Thomas Outten IV and Mary Stout

married 5-12-1806
marriage records - Lex

The name Thomas was given to the eldest son in this line of the Outten family for four generations, or for more than one hundred and fifty years; from the birth of Thomas, the son of John and Mary until the death of the subject of this sketch. The first Outten child that was born in America, according to our family record, was named Thomas, and the subject of this memoir is his lineal descendent of the fourth generation.

Thomas IV was the eldest son of Levi Outten. He was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the year 1780. Thomas had two brothers and five sisters, namely, Matthias, Abram, Ann, Polly, Hetty, Betsy and Sally, all of whom were born and reared on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

When Thomas was about twenty-four years of age, he emigrated, with his father and others of his family to Kentucky, settling in what was known as the Blue Grass Region, about halfway between Lexington and Georgetown, and they all lived there the remainder of their lives. It was about the year 1804 that Levi Outten purchased the large tract of land which was later owned by Thomas.

Thomas married Mary Stout, born Apr. 25, 1790, of Jediah Stout, a man of some means and influence in that section, who had emigrated from Hunterdon, N.J. in 1789. Thomas and Mary were the parents of nine children; three of whom died in infancy. The others were Purnell Stout, William, Luther, Warren, Sarah and Mathias.

1 Purnell Stout Outten, born Aug. 17, 1809 was their eldest child and the next chapter will contain a history of his family.

2 The second son of Thomas and Mary was the Rev. Wm. Outten, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he was the second son that survived. We do not know the date of his birth, but his elder brother, Purnell, was born in 1809 and his youngest brother, Warren, was born in 1819. Between these dates there were at least six children born, three of whom died in infancy.

Fayette Co Marriages 1803-1851
Outten, Thos. - Stout, Polly - 5-12-1806-Jediah Stout {illegible}

Wm. Outten probably began to preach early in life, but without a regular appointment, or as we generally phrase it "under the Elders". The Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized by Bishop Jones in 1852, and it seems probable that he joined the Conference that year and received his first regular appointment to a charge at that time but unfortunately he died during the first year of his ministry, about one hundred miles from Lexington.

The Rev. Wm. Outten was still a young man when he died while serving his first regular appointment and he was the only Methodist minister that the Outten family has ever produced except the writer, who has the honor to serve pastoral charges on the Delaware Peninsula and within the bounds of the Wilmington Annual Conference for 46 1/2 years.

Besides these there has only been one minister of the gospel in the New World who bore our family name and that was Rev. Purnell T. Outten, who was born in Acconiac, Va. in 1780 and died there in 1839. He was a Baptist preacher and lived at Mappsville, Va. but the extent of his ministry is not known. So the Outten family has been more than 250 years producing three ministers of the Gospel. My future generations change the ratio!

The Outtens have generally been noted for their honesty and integrity, some of them for their piety and devotion, while a large proportion of them have been church members. Some have not been very angelic but the writer, in looking up the family tree for many years, has never yet discovered the proverbial "black sheep" hanging from a limb.

Some conditions are difficult to account for, for while the Outtens have practiced all the other professions that are known to men with entire acceptability, and been eminently successful in them all, they have never sought high positions or public office, nor been inclined toward the Gospel ministry, probably due to some inferiority complex in every branch of the family.

3 Mathias Outten, third son of Thomas and Mary was a farmer in Ky, where he died early in life and never married.

4 The fourth son of Thomas and Mary Outten was named Luther Martin. He was born in 1816 in Kentucky, came to Illinois about 1836 and was married in 1837 to Lucinda Jackson Beadles (born July 15, 1818) at Virginia, Illinois. They were the parents of four children, two dying in infancy. Their daughter, Martha L, was born April 6, 1839. She died Aug. 14, 1872 and is buried at Garnett, Kansas. She was married Aug. 4, 1859 to Wm. H. Conover, Their children were;

1.Anna Lincoln, born July 13, 1860. Married Ben. F. Henry April 24, 1879line of Alta Savage

1725 Newport St., Denver, Colo.

2.Hattie J., born Aug. 10, 1864. Died May 7, 1879.

3.Luther Wm., born Aug. 25, 1867. Died 1936. Married Nell Stribling Oct. 16, 1888. Buried in Chicago.

4.Martha L., born July 20, 1872. Died Aug. 31, 1872.

The son of Luther and Lucinda Outten was born May 30, 1842 and named Thomas Edward Warren Outten. He volunteered in the 3rd. Reg. Ill. Cavalry at the age of eighteen. Later he studied law and taught school in Virginia and vicinity. He married Cecelia Hastie (Born Nov. 6, 1853. Died July 28, 1937) on Dec. 21, 1871 at Virginia, Ill, Their children were;

1.Martha L., born April 25, 1873. Died Oct. 26, 1889. Buried at Harper Kansas.

2.Clara P., born Feb. 9, 1875 at Santa Clara, California. Married Jas. N. Scoles Oct. 19, 1892 at Antony, Kansas. Jas. N. Scoles died Mar. 8, 1926 and is buried at Grand Junction, Colo. Clara Scoles now resides at Santa Maria, California.

3.Lucy A., born Mar. 21, 1877 at Virginia, Ill. Married Wm. Kirkwood May 21, 1898. Mr. Kirkwood died Sept. 22, 1926 and she married Edw. T. Ketchem April 26, 1931. They reside in Santa Maria.

4.Luther Thomas, D.D.S., born Oct. 3, 1890 at Virginia. He married Vadem Cox in Aug., 1909 and Sadie Hendricks in 1922. They reside at 107 Ninth St., Silvis, Ill.

5.Cecile C. was born July 7, 1892 at Harper, Kansas. She married Clarence E. Winter Oct. 29, 1915 at Price, Utah and also resides in Santa Maria.

Edw. Thos. Outten died in March 1892 and is buried at Harper, Kansas.

Luther Outten died Dec. 9, 1862 and is buried in the Levi Springer graveyard near Virginia, Ill. Lucinda Outten died in Aug. 1888 at Albion, Kansas and is buried at Danville, Kansas.

5 Warren Outten (1819-1891) m-4-12-1842 Mary Jane Morris - moved to St. Louis 1898 see Chapter on Warren Outten.

6 Sarah, the only surviving daughter of Thomas and Mary Outten was born May 3, 1821. After the death of her parents she lived a short time with relatives in Kentucky, then came to Virginia, Ill where she met and married Madison Haynes Beadles (born Mar. 22, 1812) about 1837. He was the brother of Lucinda Beadles, who married Luther Outten. They build a home just east of the village and were the parents of six children;

1.Wm. Thomas, born May 13, 1838. Died Feb. 18, 1904. He married Charlotte C. Hopkins in Macon County in 1862. Eva Rowley

2.Robert Luther, born July 6, 1842, Died Jan. 20, 1862.

3.James Purnell, born July 6, 1842. Died on board Hospital Ship Memphis at Vicksburg, Miss. Mar. 16, 1863 in the Civil War.

4.Henry, a minister, died unmarried.

5.Sarah Elizabeth, married John Whitehead. Three of their children died of scarlet fever, one son surviving.

"Thurs. June 17, 1875 - Miss S. E. Beadles was married to John Whitehead at the M. E. Church. (Virginia, Ill.) by Rev. Goodin. Had cake, ice-cream and lemonade at the house" from the diary of T.E.W. Outten (1870-1884) Cecile Winter's father.

6.Cordelia, married Dr. Pratt. They have three children and live in Los Angeles, Cal.

About 185- Madison and Sarah Beadles sold their farm at Virginia to James Beadles and moved to Macon County where Sarah Outten Beadles died of tuberculosis Nov. 28, 1860, at the age of thirty-nine years.

Madison H. Beadles died Oct. 11, 1895 at the age of 83 years. They with others of their family are buried at Mt. Gilead Cemetery in Macon County, Illinois. Line of Eva Moe Rowley, Pontiac, Mich

Mary Stout Outten died Nov. 23, 1829. They had been married twenty three years, during which time she gave birth to nine children.

Thomas Outten emigrated with Levi, his father, from the Eastern Shore of Maryland to Kentucky about he year 1804. There were also, other Outtens who moved to Kentucky very soon afterwards. Ephriam Outten, son of Isaac Outten, Sr. who married Sukey Leatherbury, a step-daughter of John Purnell Outten, Dec. 9, 1803 (in the marriage record her name is Susianna) also emigrated to Ky. about the year 1814, taking with them George Franklin Outten. George Franklin was the son of John Purnell Outten by his second wife, Henrietta Layfield, both of whom died in 1812, leaving three orphaned children. Ephriam and Sukey established their home at Maysville, Mason county, Ky. in an almost unbroken wilderness more than fifty miles northeast of Lexington.

Sukey Outten had a sister whose name was Polly Leatherbury. She married a Mr. Dykes of Snow Hill, Md. and they, also, moved to Maysville, where he died, leaving two sons. After his death the two sons were sent to the home of their paternal grandparents at Snow Hill, but Polly Dykes remained in Kentucky. After the death of Mary she went to the home of Thomas Outten and raised his children. They always called her "Aunt Polly".

Thomas Outten died April 23, 1835 and is buried in a corner of the yard of his old home in Fayette County. In the court house are the following records, written in long hand and rather lengthy;

1.-An inventory and appraisment of the Estate of Thomas Outten in Will book "N", page 259. A land division of the Estate of Thomas Outten, same book, page 122.

A settlement of the Estate of Thomas Outten by E. K. Sayro, Adm. W.B. "N" page 261. Another settlement of the same estate and by the same admin. ". B. "N", page 268. Final settlement in W. B. "N", page 304.

Much of this information was given the writer by Mrs. Maysville Outten Irvine of Augusta, Ga. where she died in 1922 at the age of ninety-six years. She was the daughter of Geo. Franklin Outten. An insight into the character of Thomas Outten may be glimpsed in the works of his father as recorded in his will; "As I have great confidence in his (Thos.) judgment and prudence of conduct, I hope he will at all times use his best endeavors to promote peace and harmony among the rest of my children". What an interesting story Thomas and Mary Stout Outten could have written, had they but chosen to put upon paper the history of their lives.

J. P. O.


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