's pension record documents he and John as serving together.

The three brothers along with another brother, Andrew Bilyeu all came to Sangamon Co., Ill., for awhile then all moved to Miller Co., Mo., about 1830;(at this date Miller was not organized and the area where they settled was in Crawford Co., Mo.)

1800 Census of Kentucky
Isaac Bilyeu Breckinridge Co. 8/19/1800

1820 Census, Overton Co., Tenn. pg. 9
Bilyeu, Isaac age 26-45, Female 26-45, Male 16-25, Male 16-18, Male 10-16, Female 10-16, (4) Females 0-10.
Also in Overton Co. TN Census for 1820 were John Bilyeu, Sr (1m & 1f over 45), Oliver Bilyeu, and Peter Bilyeu. Also Benjamin Workman, Isaac Workman, and William Workman.

1830 Census, Sangamon Co., Ill. pg. 143
Bilyeu, Isaac 50-60, Female 40-50, Male 20-30, Female 15-20, (2) Females 10-15, Female 5-10, Male 5-10.

1840 Census, Miller Co., Mo. Glaze Twp. No. 107/107 living near John W. Bilyeu
Bilyeu, Isaac 50-60, Female 50-60, Male 10-15 Steve.

1850 Census, Taney Co., Mo., James Twp. No. 197/197
Bilyeu, I. 70 M Va. Property $300.
M.A. 65 F Md.
S.T. 23 M Ky. (Steve)
F. 20 F Mo. (wife of Steve Fannie Baker)
S.E. 3 F Mo.
A.J. 2 M Mo.

Stone Co., Mo., was organized in 1851, James Twp. was included in Stone Co., Mo. after it's organization.

Isaac is living in Stephen's house at the southern end of present day Dogwood Canyon in the 1860 Census. He claims to be 80, b in PA. Mary Ann is gone.

Indications are that Isaac and family left Tenn. about 1824. Their youngest child, Stephen shows a birth place as Ky., in 1825 (probably in transit). In 1829 they were found in Sangamon Co., Ill. Soon afterwards they moved to Miller Co., Mo. By or before 1838 they were in Carroll Co., Ark., where John Witten Bileu was appointed as first Postmaster for Kings River, Arkansas on 7 September 1837. In 1840 they were in Miller Co., Mo., again.
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Military service: 1812, Overton Co. TN--War of 1812
Census 1: 1830, Sangamon Co. IL no twp listed
Emigration: Abt. 1840, Miller Co. MO
Census 2: 1850, James Twp. Taney Co. MO
Census 3: 1860, Praire Twp, Carroll Co. AR # 599

More About ISAAC BILYEU:
Fact 1: 1850, Census, Taney Co., Mo.
Fact 2: was a resident of Overton Co., Tn. ( very early)

Notes for MARY ANN WORKMAN:
A FEW ITEMS OF EARLY TIMES AT WARSAW AND VICINITY
By S. C. Turnbo

I am told that Benton County, Mo. was organized January 3, 1835. The principal streams in this county are the Osage River, Grand River, Big Tebo, Thibean, Pomme D Terre, Cobe, Camp Deer and Turkey Creeks. It is said that the first settlement in the county was made by three men by the names of Bledsoe, Kinkhead (Clinkenbeard) and Howard in 1834. The town of Warsaw was at first named Osage and was established in 1838 and called Warsaw afterward. It is in Lindsey township, The land on which the town stands was first settled by D. C. Ballou. To give a further history of the early days of Warsaw and the neighborhood I give the following account as it was related to me by Z. H. (Jiles) Harris an inmate of the Confederate Soldiers Home of Missouri near Higginsville on the 26th of June 1907. Mr. Harris Is a son of Ben and Nancy (Audspeth) Harris and was born In Barren County Kentucky November lst 1829, and came with his parents to Missouri in 1836 and settled in the woods 4 miles south of the Osage River and 15 miles southwest of the present site of Warsaw. There were a few small roving bands of Osage Indiana in Benton County on their arrival there but the most of them soon left that part of the state. In speaking of the settlers who were living in that locality when they located there in 1836 and others who settled there a few years afterward Mr. Harris gives the following names. "Daniel Gray, John Howard., Andy Hanks, King Keys, Old Billy Keys, Jim Adkinson, Jim Wisdom, Lize Ramsey, Wiley Hood, Alaxander and Henry Brashares, David Kidwell, Nathan Huff and the old man Rankins. There were also Jess Drake and his brother Len Drake who was a well to do man, an old man of the name of Salsberry, Tom Berry, and George Alaxander. Mark Fristow was living on the land where Warsaw is and he was the only man living there when we went there. A man of the name of Vaughn sold the first goods there. John Holloway was a captain in the Mexican war and returned back home soon after the close of hostilities. Jim Smith was sheriff of Benton County when we settled there. Lee Least another early timer was a hunter and would visit our home while he was on a camp hunt. Tom Berry who we have already mentioned was the man that built the first mill on the Osage River in Benton County and was 5 miles north of where we lived. George Alaxander built the second mill which was put up on the Pomme De Terre which empties into the Osage above Warsaw and was 8 miles southwest of this town. The first school house built in the neighborhood of where we lived was a small log building with dirt floor which was named the Shilah Church House. Mr. Stanford McClerren taught the first school and in it. I was one of the students at that school and was 8 years old. There were several boys and girls who attended school but I can remember but one name except my own and this was Miss Malinda Moton. I suppose that the reason I can remember her so well was that she was a very pretty girl. She was a daughter of Jimmie Moton. The best pair of shoes I ever wore in my life was bought from Jim Adkinson for 90 cents in 1851. Mr. Adkinson was a merchant in Warsaw at the time I speak of and was the best man to poor people I ever met. Among the war time reminiscenses that took place in Benton County, Mr. Harris mentions about the shooting of Charley Sooten who was an old settler there and lived two miles from their house. Sooten was a southern man and gained the enmity of some of the men that held opposite opinions. He was shot down in his field while he was replanting corn. Arthur Mathis lived 3 miles south of us. One morning a party of armed men rode up to his dwelling before the family had ate breakfast and compelled Mr. Mathis to go with them and after they had took him a quarter of a mile from the house they stopped and shot him to death. The murderers would not permit the men of the neighborhood to give burial to the body and the women had it to do. Both the body of this man and that of Mr. Sootens were buried in the grave yard at the Shiloh Church House.

Mr. Harris said that both his parents lies in this same grave yard. When I interviewed Mr. Harris at the soldiers home he was an invalid in the hospital there. Mr. Harris said that he belonged to Co. D. llth Mo. Infantry CSA.
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Mary Ann Workman was full blood Cherokee. Note: It is believed that members of both the Harp
family and the Bilyeau’s participated in the "Trail of Tears". The Workman (WorTman) families also made the trek. Many Workman’s are enrolled officially with the Cheek nation and received claims.

Mentioned in the "History of the Cherokee Indians" by Emmit Starr 1921 is;
David Ballew married to Elizabeth Candy
Daniel Ballou married to Annie Ballard

More About MARY ANN WORKMAN:
Fact 1: 1850, Census, Taney Co., Mo.
Fact 2: Bet. 1850 - 1860, *note* Mary died before the 1860 census

Children of ISAAC BILYEU and MARY WORKMAN are:

ISAAC⁸ BILYEU, b. December 12, 1802, Overton Co., TN; m. MARY DAVIS.

Notes for ISAAC BILYEU:
From Judge Jenkins "History of Miller Co., Mo
pg. 19
Isaac Bilyeu & his wife, both under 20 years of age, having followed Bill Hews into the Gasconade country on a hunting expedition in late 1818, settled on the Big Tavern Creek east of present-day Iberia in the early 1820s. For a number of years their closest neighbors were John Wilson on Barren Fork, and Daniel Brumley on the Big Tavern.

Isaac hunted for dear and bear, of which there was an abundance. From these animals he got meat for food in skins for leather breaches. For number of years he got corn from James Harrison, then living at the mouth of the Little Piney in present-day Phelps Co. Isaac kept this corn inside his cabin, concealed in a hollow log barrel. When needed for food a small portion of the grain was placed in a bowel-shaped rock and crushed with round stone by hand.

Until about 1829 Isaac hunted with Indian chief named Rogers. Chief Rodgers, a white man, was removed from the cradle of his parents by Indians raiding white settlements near modern Pittsburgh, PA, before the Revolutionary War.

After the War, Rodgers' Shawnee band drifted down the river from the falls of the Ohio to the Mississippi, crossing the Father of Waters and hunting leisurely, Northwestwardly, into Ozark mountains. Upon reaching the Gasconade country, finding game to be in such abundance, they ceased moving, erecting their villiage on the Gasconade & Big Maries rivers. The area of the Big Tavern Creek was a portion of their hunting grounds.

The band by whom he was kidnapped eventually made Rodgers their chief.
In the late autumn of 1815, Daniel Brumley, having settled on the Big Tavern Creek, obtain a supply of maize from the Indians at one of their villages on the Big Marines. At Cedar Creek he visited Jim and Archie Snowgrass, too young men from Tennessee, 15 and 17 years of age.

In 1823 Brumley accompanied Campbell Crismon to the Missouri River for salt coming down in canoes from the Boone's Lick. Campbell Crismon's wife, a half blood Cherokee, was called Kanneh. Campbell told Daniel that his wife, when he young girl, witness the torture of her Creek Indian captured by her father, a white man living with the tribe, and other warriors, while on the war path in the great Smoky Mountains of South Carolina.

Isaac Bilyeu and his wife attended one tribal dance held by Chief Rodgers, on the Big Tavern Creek. This was a lively affair. To the rhythm of log drums the squaws and children chanted, all the young Braves stopped, jumped, circled, and yelled in cadence.

Page 108 -- 110:
From the end of the first mile we run across high ridge of Dog Creek, the land owned by Noah Hudson. Thence through the poor barrens to the Little Richwood which is a settlement for fertile land; through the lands of William Bilyeu, John R. Bilyeu, Simon T. Bilyeu, Emly Golden, John R. Bilyeu, Lydia Bilyeu, a nonresident, to Jess Gott's, to James Gentry. Then over poor land to the Deans Fork of the Glaize. Upset Creek the land is good, though not in market, to the wet Glaize, the land good on this Creek.

From here the road went through the prairie at McFail's land; over poor land to Mehaffrey's Prairie which is good land and thickly settled; to the Niangua with good bottom land; to Greene County line and poor land, onto the public Square in the town of Springfield, on the 11th day of June, 1841

(this book shows the State Road drawing of Big Tavern Creek and it's inhabitants.)
I will try and describe it,
Isaac Bilyeu's house is on the east side of the creek, directly across it is William Bilyeu's Mill. West of the Mill is William Bilyeu's house.

[In an article by Clyde Lee Jenkins published April 27, 1972 in the Miller County Autogram Sentinal, Jenkins wrote "In early autumn (1815) Daniel Brumley settled in the valley of the Big Tavern Creek, four miles away. A few years later, further upstream, Isaac Bilyeu, and his young Indian bride settled nine miles distant."]

It is know that Isaac was most likely the first Bilyeu in the county. He hunted with an Indian - Chief Roger, I believe, who was a white man raised by the (Osage?) Indians. More information is in Clyde Jenkins' "History of Miller County through the Civil War".
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Author, Clyde Leen Jenkins, in The Elden Advertiser, October 26, 1972..

"The first Bilyeu in what is now Miller County was, without any doubt, Isaac. He appeared in the Gasconade River country on a hunting expedition in late 1818, and having found game so plentiful, camped for more than a year near the Shawnee villages by the Big Maries river. During this time he made several excurions into the wilds of the Big Richwoods with Indian Chief Rodgers, hunting deer and bear. An excellent hunter, old Chief Rodgers was a white man, having been removed from the breasts of his mother by Indians raiding settlements near the falls of the Ohio River before the Revolutionary War.
Isaac found wild game in the Big Richwoods so abounding that he raised a log cabin near the mouth of the Atwell, Jonston, and Little Tavern forks, probably on land now owned by Leonard Keeth.
In the summer of 1820, having married an Indian maiden, Isaac moved with his new bride, both under 20 years of age, into their log cabin home. Their closest neighbors were John Wilson by the Barren Fork Creek, and Daniel Brumley by the Big Tavern Creek to the north. Isaac kept his wife supplied with sugar by gthering wild honey. Every season, at the MIssouri River, he got salt from the canoes coming down from the Boone's Lick. for three or more years he got corn from James Harrison at the mouth of the LIttle Piney River.... Having a trio of Indian dogs for chasing bear made Isaac a wealthy hunter. These animals were vicious, a cross between early puitan mongrels and domesticated prairie wolves.
In fact it may be said Isaac hunted like an Indian, was married to an Indian, and generally, lived like an Indian.
Little or nothing is known of his ancestors, and upon his death in late 1829, his wife returned, with at least two children, to her own people. Without any doubt he was a relative of the Bilyues who commenced entering the area before his demise. In fact, he may have been a son fo the Isaac who
followed him."

Then there is a Hughes version passed down by one of the descendents, a Mrs. Malone, of William Hughes (Hewes).

"The first William moved with William (No. 2) and the Ballous to Tennessee in the early 1800's (later she states that William met and married Priscilla in "one of the Carolinas"), and he died and was buried there. After his parents deaths, William #2 and the Ballous moved to KY where Mary Hughes married
Stephen Ballou, and Eliza Ballou married Nicholas Cox. Cox and his brothers were also on their way west, and the yongest Ballou boy (Isaac) MARRIED A YOUNG INDIAN GIRL, a member of the ROGERS TRIBE. Those two young pople settled here, in Osage county, but spelled their name Birlew, as so many of the Ballou family did change the spelling...."

From a querry.
Stephen Hughes mother was a Bilyeu. His father was John Hughes. Stephen was born 17 Oct 1809 in Osage Co., MO or Ky. Later resided in Maries Co. where he is buried in the Hughes Cem. The family settled in Gasconade COunty ca. 1812. They appeared to have travled with the families of Eads, Crismons, and the Melton's.

48.	ii.	JACOB BILYEU, b. 1803, Overton Co., TN; d. 1852, Carroll County, Ak // buried at the head of Big Indian Creek.
	iii.	RACHEL BILYEU, b. Abt. 1805, Overton Co., TN; m. CHARLES FINLEY, September 13, 1832, Crawford Co., Mo..
49.	iv.	JOHN WITTEN BILYEU, b. March 14, 1809, Overton Co., TN; d. March 02, 1903, Green Mound Ridge, Spokane, Christian County, Mo.
50.	v.	ELIZABETH LOUISA BILYEU, b. 1813, Overton Co., TN.
51.	vi.	LYDIA ANN BILYEU, b. 1814, Overton Co., TN.
52.	vii.	DIANNAH BILYEU, b. May 16, 1817, Marion Co., TN; d. Christian County, Mo.
53.	viii.	MARY ANN "POLLY" BILYEU, b. 1820, Overton Co., TN; d. 1898.
54.	ix.	MARGARET ANN "PEGGY ANN" BILYEU, b. November 1821, Overton Co., TN; d. January 23, 1908, Ozark, Christian County, Mo.
55.	x.	STEPHEN (STEVEN) WILLIAM BILYEU, b. 1825, Green Co, Kentucky; d. 1870, Christian Co, MO.

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