INTRODUCTION
Submitted by Joe Kilday in Houston Texas jbk234@aol.com
Married to an Idell my third cousin
Even
though the lineage presented in this document is directed primarily towards the
name Idell, we must first review the
changes that have occurred in the spelling of the name from the time the first
ancestor arrived in America.
Although the name Idell,
according to The Dictionary of Family
Names, is of English origin, the majority of Idell’s living in Tennessee,
Texas, California, and Oklahoma, have derived their name from the German name,
Eitel, sometimes spelled Eytel.
This
progenitor of the Idells in America, Johann Bernhart Eitel, was born about
1735, possibly in Bodelschausen, Württemberg (note #3) although records also
indicate that a Johan Bernhard Eitel
was born in Shonlanke, Germany in 1735. In 1752, at the age of seventeen,
Johann came to this country on the ship St. Andrew as an indentured
servant. About 1760, he married Elizabeth Meier, daughter of Conrad Meier. After completing his servitude, he and
Elizabeth settled in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where five of their eight
children (Jacob, George, Mary, Michael and
Adam) were born. Sometime
after 1771
(note
#4) they resettled in Rowan County, North Carolina,
where
the last three children (Matthias, Barnett and
Elizabeth) were born. There he changed his name to John Barnett Idol. Even then there was confusion with the
spelling of the name, for in his will he spelled his name Eitel, Idol and Idle, and his children, when witnessing
his will, all signed their names Idle. Barnett died in 1786 and Elizabeth
in 1798 and are buried in the Bethany Church Cemetery in Davidson County, near
Wallburg, North Carolina, where in 1937 a marker was placed in their memory
(note # 9).
The
trail of the name Idell then followed
Adam Idol, the fourth child of
Barnett. Sometime prior to the turn of the century, Adam came west, across the
mountains, to settle in Grainger County, Tennessee where he met and married Nancy Ann Rice April 22, 1800. Nancy was born about 1785 in North
Carolina, the daughter of William
Rice. This was the first known
Idol in Tennessee and would be the progenitor of most of the Idols and Idells in
Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma. Adam
and Nancy Ann eventually produced ten offspring: Mary, Barnett
[Barnabass], Elizabeth, Nancy, William, Sarah,
Anna, Adam,
Chesley and John.
Adam spent the remainder of his life in Grainger County, living into his
eighties, dying sometime between 1852 and 1854. [Probably in 1853 for Adam's will was written on February 4, 1852
and probated January 12, 1854.]
His wife, Nancy Ann, living
with her daughter, Sarah, lived into her nineties. Adam was a miller by trade and his ninth
child, Chesley, later acquired the
reputation of being an excellent millwright. The following paragraph appeared
in Dr. E. C. Idol's book, Descendants of
Adam and Nancy Rice Idol. "The
Thornhill, TN post office was established March 17, 1836....in 1898, the office
was moved about two miles east of Thorn Hill and called Idol, named for Dr. Willis
Idol. [Dr. Idol was the grandson of The elder Adam
Idol]. In 1932, the post office
was moved back to its earlier site and the name changed back to Thorn Hill."
The
young Adam Idol, born about 1825 in
Grainger County, Tennessee, went to neighboring Anderson County to find his
wife, Nancy Rutherford, the daughter
of Robert and Rebecca Denny Rutherford, and the granddaughter of Julius and
Elizabeth Rutherford. Julius was
probably the first Rutherford to settle in Anderson County. They were married
July 9, 1844 in Anderson County and during their twenty years of marriage they
had ten children: John, Elizabeth, William, Lavina,
Rachel, Nancy Ann, Daniel Boone, Alfred Brownlow,
Matilda, and
Milly. Adam's mother,
Nancy Ann Idol, served as midwife
for all the children except John.
When the Civil War came, Adam enlisted as a private with the Union army
August 6, 1863, in Grainger County,
Tennessee. Adam's service records
state that at the time of enlistment he was 38 years of age; 5' 7" high; dark complexion; gray eyes; dark hair;
and by occupation, a farmer. After
serving for two months in upper East Tennessee, the regiment was mustered-in at
Knoxville on November 11, 1863. On
December 15, 1863, the regiment
left Knoxville to take prisoners to Camp Nelson, Kentucky, but on that same day Adam began a ten
day furlough to his home in
Grainger County. No reason was
given for the furlough. On January
18, 1864, Adam was captured in
action at Big Springs, Tennessee.
It is not known why he was not with his regiment, but possibly, he
was trying to get back to his
regiment, which had relocated to Nashville, or he had temporarily joined up with
another regiment [See note #7]. On January 31st, after his capture, he was taken
to a POW camp in Richmond, Virginia.
In the meantime, his Company
was still reporting him absent on furlough, which continued until May when they
reported him for desertion. March 10, 1864, Adam was admitted into
Hospital No. 21, at Richmond, with acute diarrhea,
where he remained until March 30th, when he was returned to the POW camp. He died there four days later, April 3, 1864.
About
two years after Adam's death, February 26, 1866, Adam's widow, Nancy, living
near Loys Crossroads in Union County, Tennessee, submitted a Widow's Application for Army Pension for herself
and her minor children. A
certificate was not issued, which
probably meant that the pension was denied; possibly because of the charge of
desertion on his records. After
Nancy Idol's death on May 28, 1867,
the County Court of Union County, Tennessee, on 3 June 1867 appointed Francis Sharp, a resident of Loys
Crossroad, Union County, Tennessee, the guardian of Adam and Nancy Idol's minor
heirs: Lavina, Rachael, Nancy Ann, Daniel B., Alfred B., Matilda and Milly. The
following February 8, 1868, Francis Sharp made application for a pension as
guardian of the minor children of Adam and Nancy Idol and Certificate Number
229958 was issued September 14, 1868.
It is not known for sure where the minor children of Adam and Nancy lived
after their mother died for they were not living with Francis Sharp during the
1870 census. They probably were in
Kentucky for both Nancy Ann and Rachael were married there during the
1870s. January 6, 1879, fourteen
years after the war ended, the government
removed the charge of desertion from Adam's records.
It
was Adam's sons, William, Daniel, Alfred, and the sons of John that eventually took the name Idell between 1900 and 1910. The ancestors of these Idell’s are now
found mostly in Tennessee, Texas, and Oklahoma. Chesley Idol's son, William C. Idol, is said to have liked
the melodic sound of his mother's maiden name, O'Dell, so much that he changed his name
to Idell. He is believed to have settled in
California. The only other known
Idol to change his name to Idell was
Isaac Maynard Idol, son of Rebecca Idol and grandson of Chesley Idol.
John
Idol,
Adam's eldest son, was born in Grainger County in 1845. He was eighteen when he enlisted in the
Union army at Charlotte, in
Grainger County, on February 15, 1864, and according to his enlistment papers,
he had hazel eyes, dark hair, dark
complexion and was 5 feet six inches tall.
He was assigned as a private in Company "G" of the 12th Tennessee Cavalry until April 1864
when he was transferred to Company "A", where he was a bugler until his
discharge. He was mustered out of
the service on October 7, 1865 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and returned to
Nashville for discharge.
Soon
after John returned from the war, he went to Anderson County, as his father had,
to get a wife, marrying his cousin, Louisa Rutherford, on February 4, 1866 in
Anderson County. One year later he
applied for a invalid pension from the Government, claiming "he was disabled by
a spent ball in the right shoulder near Duck River, Tennessee March 1864". Military hospital records could not be
located to support his claim and no certificate was issued. In 1868, his first child,
Phoebe, was born. Also, during this
period, according to his sister, Millie Idol Smith, "….having killed a negro he
had to flee from his wife, and from Anderson County, and was gone some time, but
eventually returned and discovered that his wife had been unfaithful to
him. He then left his wife and took
up residence in Greene County, Tennessee." Louisa subsequently divorced John and
remarried.
The
first records of John Idell in Greene County, Tennessee were his marriage to Malinda Adelaine Lowe on May 28, 1870
and the Greene County census in June of 1870. At some time after 1873, John moved to
Rockcastle County, Kentucky where his son, Henry, was born in 1875, and where he
was residing when his sister Nancy Ann was married at his home in 1877. Possibly his minor siblings lived there
after they left Tennessee. John had returned to Greene County, Tennessee by 1878
where his son Andrew was born. At
the time of the 1880 census, John was living in Greene County, Tennessee with
his wife Malinda, four children (Ferby Jan, William Aaron,
Henry, and Andrew J.)
and two of his brothers (Daniel and
Alfred). At this time John and his brothers
had purchased a tavern in Mohawk,
Tennessee. Apparently, Alfred
operated the tavern while John worked for the railroad and Daniel worked as farm
laborer. It was while working on
clearing railway lines, in July of 1880, that John was killed in an explosion.
According
to the attending physician, J. W. Cloyd, of Mosheim: "... found that he had been
wounded by some sharp pointed missel puncturing the skull at or about the
sagitul saturl -- to the depth of three inches from which there was issuing
blood and brains. Said John Idle
lived for about fifteen days and died."
Supposedly, while on his deathbed, John asked his brothers to close the
tavern, which they did. A service
marker was placed on his grave at the Mosheim Lutheran Cemetery, but the marker
has since disappeared, and the cemetery records only indicate "Idell, Jno. - Co.
? ? Tenn Cav.". Fourteen years
after John's death, November 17, 1894, his widow Malinda, who had remarried
[James Copley], made application for a pension as guardian of John's minor
children. Again, no certificate was
issued. John's sons, William Aaron,
Henry, and possibly Andrew,
traveled to Texas about 1910.
Henry went to Love County, Oklahoma, William Aaron remained
in Texas, while Andrew settled in West Virginia. Ferby Jan, John's only daughter,
was married to a McNew and moved to Kentucky.
John Daniel
Idell was born
December 12, 1880, almost five months after his father died in an explosion
while working for the railroad. He
lived with his mother and later his stepfather, James T. Copley, until he and
Bertha Cordelia Copley were married in Greene County, on August 19, 1899, he was
eighteen and she sixteen. Soon
after the marriage they went to London, in Laurel County, Kentucky, where their
first child, Mamie Ellen Jane, was born February 5, 1901. Evidently, soon after this they returned
to Greene County, Tennessee where Mamie, almost nine months old, died November
30, 1901. John and Bertha then
returned to London, Kentucky where Vera Ann was born November 30, 1902,
exactly a year after the death of Mamie.
They remained in Kentucky for the births of two sons, Bennett
Melvin, January 23, 1905, and John Roney, February 7, 1907, before
returning to Greene County, Tennessee for the birth of another son, James
William Carl, May 23, 1909.
James Carl died five months later, October 17, 1910, after the family had
moved to Cooke County, Texas, and where another son, Bennett Melvin died June 8,
1911. They stayed in Texas for the birth of Mary Virginia, August 1,
1911, then moved across the state line to Fargo, Oklahoma where Vernon Andrew
was born September 9, 1913.
While in Oklahoma, John worked for the railroad, as his father had. It is easy to see why John’s relatives
in Texas referred to him as the traveling
preacher.
Sometime
between 1913 and 1916, John and Bertha ceased their travels and returned to
Mosheim, in Greene County, Tennessee, where the last four of their children were
born: Leda Mae, January 19, 1916; Grace Lorraine, April 12, 1918;
Wallace Hobart, March 10, 1920; and Minnis Orlan, August 19,
1922. About 1929, John bought a
farm from near Newmansville, where he and Bertha stayed until her death,
February 7, 1948, and his death May 27, 1963. They are buried at the Doty’s Chapel
Cemetery near their home.
Elizabeth
Idol
was born 1848 in Grainger County, Tennessee. The date of her death is unknown, but an
affidavit by Elias Rutherford, Elizabeth's uncle, made 20 April 1885, in the
pension files of Adam Idol, states that she had died since her father's
death.
William
Martin Idell
was born in Grainger County Tennessee in September 1849. William, like his
father and brother John, went to Anderson County to find a wife, and in 1872,
like them, he also married a cousin, Nancy Rutherford, daughter of Aaron and
Susannah Rutherford of Anderson County, Tennessee. This created a unusual situation, for
William's wife and mother were both named Nancy Rutherford and from Anderson County. Actually William and Nancy were first
cousins. William and Nancy then
moved to Kentucky about 1872. In
1880, he was living in Mill Springs, Wayne County, Kentucky with his wife Nancy
and four children, Henry,
Alfred, Elizabeth and Lewis. Between 1880 and 1900, William M. remained in Kentucky with four more
children being born: Rosa Etta, Charlie Aaron, an infant
who died, and one unidentified.
Around the turn of the century, he and his family loaded a wagon and
moved to Cooke County, Texas, where his last child, William, was born in
1900. During the 1910 census,
William M. was still living in Cooke County with his wife, Nancy, and his
youngest son, William.
Evidently at the time of the 1920 census, William had either died or had
left his wife, for his wife Nancy was living in Cooke County, Texas with her
son, James, and there was no record of William. Nancy, his wife, died in
1920.
Lavina
Idol
was born 9 August 1851 in Grainger
County, Tennessee. She was married
to a man named Pile. The date of her death is
unknown.
Rachel
Idol
was born June 7, 1853 in Grainger County, Tennessee. She probably went to Kentucky with her
siblings about 1867-1870 and then met and married James Reilly McCollom in
1873. In 1885 Rachel and her
husband were living at Berea in Madison County, Kentucky. They had eleven children with at least
the first five being born in Berea: John, Charles, Arthur,
Luther, Lewis, Robert Floyd, Isaac Thomas, Ida
Alice, Daniel Tappan, Lula Belle, Vollie Andrew,
Edith Florence. Rachel died
February 13, 1936 at Winchester in
Douglas County, Indiana.
Nancy
Ann Idol
was born 23 December 1854 in Grainger County, Tennessee. She was married to Allen P. W. Croucher at the home of her
brother, John Idol, in Rockcastle
County, Kentucky on 23 January 1877.
In November 1885, she was residing in Berea, Madison County, Kentucky. At
some time prior to 1915, her brother, William, took Nancy Ann, who had developed cancer,
and her children (May, Betty, Frank, Lloyd, and
Alice) to Texas to live with him.
Nancy Ann died 21 June 1915 in Cooke County, Texas.
After
John Idell's death, evidently Daniel
Boone Idell who was born 28
December 1857 in Grainger County, Tennessee continued to farm. Daniel Married Margaret M. Johnson on December 6, 1883
in Greene County, Tennessee. When
the census was taken in 1900, Daniel lived in the 23rd District of Greene County with his wife
Margaret M. and his six children (Sarah E., John W., Coy
L., Jesse J., Henry C. and Roy L.). His last child, Carrie, was born
soon after the census in 1900. On
March 24, 1904, Daniel and his wife sold their land and moved to Cooke County,
Texas, where his brother, William M., had settled. However, their stay was short lived for
Daniel said, "he had almost starved to death". Daniel and his family returned from
Texas in September of 1904. They
purchased land from J. H. Wampler and his wife on February 2, 1905. Daniel then remained in Greene County
until his death on February 2, 1922.
Alfred
Brownlow Idell,
born 13 February 1859 (see note #8), who at age 18, was operating a bar in
Mohawk, Tennessee, married Julia A.
Farner on December 3,
1882. In 1900, Alfred was living in
the 8th district of Greene County with his wife Julia and four children
(Vera, James C., Lacy M. and Bonnie). According to the census, six children
had been born to Julia and five were still alive. Theodore had died as an infant
and the other was probably a child that Julia bore before she married Alfred. Alfred probably went to Valley View,
Texas with his brother Daniel in 1904.
Alfred's great granddaughter, Nancy Cochran, has a souvenir Texas
toothpick holder with Julia's name and the date 1907. According to Alfred's granddaughter,
Julia did not like Texas so Alfred took her back to Tennessee. In 1910, Alfred was living in Anderson
County, Tennessee with his wife, four children and a nephew, William Idell, son of Daniel. They were probably on their way from
Texas to Greene County, Tennessee, for Julia died in November, 1910, soon after
returning to Greene County, and is believed to be buried at Mosheim Methodist
Cemetery. Alfred then returned to
Texas, where, in 1915, he married Margaret Lou Black, who was 15 years
old (about 42 years younger than Alfred).
During the 1920 census, Alfred was still living in Cooke County, Texas
with his wife, Maggie and two children (Julie and J. B.) After 1920, three more children were
born (Evert, Earl and Ruby). Alfred's first child (Vera) was 41 years
older than his last (Ruby). Alfred
who was affectionately known as "Fat Alf", died in Cooke County, Texas, July 7, 1925. Alfred's wife was then married to Elijah
Mangus and moved to Oklahoma with her children.
Matilda
Jane Idol was
born 18 January 1860 (see note #8) in Grainger County, Tennessee. She was
married to Rufus Robbins on July 4, 1878 in
Anderson County, Tennessee. In 1915
she was living at a mining camp in the vicinity of Coal Creek, Anderson County,
Tennessee.
Milly
Idol
was born 15 July 1863 in Grainger County, Tennessee. She married James Smith in 1885 and at that time
was living in Coal Creek, Anderson County, Tennessee. In 1915 she was living with married
daughter or stepdaughter, Mrs. M. L. Stanberry, RFD 1 in Knoxville,
TN.
The
scarcity of the Idell name is shown by a 1994
telephone listing of households with that name. At that time there was only 98
households in the U. S. with the surname Idell, while the name Idol was plentiful, especially in
North Carolina.
Notes:
1. The following data is from Pennsylvania German Immigrants,
1709-1786: In 1772, two Eitels
came to Pennsylvania from Bodelshausen in Württemberg, Germany. Adam Eitel, b. 1739 and Jacob Eitel, b.
1731. Their parents names
were given as Hans and Catherine
Eitel. Prior to 1760, a Matthias Johannes Eitel came to
America, from the same German locale, with his wife, Agnes, and three children:
Margaretha, b. 1744; Johann Bernhard, b. 1746; Catherina,
b. 1749. A daughter, Maria, was born in 1760 in Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania (note #2).
2.
The following entry was found in Pennsylvania German Church Records:
"Eitel, Maria, dr. Johannes & Agnes
b. March 24, bap Oct 19, 1760 in Trappe, New Providence Township, Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania." She was
probably the daughter of Matthias
Johannes Eitel. (note #1)
3.
The
following entry is from Marriage Evidence
in Pennsylvania German
Churches:
"Eidel, Bernt, Luth. of Württemberg
about 5 years Amer., s Hannes & Catharin, serving with
Georg Roth in N. Gosh., Elisabeth Mayer, Ref. b Amer., dau Jacob, 15 Nov (1757) in
Georg Roth's home."
Earlier
researchers determined that Johan
Bernhart Eitel married Elizabeth
Meier, daughter of Conrad Meier, in 1760. They also identified the person, with
which he was in servitude, as living in Doylestown, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania. Subsequent to the
time these researchers completed their work in 1938, numerous documents have
been published documenting records of the German communities in
Pennsylvania. Obviously, it cannot
be determined with certainty which data is correct, but even though the marriage
date, location, and name of the family with whom Johann was in servitude
conflicts with that of the other researchers, it is believed that the source of this
entry, the time of arrival in this country, and the commonality of names, even
with spelling differences, is sufficient to leave open the possibility that this
entry refers to Johannes Bernhart
Eitel, and would also confirm the sibling relationship between
Barnett, Adam, and Jacob, but not completely verify a
relationship with Matthias. (note #1)
4. Pennsylvania German Church Records, Church Records of Goshenhoppen:"1767,
Jan. 3, Bernd Eitel's little daughter, living at Old Goshenhoppen, was
buried." This is probably the son
of Matthias. (note #1)"1771, Dec. 27, born Elisabetha, daughter of Jacob
Mayer. Witnesses, Bernt Eitel
and wife." This
could be the son of Matthias or possibly be Johann Bernhart Eitel. Jacob Mayer is possibly the brother of
Elizabeth, the wife of Johan Bernhart Eitel.
5. A Bernard Eytel was naturalized in
Fredrick Township, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of August
1765.
6. A Johan Bernhard Eitel was born in 1735
in Schonlanke, Germany.
7. The following affidavit was made by
Daniel Haynes from Union County, Tennessee, who served with Adam Idol during the Civil
War:
Daniel Haynes states that he was personally acquainted with Adam Idle,
and served with him in Co. "H", 8th Tenn. Cav. afterward changed to Co. "G" of
same Regiment. “Myself and said
soldier Adam Idle was both furloughed at Knoxville Tenn to go home and me and
said Adam Idle agreed to meet in Grainger Co. Tenn. preparatory to joining our
Regiment at Camp Nelson in the state of Ky. I went to the place to meet him and then
heard that the said Adam Idle had been captured by the Rebels and carried to
prison. I After that never saw nor heard of him any more,
only to hear that he was dead.”
8.
The birth dates given for Alfred and
Matilda were included in the
affidavits when their mother filed for a government pension after their father’s
death. The years given were
probably incorrect for neither Matilda nor Alfred were listed in the 1860 census
and Alfred gave his age as eighteen in the 1880 census.
9. This marker at the graves of Barnett & Elizabeth Meier Idol is
located in the Bethany Church Cemetery in Davidson County, N. C., near Wallburg,
N. C.:
In
1937 this tablet was erected in memory of
JOHAN
BERNHART EITEL (JOHN BARNETT IDOL)
Born
1735 in Germany. Came to Pa.
1752. married in
Bucks
Co. Pa. 1760 Elizabeth Meier
daughter of Conrad
Meier
of Winkel in the Parish of Bulach Switzerland.
Settled
in Rowan Co. N. C. about 1770.
Barnett died 1786.
Elizabeth
died 1798. He aided the American
cause
during
the Revolutionary war.
Children: Jacob
married Chloe
Johnson
George
“
Grace Veal
Mary
"
Archibald Johnson
Adam
"
Nancy Rice
Michael "
Charity Swain
Matthias
"
Elizabeth Welch
Barnett, Jr. “
Jerusha Shields
Elizabeth “
1st. Elisha Hedgecock
"
2nd. Martin Glascock
Rowan
County, North Carolina Record of Deeds:
Book
11 page 111: Oct 25, 1786, The state grants (#1231 at 50 shillings the 100
acres) to Barney Idol 400 acres on Brushy Fork of Abbotts Creek next said Idol's
300 acre tract.
Book
11 page 299: Dec. 19, 1787, Elizabeth [Barnet's widow], George & Jacob
Idle [Barnet's sons] (as executors of
the will of deceased Barnet Idle of Rowan Co., N. C.), let Felix Motsinger--all
apparently of Rowan--have 400 acres on the waters of brushy Fork of Abbits
Creek, beginning on the corner of the 300 acre lot of said deceased, going west
with.... (description) .... for 11
pounds & 4 shillings current money, witnessed by Archa. Johnson [husband of Barnet's daughter, Mary],
Hugh Fitzpatrick & John Monroe & proved by the last named in Feb. Court
of 1788.
Greene
County, Tennessee Record of Deeds:
·
On
November 11, 1890, Daniel Idell and his wife, Margaret, purchased forty acres of
land in the 23rd District from J. A.
Baughard and his wife for $600.00.
·
On
March 2, 1904, Daniel and his wife sold 7.5 acres to Joseph Hendry and his wife
for $340.00, and 20 acres to Joseph W. Cloyd and his wife for $750.00. (8th
District)
·
On
February 2, 1905, Daniel and his wife purchased 49 17/20 acres from J. H.
Wampler and his wife in the 6th District (Old 25th) for
$500.00.
Comments:
The
following statements, all of which can not be substantiated, are comments heard
from family members and observations passed from one generation to the
next. They are listed here
primarily to invoke additional comments:
·
Also,
according to Leda Jeffers, John Daniel Idell's first daughter, Mamie, died of
diphtheria; his son, Bennett, from typhoid fever; and son, James Carl, of
diarrhea. Henry Idell's son, Luke?, died in a wheat field. The body was found after the wheat was
cut. Bertha Cordelia died of
cancer. Dr. Brown said that John
Daniel Idell died of "creeping paralysis".
·
According
to Daniel's granddaughter, Louise Kenney, when Daniel's family returned from
Texas in 1904, they returned one day early. Had they returned when they planned,
they would have been in the New Market train wreck on September 24. Mildred Idell Hendry's maternal
grandfather, Hunley Lowery, was in the wreck.
Sources:
The
statements and vital statistics accumulated in this document are derived
primarily from family members, U. S. Census reports and Social Security records,
as well as obituaries and cemetery, marriage, tax, court, birth and death
records of Tennessee and North Carolina.
Also birth, death an cemetery records of Wise and Cooke Counties,
Texas. The dates in these various
records were often in conflict, in which case the choice was a judgement call
and will obviously be incorrect part of the time. In most cases dates will only differ by
a single year. The spelling of
names also varies greatly on different records. The census takers, quite often, were not
very good spellers and at best spelled phonetically. Often, only a nickname or pet name was
given, in which case the most likely name and spelling has been
used.
The
records of the Idols of Grainger
County, Tennessee, especially those ancestors of John and Chesley Idol, was
researched by Dr. Enoch Colvin Idol,
and published in 1989 as Descendents of
Adam and Nancy Rice Idol. Dr.
Idol's book has been exceptionally valuable in confirming information relative
to the origins and variations of the Idol and Idell names.
Documents:
·
History
and People of Rowan County, North Carolina
·
Abridged
Compendium of American Genealogy,
·
First
Families of America, Vol
III, 1928, Edited by Fredrick A. Virkus
·
Early
Families of North Carolina Counties of Rockingham, and Stokes with
Revolutionary
Service, Vol. 2.,
Compiled
by the James Hunter Chapter of the DAR of Madison, NC
·
Abstracts
of Revolutionary Pension Files
·
Descendents
of Adam and Nancy Rice Idol, Compiled
by Dr. Enoch Colvin Idol, 1989
·
Pennsylvania
German Immigrants, 1709-1786, Edited
by Don Yoder
·
Texas
Society of the DAR, Roster of Revolutionary Ancestors
·
Thirty
Thousand Names of Immigrants in Pennsylvania, 1727-1776, Edited
by Daniel Rupp
·
Marriage
Evidence in Pennsylvania German Churches, Compiled
by Donnna R. Irish, 1984
·
Pennsylvania German Church Records, Introduction
by Don Yoder, 1983
·
Naturalization
in the American Colonies, Edited by M. S. Giuseppi,
1979
·
Tennessee
Civil War Veterans in 1890
·
Compiled
Service Records of Union Soldiers in the Civil War
·
Greene
County Cemeteries From Earliest Dates to 1970-1971,
compiled by Buford Reynolds.
[1971]
·
History of Tennessee, Historical and
Biographical Sketches of Thirty East Tennessee Counties,
1887
·
Olden
Times in Greene County,
Harry Roberts
·
Pension
Files of Adam Idol,
National Archives Veterans Records
·
Pension
Files of John Idol,
National Archives Veterans Records
·
Broderbund
Software, Inc., World Family Tree Vol. 7,
Tree #51
·
Copley/Smelcer
Family Tree, compiled
by Denise May
Conventions
used in accompanying charts:
Data
enclosed in brackets [ ] is
unsubstantiated.
Numbers
in parenthesis at top of columns is the generation number, with Adam Idol (son
of Barnett) representing the first generation.
Abbreviation
following the state of death references the location of interment. The Index to these
locations
is found on page ID_NOTES.
Name
in right column references continuing page.
In
reference to dates: < =
"Prior to"; > =
"After"; @
= approximately
Regrettably,
in attempting to catalog the large amount of data in this document, errors and
omissions were unavoidable.
Therefore, any corrections or additions to this document will be
welcomed. This includes past or
present generations.