Boonville, Kentucky

(Owsley County Mainous Family)

Historical photo of Boonville and Map of locations

Later, Boone's Station became Booneville. The Mainous Family traveled here in the early 19th Century and settled. The first Mainous was, Lazarus Lawson Mainous who came with his wife, Rebecca Flannery and his nephew "Laz" (also Lazarus)

dg707@mindspring.com

Lazarus Lawson Mainous was living in Lee County, Virginia, when he, working as a wagoneer helped a family move from there to Kentucky. While in Kentucky, he purchased land in the part of Owsley County that is known as Scoville today. He returned to Owsley County with his wife Rebecca, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Parsons Flannery, and his and Rebecca’s children between 1855 and 1856. Others traveling from Lee County with Rebecca and Lazarus were one of Rebecca’s brother, Noel Flannery, one of her sisters, Phoeba Flannery with her husband Ivy Pendelton, and Lazarus’s teenage nephew Lazarus M. Mainous, who was called "Little Lazarus".

Tradition has it that "Little Lazarus" was orphaned by the deaths of Lazarus’s brother, Silas Hale and wife, Jane Bledsoe Manious. Apparently Lazarus’s family was the first Mainous family to settle in Owsley County, since there were no Mainous listings in the 1850 Census. But, we have Lazarus son, Absolom and wife, Susan Treadway, along with "Little Lazarus" and his wife Lourissa Cecil living in the same household in the 1860 Census; thus two Mainous listings. Indications are that the name Mainous may have been spelled Maness in Virginia.

Lazarus Lawson was apparently a respected and well liked citizen of Owsley County. He was elected to serve local government in three positions: Justice of the Peace, two terms as Owsley County Judge, and one term as Sheriff of Owsley County. The 1860 Census shows Lazarus having $4000.00 in real estate. Lazarus was a supporter of the Union in the Civil War, but did not enlist because of his age. His eldest son, Absolom served with the 14th Kentucky Cavalry. Three of the Mainous son-in-laws did serve with the Union Forces.

Lazarus and Rebecca had thirteen children. One son William died as an infant in Virginia, eight other children were born in Virginia and made the hard trip over the mountains, and three were born after the move to Kentucky. Those of us who remember their daughter, Juriah, can recall her talking about coming to Kentucky on a cart pulled by oxen. She lived to be 103 years and died in 1956. She was known as Aunt Honey throughout Owsley County. Aunt Honey’s husband was Judge Allen C. Hyden. He was serving his second term as County Judge of Owsley County when he was assassinated in 1902. Aunt Honey was a widow for 54 years.

While Justice of the Peace, Lazarus Lawson performed the marriages of two of his daughters, Amanda and Matilda. Amanda married Elcannah Flannery on Jan 20, 1860. Because of the Civil War, this marriage was a short one. Elcannah enlisted with Union Forces on September 20, 1862. He was injured and discharged at Baton Rouge, LA on the 18^th of July, 1865 On July 19, 1865, he died on a hospital ship that was bringing him and others home to Kentucky. Amanda was left with three young children. She and her children lived with Rebecca and Lazarus until her remarriage to David Spivey.

The other daughter, Matilda was married to Simpson Treadway by her father on August 3, 1860. She and Simpson had one son, George, when Simpson joined the Union Forces. Simpson did return from the Civil War, but the ravages of war had taken its toll, and he died November 17, 1865. This death left Rebecca and Lazarus with the responsibility of another daughter and her child. Matilda also remarried before 1870 to Gilbert Reynolds.

Rebecca and Lazarus’s daughter, Martha Jane’s husband, Wilkerson Scott, also fought with the Union Forces with his brothers-in-law. He returned from the war but was in very poor health the remainder of his life. Martha Jane was not well herself and died in April 16, 1870. Her youngest child had been born in July of 1869. Again, Rebecca and Lazarus found themselves responsible for another family of grandchildren.

Wilkerson, himself was not able to work very much, so he and the children lived with the Mainous family. Four years after the death of Martha Jane, Wilkerson died, thus leaving the children to be cared for by Rebecca. At the time of Martha Jane’s death, Rebecca’s youngest child was nine years old. To have all these grandchildren added to their family thorough the years had to take its toll on Rebecca and Lazarus. They reared 12 of their own children to adulthood and helped with the rearing of 7 grandchildren.

The second son of Lazarus and Rebecca, Walter Preston, stayed in Owsley County for a number of years after his marriage to Melvina Bowman. Three of their nine children were born in Kentucky. They joined the Westward Movement and went to Missouri. Their first child to be born in Longwood, MO was Mary Ellen born in 1876.

All of the other children of Rebecca and Lazarus remained in Owsley Count. Most of them had large families, thus populating Owsley with many more Mainous descendants. The eighth child, John Tyler did his part in populating the county, fathering 15 children by two wives. The other children not mentioned in this article were: Cynthia Ann who married William Minter, Mary G. who married William Wallace Treadway, Daniel C. who married Mary Isaacs, Elbert L., who married Cushionberry Holbrook, and my great grandfather Hampton, the youngest, who married Martha Hall. In spite of the hardships of the time, Lazarus lived to be 87 and Rebecca died in 1899 at the age of 91.

With the passing of time, many have left Owsley County in search of work and for other reasons. Descendants of this great pioneering family can be found from coast to coast of this wonderful country of ours. As my cousins and I continue to research our Mainous heritage, any help from the readers of this article would be appreciated very much by all of us.

Glenna Vickers Burton: dg707@mindspring.com