Margaret Kessler1

#6786, (circa 1810 - )

Family

Nathaniel Chittum b. 1798, d. 1894
Children 1.Sarah Elizabeth Chittum4 (c 1853 - )
 2.Samuel Preston Chittum5 (1854 - )
Birth*circa 1810She was born circa 1810 at VirginiaG.2 
1851 As of 1851,her married name was Chittum.1 
Marriage*26 August 1851She married Nathaniel Chittum, son of John Chittum and Nancy Sly, on 26 August 1851 at Botetourt Co., VirginiaG.3,1 
1 September 1870She and Nathaniel Chittum appeared on the census of 1 September 1870 at Chamblissburgh, Bedford Co., VirginiaG; fam 386 Nathaniel Jr and Delilah.2 

Citations

  1. [S694] Nathaniel Chittum Buried ...For The Second Time: Relatives Celebrate The Life Of Their Ancestor, Rockbridge Weekly, Rockbridge Co., Virginia, April 2000, transcription online Ancestry.com, Born on July 11, 1798, Nathaniel Chittum had four brothers and four sisters and he had thirteen children of his own.

    Records on his life are a bit scanty. He was the youngest child of John and Nancy Sly Chittum and was born in Goochland County on July 11, 1798. Apparently he moved with his parents to a South Buffalo Creek farm in 1817 It is known that he married Elizabeth Betsy Deacon (daughter of William and Nancy Peel Deacon) from the Collierstown North Buffalo) area about 1820. The couple had eleven children (see page 14A). He traveled extensively, but his profession wasn't known. Some think he might have been a blacksmith or a cabinet maker, but there are no records known to substantiate this. He moved to Jefferson County, Tennessee, to Cole County, Missouri, to Fayette Co., Kentucky and returned to Botetourt County in 1841. In an account of his death in the Rockbridge County News (a newspaper that later merged with the News-Gazette), it was noted that "All these long journeys were made in a common road wagon."

    Chittum married Margaret Kessler of Botetourt County in 1851 and fathered two more children. He later moved to Bedford County where he lived until 1878 and later came back to Rockbridge County after the death of his second wife. At the time of his death, the newspaper indicated that he was "probably the oldest man in the county and certainly the oldest in this section" when he died at the residence of his son-in-law, John A. Nicely.
  2. [S18] 1870 U.S. Federal Census. Nathaniel (72), farmer, b. VA; Margaret (60), b. VA.
  3. [S696] Virginia, Marriages, 1785-1940, index, online FamilySearch.org, Nathaniel and Margaret Kesslar. Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M00010-9; System Origin: Virginia-EASy; GS Film Number: 30734; Reference ID: pg 493.
  4. [S17] 1880 U.S. Federal Census. Nathan (40), farmer, b. and parents b. VA; Delilah (39), b. and parents b. VA.
  5. [S697] Virginia Births and Christenings, 1853-1917 (index), online FamilySearch.org, Saml. Preston Chittum, son of Nathan Chittum and Margaret Chittum; Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C00142-1; System Origin: Virginia-EASy; GS Film number: 2046961; Reference ID: p 22.