I know very little about my Sutton family.  My earliest proven Sutton ancestor is Thomas Russell Sutton, my Great Great Grandfather.  He was born in Kentucky, but I do not know where.  The family lived in western Kentucky.  We believe they were poor share croppers who moved around a lot.  We have found them in Livingston Co., Henderson Co., Union Co., & Webster Cos. Kentucky.   Thomas Russell was born in 1833.  I do not know who his parents were nor do I know who any of his siblings were.  According to Bible Records he died in 1907, but I do not know where he died.   He married the first time in 1855 to Margaret J. Hopkins.  It is believed they had a son, John William.  Nothing more is known about him.  Margaret may have died, because Thomas R. married Rebecca Elizabeth Walker Tapp in 1870.

                My earliest known Walker ancestor is James Walker.  He married Rebekkah Woodard.  They were parents of several children:  James Alexander Walker, born in 1821;  Martha Ann Mary Walker, born  1825; Esther Lininig Walker, born 1827, Rebecca Elizabeth Walker, born 1833; Isabel Jane Walker, born 1836; Philip Henery Walker, born 1839; Ruben Elzera Washington Walker, born 1841.

                Their daughter Rebecca Elizabeth Walker is my Great Great Grandmother.  She was born in 1833 in Kentucky, but I do not know the county where she was born.  She first married Samuel P. Tapp, a widower with children.   He and Rebecca Elizabeth had one daughter, Mary Allis Tapp.  They lived in western Kentucky, perhaps in Henderson, Union, or Webster Cos. until they moved to Vernon County Missouri.   It was in this county that Samuel met his death, killed by bushwhackers loyal to the Union.  Tapp family history reports that he was pulled from his bed in the middle of the night and shot in the head.    Vernon Co. MO history records report that others were killed that night as well for their southern sympathies.  Sutton family history reports that Elizabeth fled from there, driving a covered wagon.   She left without claiming any of Samuel's property.  How she was able to return to Kentucky is not known, but we know she and the children made it back there alive.

                In a book entitled, THE HISTORY OF VERNON COUNTY, by R.I. Holcombe, (Brown and Co., St. Louis, MO 1887) it says, "from the spring of 1862 until the close of the war, the killing went on.  The particulars in every instance cannot now be gathered.  In the neighborhood of Old Montavallo, one night in February, 1863, five citizens were killed in their homes by the Cedar County Militia. William Wood was killed and a man named Amos was taken from a  sick bed and shot, and TAPP, Clendenin and Campbell were killed."  The Cedar County Militia were Union forces. The article goes on to say that these people were killed in retaliation for their southern sympathies.

                In 1870 Rebecca Elizabeth Walker Tapp was living with her brother Ruben E. Walker in Union Co. Kentucky.  She also married Thomas Russell Sutton in 1870 in Union Co.  In 1873 they had a son, Walter Lee Sutton, my Great Grandfather.   According to Tapp family history Mary Allis Tapp, daughter of Samuel P.  and Rebecca Elizabeth died at a young age.  She died after returning to Kentucky after her father's death.     Walter Lee Sutton was the only child of Thomas Russell and Rebecca Elizabeth.

                 Walter Lee married Fannie Burton McKinnis 1895 in Webster Co., Kentucky.  Her mother was Margaret Adalade Bennett. The name of her father is unknown.  He deserted the family.  Fannie was born 1871 in Tennessee, and died 1946 in Collinsville, Illinois.  Margaret married Pleasant Carroll Bowles in 1880 in Warren Co. Kentucky.   Fannie had one brother, Charles McKinnis, and two half brothers, Pleasant C. Bowles, Jr. and Marion Shelby Bowles.  Margaret had one known sister, Harriet, who was also married to Pleasant C. Bowles.  Margaret died of cancer in Henderson Co. Ky in 1888.  I believe Harriet may also have died of cancer.

                In 1910 the Sutton family was living in Livingston County Kentucky.  By 1914 they were living near Charleston, in Mississippi County Missouri.  They lived on property owned by J. L. Byrd, a huge property owner at that time.  We believe Walter Lee was a sharecropper who worked for Mr. Byrd.  Thomas Russell Sutton died in 1907, and Rebecca Elizabeth and Walter Lee died four days apart in 1914.   She died of influenza, complicated by old age.  Walter Lee died of pneumonia that followed a case of chicken pox.  Mr. Byrd paid for the funerals and burial expenses of Rebecca Elizabeth and Walter Lee.  They are buried beside each other in Odd Fellows Cemetery, Charleston, Missouri.

                After the deaths of Rebecca Elizabeth and Walter Lee,  the family had to move and Fannie helped make a living by doing laundry for people.  My Grandfather quit school and helped support the family as did his brother Sterling. According to my Great Aunt Virgie, her father Walter knew he was dying and called the two brothers aside, told them he was dying and to look after their Mother and sisters when he was gone.

 
My Walker & Sutton Bible Records are posted here:
http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/HendersonBibl

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