Not much is now known about the subject of this narrative, but he was the eldest son of Purnell Outten and Mary Houston, his wife, and he was born August 6, 1745. He was the grand-son of John Outten, Sr., and the great grandson of John Outten, the Pioneer.
John Houston Outten had three brothers and seven sisters, but in his last Will and Testament, his father mentioned only four children. John was 51 years old when his father made his will, some of the children were no doubt independent, and did not need any bequest, and others may have died, but John was mentioned in the Will, and he received an equal share with his two brothers and his sister in all his fathers property.
He married Euphan Latimore of Elizabeth City County, Virginia, and they were the parents of four children: Thomas, John Savage, William, and Frances. On August 15, 1818, John Houston Outten and Euphan, his wife, sold to Jesse Wilson his part of his fathers estate in Annomessex for $200.00, and it is probable that he sold all his property on the Eastern Shore about that time, and made his home in Elizabeth City on the Western Shore, as his children were born there.
The eldest son of John H. and Euphony, his wife, was named Thomas. He emigrated to Louisiana when he was a young man, and died there unmarried. The only daughter of John H. and Euphony was named Frances, but the writer knows nothing of her.
William Outten, son of John H. and Euphan, his wife, was born in Elizabeth City County, Virginia, January 4, 1820, and died January 18, 1895. He was an honest and respected farmer. He married Maria Ellen Kendall of Northampton County, Virginia, who was born September 2, 1829, and died January 22, 1910. They were the parents of seven children, as follows: Harriett F. was born April 30, 1852, and married William Outten her cousin, who was the son of Joseph Savage Outten; William T., son of William and Maria, was born December 4, 1854, and died March 20, 1886, at the age of 34 years.
Joseph C. Outten, the third child of William and Maria was born May 17, 1857. He married Mrs. Willie Clanton Ashmore, of Mississippi, and they were the parents of two children: Richard Crump, who died in infancy; and Edward Carlyle, who was born October 2, 1891. He was a soldier in the Army, and served on Border duty in 1916, when war was threatened with Mexico, and he was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps, U.S.A. The writer has received several splendid letters from Joseph C. Outten, who lives at Hampton Virginia.
Clara Virginia, daughter of William and Maria Outten, was born August 20, 1859. She married Dr. Jesse Hope Peek of Hampton, Virginia, and they were the parents of four children: Maria Smith Peek; Nellie Deluce Peek, who married Herman Raymond Smith. They live in Providence, Rhode Island. Clara Kendall Peek died April 4, 1906; and Janet Hope Peek. Dr. Peek died September 20, 1902.
John Kendall, another son of William and Maria Outten, was born September 28, 1862, and died November 29, 1902, aged 20 years. Virginia Packie was born August 5, 1866, and died July 4, 1867. And Charles Edgar was born August 5, 1871, and died October 23, 1876.
Joseph Savage Outten, son of John H. and Euphan Latimore, his wife was born near Hampton, Virginia. He moved to Baltimore when he was a young man, and afterwards he married Mary Johnson. They lived in Baltimore, where he died at the age of 27, leaving two children, William Thomas and Mary Frances.
William Thomas, son of Joseph Savage Outten and Mary Johnson, his wife, was born September 26, 1840. He served four years in the Confederate Army, and after the War he married his cousin, Harriett F. Outten, the daughter of his fathers brother William. She was born April 30, 1853. In 1871 they moved out to Memphis, Tennessee, where they spent their lives. They were the parents of five children, two sons and three daughters: Nellie Hallie, Joe Lee, who married Lena Bell Walker of Tennessee; Frank and Clara, who was a public school teacher, and married to William H. Harraway of Memphis, Tennessee, but they moved out to Colorado Springs, and there were the parents of two children, William Harndon, and Frank Haraway.
William J. Outten has been secretary of the American Building and Loan and Tontine Savings Association of Memphis since 1890. The writer received a letter from him dated January 26, 1917, giving the splendid account of his family which has been stated. He says he is a member of Methodist Episcopal Church, South; that he works hard every day, and is as supple and active as when he was very young, but he has quit running to catch trains.
Joseph S. Outten and Mary, his wife, also had a daughter named Mary Frances. She was born April 30, 1843. She married Monroe Cleaver but they had no children, and she died January 20, 1917, about seventy-four years old. The record says that one of the children was born in 1840, and the other in 1853. There is probably a mistake in the dates, for he must have been at least thirty-seven years old when he died, if the other dates are correct.
John H. Outten had a brother named Shadrach, who was born November 8, 1748, but not much is known of him now. Joseph C. Outten calls him his great-uncle. He informed the writer that he had visited his home, and he said that Shadrach was an eccentric old chap, who lived to a good old age. He had one son who survived him. His name was James F. Outten, and he was born near Hampton, Virginia. James was a gallant Confederate soldier, but after the was he never amounted to anything, and was a disgrace to the name. Besides being the homeliest man in the County, he was a drunkard.
There were eleven brothers and sisters, but the writer can only give account of four, and they are the only ones mentioned in their fathers Will.
This completes the record which the writer has in his possession concerning the John H. Outten branch of the family. He has never seen any of them, but he has written in this chapter all the facts he as obtained.