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Eversole Family Top Page
1. Jost
(Joseph) Ebersol - Lands
in Philadelphia Sept 3, 1739
2. Jacob Ebersol
3. Wollery Eversole
4. Major John C. Eversole,
USA
5. Joseph C. Eversole
6. Clara Belle Eversole Cornett
(great-grandmother)
7. Juanita Nell Cornett Mainous
(Grandmother)
8. Jane Carol Mainous James
(mother)
9. William F. James, Jr. (me)
10. My Children (Trey, Blair,
Sarah and Rebekah)
The
Eversole Family web pages
consist of several distinct
Chapters. A book was
written about the Eversole's
migration from Europe. Initially
they were called "Ebersohl".
CHAPTER
1 - EARLY GENEALOGY
A large
group of Eversole's moved from
Pennsylvania to North Carolina
and then eventually to Eastern
Kentucky to the Perry County
(Hazard) region. The patriarch
of this Kentucky clan was
Woolery Eversole who married
Lucy Cornett (daughter of
William Cornett -
See the Cornett link here ).
CHAPTER
2 - PERRY COUNTY EVERSOLES
The
Eversole log cabin still stands
near Hazard and has been
restored. The Eversole's were
aligned politically with the
Combs Family in Perry County, Ky
and were Republicans. Here are
some links to information
published in Hazard, Kentucky
papers from the mid 20th
century.
CHAPTER
3 - THE EVERSOLES DURING THE
CIVIL WAR
Wollery's son, Major John
Evesole was the leader of the
14th Kentucky Calvary and led
the Union's forces in Eastern
Kentucky against General John
Hunt Morgan. "Major John"
was assassinated at the end of
the Civil War outside his house.
This is a picture of the doorway
to the Eversole Cabin which
Major John walked out of heading
to the "outhouse" one morning.
the musket balls are from that
exchange.
CHAPTER
4 - FRENCH-EVERSOLE FEUD
Major
John's son, Joseph Castle
Eversole married Susan Combs
(daughter of Judge Josiah H.
Combs, granddaughter of Perry
County Clerk of Court Jesse
Combs and great-granddaughter of
General Elijah Combs).
Joe
held numerous elected offices
and was the leader of the
French-Eversole Feud which
ranked as one of the bloodiest
and longest running of the
mountain wars of the 19th
century. Joe was assassinated
during this war by a man working
for Fulton French. That man, Joe
Atkins and others later went on
to murder Joe's father-in-law,
Judge Josiah H. Combs. A book
written in 1900 about this Feud
can be found here:
CHAPTER
5 - MURDERS OF JOE EVERSOLE &
JUDGE JOSIAH COMBS
The
leader of the Eversole Side of
the French-Eversole Feud was Joe
Eversole. in 1888 when my
great-grandmother was about 5
the head of the French clan,
Fulton French, hired several
very evil ma\en by the name of
Joe Atkins, Jesse Fields and
'Bad Tom' Smith. They were
initially hired to kill both Joe
Eversole and Judge Josiah Combs
the leaders of the Eversole's
and both were elected officials.
Judge
Combs and Joe Eversole were
traveling on horseback and Joe
Atkins ambushed them opened fire
first followed by 'Bad Tom'
Smith. He killed Joe Eversole
and a teenager who was riding
with them.
Over
the following years, Fulton
French and his henchmen used Joe
Atkins and 'Bad Tom' Smith to
kill a variety of individuals.
The last person killed in the
French Eversole Feud was Judge
Josiah who was gunned down on
the main street of Hazard in
1894.
Eventually, 'Bad Tom' Smith was
arrested, tried and hanged in
the public square in 1895.
Family
lore has it that about 20 years
later (1920 or so) Fulton French
was in a hotel where Susan Combs
and her son was staying. Her
son, seeing Fulton French, the
man that orchestrated the murder
of his dad, pulled a pistol and
shot him. Because Fulton lived
for several weeks in pain, The
Eversole son was never charged
with the crime.
A
summary of old newspaper
articles from 1890 to 1895 about
the trial can be found at this
link:
Joe
Atkins eventually landed in
prison in Kentucky and rumor has
it was let out of prison by the
Democrats to kill a Republican
elected official.
CHAPTER
6 - JOSEPH C. & SUSAN COMBS
EVERSOLE
Joe
Eversole married Susan Combs.
The links below are of their
marriage picture and of Susan
Combs' death notice in the
Hazard Herald.
CHAPTER
7 - CLARA BELLE EVERSOLE CORNETT
FAMILY BIBLE
Joe
Eversole's daughter was Clara
Belle Eversole (my
great-grandmother) whom I knew
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