SORENCY

 

Compiled by: Andrew L. Moore

336 Sarver Road, Sarver  PA  16055

Email: PAmoores@juno.com

Dated: 1 December 2005

 

 

SORENCY

 

 

As the surname Sorency, and its variations Sorrency, Sarance, De Sorency, De Saurency and Desurrency are of Huguenot extraction, I have reprinted the following directly and in its entirety from the article "Huguenots," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 99. © 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

INTRODUCTION   Huguenots, name given to the Protestants of France from about 1560 to 1629. Protestantism was introduced into France between 1520 and 1523, and its principles were accepted by many members of the nobility, the intellectual classes, and the middle class. At first the new religious group enjoyed royal protection, notably from Queen Margaret of Navarre and her brother, King Francis I of France. Toward the end of his reign, however, Francis persecuted the Protestants; his successor, Henry II, followed his example. Nevertheless, the French Protestants increased in number. At their first national synod (1559), or council, 15 churches were represented. At the next, held two years later, more than 2000 churches sent representatives.

 

CIVIL WAR   The rise in the number of French Protestants excited the alarm and hatred of the French Roman Catholics. The religious hatred was intensified by political rivalry between the house of Valois, then in possession of the French throne, and the house of Guise. Catherine de Médicis, widow of Henry II, who governed in the name of her son, King Charles IX, at times allied herself with the Huguenots for political reasons, but generally sided against them. The Huguenots were persecuted severely in Charles's reign, and they in turn made reprisals upon the Roman Catholics. Finally, open civil war broke out. Between 1562 and 1598 eight bitter wars were fought between French Roman Catholics and Protestants.

 

The Huguenot leaders in the first of the nearly four decades of conflict were Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé, and the French admiral Gaspard de Coligny; subsequently they were led by Henry of Navarre, later Henry IV, king of France.

The principal Roman Catholic leaders were Henri I de Lorraine, 3rd duc de Guise; Catherine de Médicis; and King Henry III. Each side from time to time called on foreign help. The Huguenots obtained troops from England, Germany, and Switzerland; the Roman Catholics, from Spain. The treaties that concluded the wars usually granted the Huguenots some measure of tolerance, but the government's subsequent ignoring or outright repudiation of the terms of the treaties led to a renewal of hostilities. The greatest act of treachery of the period took place in 1572. Two years previously, Catherine and Charles IX had signed a treaty with the Huguenots granting them freedom of worship; they had remained on friendly terms with the Huguenots, calling Coligny to court, where he enjoyed great influence. Having lulled the Huguenots into a feeling of security, on August 24, 1572, St. Bartholomew's Day, the queen mother and the king caused thousands of them to be massacred in Paris and elsewhere in France. Coligny was found and killed by the duc de Guise himself.

The eighth civil war took place during the reign of Henry III, successor to Charles IX. The Huguenots, now led by Henry of Navarre, inflicted (1587) a crushing defeat upon the Roman Catholics at Coutras. Strife among the Catholics themselves, which resulted in the assassinations of the duc de Guise in 1588 and Henry III in 1589, helped the Huguenot cause. With the death of Henry III the house of Valois became extinct, and Henry of Navarre, the first of the Bourbon line, became king of France as Henry IV. To avoid further civil strife, he conciliated the Roman Catholics by converting to Catholicism in 1593. In 1598 Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes, by which the Huguenots received almost complete religious freedom.

 

AN END TO PERSECUTION   Under Henry IV the Huguenots became a strong power in France. To break this power, which stood in the way of the absolutist type of government that the next two kings of France, Louis XIII and, particularly, Louis XIV, wished to impose on the country, both monarchs instigated new persecutions of the Huguenots, and new civil wars took place. The French statesman and cardinal Richelieu caused the political downfall of the Huguenots with the capture (1628), after a long siege, of their principal stronghold, La Rochelle. Thereafter he sought to conciliate the Protestants. Louis XIV, however, persecuted them mercilessly, and on October 18, 1685, he revoked the Edict of Nantes. Finding life in France intolerable under the ensuing persecutions and evaporation of religious liberty, hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled to England, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the English colonies in North America, including Massachusetts, New York, and South Carolina. The total emigration is believed to have been from 400,000 to 1 million, with about 1 million Protestants remaining in France. Thousands of Protestants settled in the Cévennes mountain region of France and became known as Camisards; the attempt of the government to extirpate them resulted in the Camisard War (1702-05).

The enlightened and religiously skeptical spirit of the 18th century, however, was opposed to religious persecution, and during this time the French Protestants gradually regained many of their rights. Although Louis XV issued an edict in 1752 declaring marriages and baptisms by Protestant clergymen null and void, under Louis XVI the edict was recalled. After 1787, Protestant marriages were declared legal, and Protestants were granted other rights as well. Several laws passed later in the 19th century gave full religious freedom to all French sects, including the Protestants. In the 19th and 20th centuries French Protestants, although comparatively few in number, have been influential in French life, playing an important part in education, law, and finance, and in general taking a liberal stand on social reform.

Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 99. © 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

 

So, by revoking the Edict of Nantes, Louis XIV not only lost thousands upon thousands of France’s most skilled artisans and trades people but also supplied his adversaries with tens of thousands of France’s finest and best fighting men who eagerly turned their swords against Louis XIV!

 

EARLY SORENCY SPECULATION

 

A relative of ours, Jim Sorency of Cherryvale Kansas (died 1994) speculated in a letter to me that our “most recent ancestor was Count Pinabel of Sorency, nephew of Count Ganelon, 2^nd husband of the sister of Charlemagne.  Her son by her first husband, the Count of Brittany, was the famous Roland, hero in the Chanson de Rolande.  In the Chanson and in a hundred other songs, tales and books – Ganelon engineered the ambush and the death of Roland and his French rearguard (protecting the retreating Charlemagne) in the Pyrenees Mountain (between Spain and France) pass of Roncevalles by the Muslims.  Ganelon was accused and the trial by his champion, Pinabel, and the Count of Toulouse (France) representing the crown.  Pinabel was listed as winning when he slipped on the wet grass….some say bloody….and so was killed.  Ganelon was quartered by being tied to four horses.  And kinfolk who to a man stood in for Pinabel were all hanged---some say 40, some say 75.”  Jim goes on to say in the same letter that “although we (the Sorency name) started out in Normandy-Maine (France), my grandmothers match up to the 12 that came over with Lafayette, they have it as from Lorraine at the time.”  Unfortunately Jim passed away before he could share more…..and I have not been able to push our Sorency line back quite that far to confirm this information.

 

On another front, In 1942, the Huguenot Society of South Carolina responded to another Sorency researcher’s question about the Sorency surname and to reported to have found the following in the publication Huguenot Society, London, Volume XVIII: Naturalization of Aliens in England and Ireland, page 270 “Reign of William III”:

 

“Envertre Meausse Saurency, March 19 1698/9, born at Orleans in France, son of Jacob De Meausse Saurency by Mary de Jolivert, his wife.  Lieutenant in His Majesty’s Foot Guards, Reign of Wm III.”

 

The fact that Envertre, son of Jacob and Mary (de Jolivert) De Meausse Saurency, was born in France, migrated to England (peaceably or otherwise) in March 1698 and joined the forces of King William III, can only seem to indicate that Envertre was a Huguenot – a persecuted French Protestant. 

 

As there has been no reference to the name of Envertre Sorency (or any variation) in any early American records, it is probable that this individual never saw the shores of the new world – but his descendants, and/or possibly his mother – Mary – did.   There are early PA/DE records indicating a group of Huguenots from France via Wales landed in Philadelphia on 6 Sep 1701 (Ships “Wm & Mary” and “James & Mary”) and colonized an area or town called Pennepec, PA.  They later moved to New Castle Co DE in the Spring of 1703.  According to Gregg’s History of the Old Cheraws, while the colony was at Pennepec, they “were joined by 22 other people of their faith, including Mary Sorensee.  There is no other information supporting or discounting this Mary as being the mother of Envertre De Meausee Saurency. 

 

Additionally, I have been unable to determine the relation of a “Jacob De Serrencee” , whose 1680 estate is listed in Kent Co DE probate court records (dated ?/?/1680, page 97).  I have even been unable to locate this reference – mentioned by two early Sorency researchers who found it somewhere!  The Kent Co DE Register of Wills could not find this estate record anywhere.

 

 

Floren Meausse Sorency

 

Although there is uncertainty about the prior lineage of our Sorency ancestors, the first plausible Sorency generation would seem to be Floren Meausse Sorency.  He apparently migrated to New Castle Co, DE in the early 1700s and, after some time there, uprooted and moved, presumably with numerous other Huguenots, to the area around present day Charleston, SC, where many, many Huguenot descendants still live today.  I have been told that the largest concentration of Huguenots outside of France migrated to and lived in/around Charleston SC.

 

From LDS Roll Number 0928080: “Floren Sorrency was a Huguenot.  Driven, with his two sisters from the native country (France) by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.  The family was rich.  Floren brought considerable wealth to America.  He purchased real estate on (the) Delaware (River) and built the St. George’s Mills.  The sisters resided in London and often sent valuable presents.  He married 2^nd Ann Price, Issue – Mary (who) married John Thomas Ap Ricketts, a Welsh lawyer.”

 

Here are the references, in chronological order, I have found relating to Floren:

 

18 Apr 1710 – From the Huguenot Society of London, Middlesex Oath Roll Naturalizations (pg 110): Names of Foreign Protestants who took the Oaths: Florant Meause (Meausse) De Sorency, of St. Annes, within the Liberty of Westminster.

 

1711 – St. George Creek, New Castle Co DE: “Several names promoting and encouraging Floren Sorrency to erect and build and set up a grist water mill or mills on St. George’s Creek by the side of the bridge that leadeth over creek near unto house of Joseph Neales……built within two years Floren and heirs should not let property decay”.  James R. Boone Collection.

 

5 April 1711 – New Castle Co DE (then PA) Deed Book 16, Page 2: “County of New Castle, Territory of PA sum of 6 pounds, Joseph Neale to Floren Sorrency, St. George Creek land”.  James R. Boone Collection.

 

1711 - New Castle Co DE (then PA) Deed Book 39, page 4.  Reference unknown.

 

1711 – New Castle Co DE (then PA) Deed Book “L”, Vol. 1, page 252.  Floren Sorency-Grantee, Uriau Anderson-Grantor.

 

1711 – New Castle Co DE (then PA) Deed Book “L”, Vol. 1, page 254.  Floren Sorency-Grantee, Joseph Neale-Grantor.

 

1711 – New Castle Co DE (then PA) Deed Book “N”, Vol. 1, page 361.  Floren Sorency-Grantee, Uriau Anderson et al-Grantors.

 

15 Nov 1713 – New Castle Co DE Probate Records, Page 22: Will of John Bolton, farmer; St. George’s Hundred (*), will written 15 Nov 1713, probated 11 Dec 1714.  Wife, Ann Bolton; Mary Saivier, daughter of Thomas Saivier (deceased) and grandchild to Ann, my wife.  Executors: “My beloved friends” Isaac Gooding of Reedin Island, New Castle Co DE and Floren Sorency of New Castle Co DE.

 

(*) Note: A “Hundred” in Delaware is comparable to a Township in Pennsylvania.

 

4 Apr 1720 – Delaware Patent Book Two: “Item # 1285. Page 319.  Florence Sereney.  700 acres on the N side of Painticoe river on the N side of Trent creek, joining Shaw, a Branch issuing out of the said creek, Beaverdam Branch, and said Trent creek which land was taken up before Year 1711.  Witnesses: Cha. Eden, Tho. Pollock, Will Reed, Fre. Jones, Rich. Sanderson.

 

 

Will of Florin Surrency

Charleston SC Will Book 172 (1720-21), page 35.

Dated 31 Jul 1720

 

Here is Florin’s abstracted Will: Florence Soreney, Charles Town.  Wife: Ann. Son:  Samuel, lands belonging to Mill Pond at St. George, New Castle Co PA, at death of my wife;  Son Jacob, land at “Pamplyco” and goods I posess in Carolina.  Mentions Mr. Richard Clerk.  Executors: Mr. William Pert, Captain Laurence Dennis, Mr. John Shepord.  Witness John Brown, George Bassett, Robert Booth.  Will dated 31 July 1720, Will probated 31 July 1720 (strange-same date??).

 

The children of Floren Meausse Sorency and Ann Bolton were:

 

1.       Samuel, born circa 1685, married Mary.  Listed in the book “The Old Cheraws” by Alexander Gregg: (a) “Sam Sarance” is listed as having 100 acres in Queensbourgh Twp SC 29 Aug 1738—page 56; (b) “Samuel DeSorrency” appointed commissioner—page 114; and (c) Samuel Sorency “pledged 12 pounds to St. David’s Society” on 31 Jan 1778—page 283.

2.       Jacob, born circa 1688, married Jemima.

 

 

Jacob Sorency

 

Jacob was born circa 1688. His wife was named Jemima Higham - and was the daughter of John and Rachel (Bradshaw) Higham.  Jacob owned 730 acres in DE….which was divided in November 1746.  He died 14 Nov 1746.

 

Delaware Quaker Records: Monthly meeting held at Little Creek, 16 Mar 1743.  Several Quaker meetings together, including Georges Crees?, Duck Creek  Murtherkill and Cool Springs.  Jacob Sorrencee appeared here and requested for himself and wife (unnamed) to come under the care and notice of friends this meeting taking the same under consideration grants his request and receives them accordingly as their life and conversation consists with the rules of our discipline. 

 

Jacob “Sorinsee” was named Administrator of Adam Barr’s estate on 1 Oct 1743.  Kent Co DE Register of Wills, Liber I, Folio 77.

 

Jacob is listed in “Rangers of the Frontier” 1778-1783, volume 123.  Westmoreland Co PA.

 

The 16 May 1798 Kentucky Gazette (Vol XI, No. 608) mentions that a “William Robinson reports that Jacob Sorency found a runaway slave, the property of James Henelider, living at Mann’s Lick.”

 

References to Jemima Sorency

In

Kent Co DE Records

 

Kent County, Delaware Land Records Vol. 4 Pg. 31,  #148,  8 Feb 1736 Deed of Mortgage.

Whereas John Bradshaw late of Duck Cr. Hund by deed (Book E pg. 18-19) did give his dau Rachel then wife of John Higham a tr of land where the said John Higham had a dwelling house frame being pt/o the tr of land whereon the said Bradshaw then did dwell n side of sw br of Duck Cr and e side of Black Princes Br  called Bradshaw Chance...John Higham and Rachel his wife decd leaving issue only one child being a dau named Jemima (Jimmmmmimah) the land came into possession of her who is now the wife of Jacob Sorency...the indenture Jacob Sorency and Jemima his wife late of Duck Cr Hund Kent Co for 30 pounds sold to John Deney Junr of same place planter afsd tr of land...John Deney to discharge from the trustees of the Loan Office the sume of 25 pounds. Wit: Thomas Tarrant, Hugh Durborow Junr. ackn 10 Feb 1736 (L; pg. 182)

 

Kent County, Delaware Land Records Vol. 4 Pg. 31  #149,  10 Feb 1736.

Jemimah Sorency (dau) of my late near neighbor John Higham and Rachel his wife being examined seperate from her husband saith that she doth execute the within deed freely and willingly without any compulsion from her husband or any other person. Examined at Dover by John Tilton juctice. (L; pg 182).

 

 

Will of Jemima Soreney

New Castle Co DE Misc Vol 1, page 436-437

Dated 18 April 1747, Proved 30 may 1748

 

New Castle County, April ye 18, 1747.  The Last will and testament of Jemima Sereney, widow to Jacob Soreney Sr ????

Being weak of body but of sound knowledge and understanding and calling to mind the unsertanty of this life do make and ordain this my last will and testament my mind is first that all my just Defts and funerall expences be paid.  I give and bequeath unto my oldest sone John Soreney me feather bead and furniture which I now lye on and one iron pot.  I give and bequeath unto my son Silas Soreney one small iron kettle and one young ??? ??? and one ??? formerly ??? his and further my mind and will is that all the rest and residue of my estate to be sold and that my two youngest sons Samuel and Jacob Soreney shall be brought up by the estate and the ??? plush is be equally devided amongst my four children and and I do appoint William Hammond and Isaac England my true and lawful executors to the extent they they may see that this my last will and testament be well and truly performed and fulfilled in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year above written. 

 

Jemima Soreney

Sealed and deliver in

the presence of us

????? ??????

Isaac England

Mary Ganes

 

Proved 30 May 1748, John Curtis, Register.

 

 

 

The known children of Jacob and Jemima Sorency were:

 

1.       John.  John is listed in Duck Creek Hundred (aka “township”), Kent Co DE Tax Lists in the years 1757, 1758, 1759, 1760, 1761, 1763, 1764, 1875, 1766, 1767.

2.       Silas

3.       Samuel, married Ann West in Delaware and died before Apr 1776 probably in Delaware.  After Samuel died, Ann moved to Bourbon Co Ky where she met and married Thomas Fletcher.  Both Ann and her second husband Thomas are buried on their farm in Bath Co KY. 

4.       Jacob.  In Quaker Records referencing a monthly meeting held at Little Creek DE on 16 Mar 1743, “Jacob Sorrencee appeared here and requested for himself and his wife to come under the care and notice of friends this meeting taking the same under consideration grants his request and receives them accordingly as their life and conversation consists with the rules of our discipline.”

 

 

Samuel Sorency

 

Samuel Sorency was born in Delaware, married Ann West (daughter of Quaker David West and possibly the sister of Benjamin West “the Artist”) in Delaware and died before Apr 1776 probably in Delaware.  Some reports list Samuel as dying in the Revolutionary War.  After Samuel died, Ann moved to Bourbon Co KY where she met and married Thomas Fletcher, son of Count Charles Francis Joseph de Fletchir and Ruth P. Phillips Sorency (Ruth had previously married a Jacob Sorency…relation/tie-in unknown).  The will of Benjamin West mentions Jemima Sorency:

 

 

Will of David West

Kent Co DE Will Book A54, Pg 11-13, Liber “L”, Folio 130.

Written 26 Nov 1770, Probated 21 Apr 1773

 

·         Location: Duck Creek Head (“Head” is another word for Township).

·         Mentions Heirs: sons Joseph and Benjamin, daughters Ann Surency and Mary Varnan.

·         Executors: sons Joseph and Benjamin.

 

 

Will of Benjamin West (son of David West above)

Kent Co DE Will Book A54, Pg 9, Liber “L”, Folio 172.

Written 18 April 1775, Probated 12 Aug 1775

 

·         Location: Duck Creek Head (“Head” is another word for Township).

·         Mentions Heirs: brother Joseph, sisters Ann (Sorency) and Mary (Varnan); niece Jamima Sorency; nephew David West, son of Joseph.

·         Executor: brother Joseph.

 

According to the Genealogies of Kentucky Families, after Samuel Sorency died, Ann “…with her three boys and old Aunt Hettie, the colored woman, came to Bourbon (then Fayette) County near Paris, Kentucky, and lived several years.”  After these several years, a Col. Thomas Fletcher married “the widow Nancy West Sorency in Bourbon (then Fayette) County KY and they with her three boys and old Aunt Hettie moved to Bath County KY on a farm near Flat Creek….(both Thomas and Ann) died and (are) buried on the farm”.  Thomas died in 1799 in Montgomery Co (now Bath Co) KY.  Ann died circa 1826 in Bath Co KY. 

 

Thomas and Ann had seven children: Rachel (married Joseph Lancaster), Mary (married Quinton Moore), Rebecca  (married Ely Hazelrigg), Anna (never married), Catherine (married Augustus Byram), Rutha (married Valentine Bryam) and Thomas (married 1^st Miss McIlhaney, 2^nd Mrs. Howe).

 

(NOTE: Research by others, including Bronaugh History-Volume II: The Sharp Family of Sharpsburg, KY and related families by Amelia Bronaugh Benson, 1980, indicate that Thomas and Ann were married in Westmoreland Co PA and that their first six children were all born in PA and the last was born in Bath Co).

 

Thomas Fletcher was born circa 1755 (probably PA…he was living in Westmoreland Co PA from 1779 to 1784) and was the son of Count Charles Francis Joseph de Fletchir and Ruth P. Phillips Sorency widow of a Jacob Sorency – relation/tie-in to our Sorency unknown).  Thomas served as a Lieutenant in Captain James Clark’s company, 2^nd battalion, Westmoreland Co, PA militia, under Cols. Perry and Lowrey.  He also was the first clerk of the County Court of the newly founded Bath Co KY.  Thomas was also appointed to survey the site picked to be the county seat of Bath Co – Owingsville.

 

 

Chronology of Samuel Sorency references

in DE records

 

Delaware Quaker Records: At a meeting at Little Creek, 28 Dec 1771.  Duck Creek Preperation Meeting brought a complaint here against Samuel Syrency who appears to have had a birthright among friends (I guess this means he was born into the Quaker church probably as a son of Jacob) for his disorderly life and neglect of attending our regligious meetings and finally absenting himself from amongst us and leaving the parts in a manner importing a design of defrauding his creditors.  Wherefor Jacob Janney and Richard Holliday are appointed by this meeting to enquire into the particular circumstances of the affair and if they find it necessary for to draw up a testimony against him and produce it to our next meeting for approbation.

 

Delaware Quaker Records.  15 Jan 1772.  The friends appointed in the affair of Samuel Syrency produced a testimony here against him which was read and after some alterations was approved and signed by the Clerk  and Richard Holliday appointed to publish it at the close of the first day meeting and return to our next. 

 

Delaware Quaker Records.  22 Feb 1772.  The friends appointed to publish the testimony against Samuel Syrency has done it and returned it here.

 

 

Will of Thomas Fletcher

(Stepfather of David, Samuel & Jacob Sorrency)

Montgomery Co KY Will Book A, pages 30-32

Dated: 14 May 1799, proved 9 July 1799

 

IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN I Thomas Fletcher of the County of Montgomery being very sick and weak but in perfect mind and memory thanks be given to God; calling unto mind the mortality of my Body & knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament  And as touching such worldly estate where with it has pleased God to Blefs (bless) me with this life I give, demise, and dispose of the same in the following manner and forum---

First I give and bequeath to Ann (West)(Sorency) my dearly beloved wife dwelling house, one third of the plantation, two Negroes named Dick and Het her lifetime; and all the farming utensils and stock to carry on her farm and at her decease the two Negroes, stock and furniture divided equally with Rebecca, Catereina (Catherine), Ruth.  Also I give my well beloved son Thomas Fletcher one: Bond on Asa Davis of one hundred pounds & one Desk (or disk) three Negroes named Bin, George and Jack (or Ick) and all my lands.

Also I give to my well beloved daughter Ann Fletcher one Negro girl named Nan, one horse & saddle, bed and furniture and that to be contained in the hands of Anne Fletcher her mother to be at her disposal as necifsaty (necessity) requires.

Also I give to my daughter Mary Moore one Negro girl Jno (or Jud) and Quinten Moore (probably Mary's husband) to have his Deed for two hundred acres of Land.

Also I give my daughter Ratchel Lancaster one Negro boy named Jim and Joseph Lancaster (probably Ratchel's husband) a deed for one hundred acres of land.

Also I give to my daughter Rebecca Fletcher one Negro girl Hiller, one mare and saddle bed and furniture.

Also I give my daughter Ruth Fletcher one Negro girl to be given out of the estate one horse and saddle bed and furniture.

Also David Sorency (Silas' father) is to have one hundred and fifty acres of deeded to him of land where Samuel Sorency (David's father) lived.

These names before mentioned I constitute make and ordain the sole executors of this my last will and testament all and singular my lands ?*&%$@? and tenaments by them to be pofsefsed (possessed) and enjoyed and I so hereby utterly disallow, revoke and disannull all and every other former testaments legacies, wills, bequests and executors by me in any wise before named willed, bequeathed, ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament.

 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 14th day of May 1799.

                                                                        THO FLETCHER

 

Signed sealed published pronounced and declared by the said Tho Fletcher this last will and testament in the presence of ?&%@# in his presence and in presence of each other have hereto subscribed our names:

 

Jacob Sorency (brother of Samuel, who is Silas' grandfather)

Elijah Voomas

Gary Sorency

 

At a court held for Montgomery County the 9th day of July 1799 this last will and testament of Thomas Fletcher deceased was provin by the oathes of Jacob Sorency & Quincy Sorency two of the witnefs therto subscribed and ordained to be recorded and on the motion of Tho Fletcher Jr & Ann Fletcher two of the Executors therein named who made oath as the law directs; certificate is granted them for obtaining a probate thereof in due form giving security who together with Jacob Sorency entered into and acknowledged their bond in the penalty of 3000 pounds conditioned as the law directs for the due and faithful administration of the said decedent’s estate and performance of his will liberty being reserved the other executors therein named to join in the probate thereof when they shall think proper.

 

                                    Teste M HARRISON CMC (Clerk Montgomery County)

 

 

Abstracted Will of Ann West (Sorency) Fletcher

Bath Co KY Will Book B, pages 95-96

Dated 16 June 1825, and proven in June 1826

 

·         Ann mentions her deceased husband Thomas Fletcher.

·         Ann mentions her daughter Ann Fletcher.

·         Ann asks that the negro girl Philadelphia be placed in the hands of Rebecca Hazelrigg and Ruth Byram.

·         Ann asks that all the money due her from Thomas Fletcher (probably her son), Robert Andrews (sp?) and William M. Sudduth be disposed of by Rebecca Hazelrigg and Ruth Byram (daughters of Ann and Thomas) for the use of her daughter.

 

 

The children of Samuel and Ann West Sorency were:

 

1.       David, born circa  1764/1775, married Susannah Brown/Browne 28 Jun 1798 Montgomery Co KY and died 1825 Bath Co KY.

2.       Samuel.

3.       Jacob, born circa 1764, married Jeanny, died 1817 Bath Co KY.  Jacob, of “Montgomery Co” KY bought 30 acres of “Sand”  in Montgomery Co KY from a Peyton Short of Woodford Co KY for 9 pounds on 5 April 1802 (Montgomery Co KY Deed Book 2, page 238).  Additionally, Jacob, “of Montgomery Co” KY bought 200 acres of land from Ezekiel Heydon/Hayden of Jessamine Co KY for 120 pounds on 17 Sep 1802.  Montgomery Co KY Will Book 2, pages 287-289.  Jacob is also listed as one of the founding citizens of Bath Co, KY.  Bath Co was created out of Montgomery Co by the Kentucky legislature on January 15, 1811.  Kentucky Governor Charles Scott commissioned a number of men as Justices of the new county, including Jacob Sorency.  The first trustees of the town of Owingsville (named the county seat for Bath Co), included Jacob Sorency.  Jacob’s will is listed below:

 

Will of Jacob Sorency

Brother of David Sorency, Silas' father

Bath Co KY Will Book A, Pages 164-166

Dated: January 17, 1817, Proved 11 April 1817

 

In the name of God Amen I JACOB SORENCY now sick and like unto death and in my proper mind and memory of now resign myself to the will of the great and first Causer of all things, and making this my last will and testament revoking all others that have heretofore been made and acknowledged this to be my desire and wish in the distribution of my real and personal Estate as follows towit I will and bequeath unto my wife JEANNY SORENCY the land and tennaments House and household furniture where on I now live horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep, negreos named Ails, Harison, Meriah, George, Edney, Franky, Rachel and Jacifus which is all for her behalf and use during natural life the negreos to be disposed of he death as the said JEANNY SORENCY may think proper, excepting Ails which I wish at her death to be set free the other named negreos above at her disposal I also will and bequeath unto my beloved brothren DAVID &  (blank space) SORENCY ten dollars also JOHN & SILAS SORENCY sons of my brother DAVID five dollars all which is to be paid out of the before mentioned estate and I JACOB SORENCY doth affirm this foregoing will my last and appoint and consitiute my beloved wife JEANNNY SORENCY an Executrix to the same and no other this twenty six year of the Commonwealth of Kentucky January 17th Eighteen hundred and seventeen.

                                                                                        JACOB SORENCY

 

D. B. Boyd

Joel Thomas

Lewis Corbin

 

                                  ******************************************

 

At the Court held for Bath County on the 11th day of April 1817 This instrument of writing purporting to be the last will and testament of Jacob Sorency Deceased was proven in open court by the oaths of Joel Thomas and Lewis Corbin witnesses thereof subscribed and ordered to be recorded and established on the motion of JINNY SORENCY the Executrix in so will named who made oaths as the law directs of it is ordered that probate be granted her in due form of law giving security whereupon she together with Joel Thomas and John Arnett entered into and acknowledged bond in the penalty of $4,000 conditioned for the due and faithful administration of so decdent's estate and performance of his will.

                                                          Test        William M. Sudduth, Clerk

Bath County Court

 

 

4.       Jamima (speculation).  The abstracted will of Benjamin West (see above) mentions niece Jamima Sorency.  It is possible that the Jamima mentioned was the daughter of Samuel and Ann (West) Sorency.

 

David Sorency

 

David was born circa 1764/1775, married Susannah/Susye Brown/Browne 28 Jun 1798 in Montgomery Co  KY and died 1825 Bath Co KY.

 

A David Sorenency is listed as one of the signators of the “First Petition by the Citizens of Bourbon County” made at the Virginia Assembly 27 Oct 1788.  The petition states that every other County in the District of KY (it was not a state until 1792 when Fincastle Co VA was turned into the State of KY) “has been indulged with the advantages of Publick warehouses for the reception of Tobacco…..therefore pray that an inspection (aka warehouse) for the reception of Tobacco may be established on the S. Fork of Licking Creek and in the fork near Isaac Ruddles Mill….”. 

 

The 19 Nov 1791 Kentucky Gazette (Vol V, No. X) mentions that “David Surrency, May 1791, found a mare on Flat run, Bourbon County, Kentucky.”

 

In the 1800 Montgomery Co KY Tax list (taken on 22 Aug 1800), David Sorrency and Jacob Sorrency (David’s brother) are listed separately.

 

On 3 Aug 1801,  Peyton Short—of Woodford Co KY deeded to David Sorrency of Montgomery Co KY 200 acres (Montgomery Co KY Deed Book #2, page 109).

 

On 17 Sep 1802, Ezekiel Hayden of Jessamine Co KY deeds to Jacob Sorency of Montgomery Co KY 200 acres in Montgomery Co KY.  Jacob is David’s brother.

 

In the 1811 Bath Co KY Tax list, David is listed as owning two tracks of land that had been originally patented:

·         150 acres, Flat Creek, entered and patented by Hadin.

·         810 acres, Flat Creek, entered and patented by Alex Dorr.

 

 

The following individuals are listed in early Bath Co KY Tax lists:

 

David, Silas’ father.  David died in 1825.

Jacob, David’s brother.  Jacob died in 1817.

Susan, David’s wife.  Susan died between 1840 and 1850.

John, David and Susan’s oldest son.

 

 

 

 

Susannah Brown was born circa 1776/1870 and died circa 1840/1850.  According to the August 1822 Bath County KY Court Case "Benjamin Snelling vs Thomas Brown Heirs", Susan is listed as one of the children and heirs of Thomas Brown:

 

Bath County Court Records

August 1822

 

Benjamin Snelling vs Thomas Brown Heirs

 

This court proceeding mentions the following individuals:

Sally Cartmill, nee Brown, wife of John

Nancy Cartmill, nee Brown, wife of Andrew (Nancy & Andrew married 18 Jun 1795, Clark Co KY)

Polly Scott, nee Brown, wife of William

Richard Brown

James Brown

Betsy Morgan, nee Brown, wife of John

Susan Sorency, nee Brown, wife of David

 

 

Will of David Sorency

Bath Co KY Will Book B, Pages 19-21

Dated 6 June 1825, proved Sept 1825

 

In the name of God Amen, Whereas I DAVID SORENCY of the County of Bath, State of Kentucky being weak in body but of perfect mind and memory, calling to mind my mortality & that it is appointed all men once to die, Do constitute and ordain this to be my last will and testament in manner following, Revoking and dis-annulling all former Wills and Testaments made by me or in my name

1st I will and bequeath my Soul to Almighty God, that gave it, my body to the Earth to be entered in decent Christian burial, and as it respects my worldly property wherewith it has Pleased God to bless me with I shall dispose of it in this way.  1st To my dearly beloved Son JOHN SORENCY I will and bequeath one hundred acres of land on the head of the East Fork which said land was willed to me by Thomas Fletcher deceased to be his & his heirs forever, also to my dearly beloved son SILAS SORENCY  I will and bequeath a certain piece of ground on the south side of Whiteoak Beginning at the white walnut standing in my westerly line thence down said white oak on the brow of the hill until it intersects William Thompson's line thence with said Thompson's line to David McDonels line, thence a  westerly course with one of the lines of the long thousand to a hackberry thence to the beginning - so as include all my land on that side of White Oak be the same more or less to be his & his heirs forever --- And to my dearly beloved wife SUSANNAH (BROWN) SORENCY I will and bequeath the Home Plantation and residue of my land and stock, and all my farming utensils also all my slaves , four, Mahala, Tom, Isaac, George, during her natural life to raise & support my family upon, and at the death of my wife I wish two of my negroes Issac and George and all my stock and farming utensils to be sold to the highest bidder and the proceeds of said sale disposed of as follows: to my dearly beloved daughter MARY SORENCY  I will and bequeath two hundred and ten dollars in cash to be paid out of the sale money ; also to my daughter NANCY SORENCY two hundred ten dollars to be paid out of the sale money; also to my daughter MARGARET SORENCY, two hundred & ten dollars to be paid out of the sale money, to make them equal with what I have given my daughters JEMIMA (SORENCY) HALL & ARTEMISIA (SORENCY) NEWLAND , the balance of said sale money I wish equally divided between my five daughters JEMIMA HALL, ARTEMISIA NEWLIN, MARY SORENCY, NANCY SORENCY and MARGARETT SORENCY, and at the death of my wife SUSANNAH SORENCY I will and bequeath to my three sons WILLIAM SORENCY, JAMES B. SORENCY AND DAVID SORENCY all my land not otherwise disposed of, that is to say the home place and all my right title claim and interest , to one hundred and thirty acres of land, Whereon George Trumbo now lives that descended to me by the death of my brother JACOB SORENCY, deceased, to be equally divided in quality and quantity .  Also I will and bequeath to my sons JOHN SORENCY, SILAS SORENCY, WILLIAM SORENCY, JAMES B. SORENCY & DAVID SORENCY the negroes at the death of my wife, Mahala & Tom, to be equally divided amongst them.  Lastly I appoint my well beloved wife SUSANNAH SORENCY to be my lawful Executrix with my trusty friend Eli Hazelrigg, Joint Executor to this my last will and testament, In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 6th day of June in the year 1825.

                                                                

DAVID SORENCY

Witnesses present,

Thomas Doggett

Samuel Willson                                  

                                 **************************************************

Bath County    September Court   1825

 

This instrument off writing purporting to be the last will and testament of DAVID SORENCY, deceased, was produced and proven in open court by the oaths of Thomas Doggett and Samuel Willson witnesses hereto subscribe and ordered to be recorded, on the motion of SUSANNAH SORENCY the Executrix and Eli Hazelrigg the Executor named in said Will, who made oath thereto as the Law directs it is Ordered that probate be granted them in due form, giving security whereupon they, together with Arthur Doggett and JOHN SORENCY, entered into and acknowledged bond, in the penalty of $4,000 conditioned according to Law, whereupon the same is truely received in my office as the law directs,

 

                                                     Teste     William M. Sudduth

 

 

The children of David and Susannah Brown Sorency were:

    

1.       John, born circa 1799 KY, married Sarah J. Phillips on 22 Dec 1827 Mason Co KY.  After Sarah died, John remarried Ann E. (Nancy) Phillips on 5 Sep 1840 Mason Co KY.  They both died in Colorado and are buried on their ranch in Elbert CO.

2.       Jemima, born circa 1801, married Archibald P. Hall 12 Nov 1818 Bath Co KY.   They had one child, Levnida who died young.  Mr. Hall died and left Jemima a widow.  Jemima spent her last years with her brother John in MO.

3.       Mary (Polly), born circa 1803 Bath Co KY, married John A. Trumbo 20 Jan 1827 Bath Co KY.  They always lived in KY.  John was the State Representative for Bath Co for 2 terms, a Deputy Sheriff in Bath Co.  He was also a farmer and practiced medicine.

4.       Artemesia, born circa 1805, married Dr. William B. Newland 1 May 1823 Bath Co KY.  They moved to Montgomery Co MO and then Lawrence (later Randolph) Co AR.  William died circa 1834 in Lawrence Co AR.  Artemisia with 1 (daughter Mary, born 1833) or more children returned to Bath Co KY where she is shown in the 1850 census with a Toliver Snelling family.

5.       Silas, born circa 1806 KY, married Martha Ann Wilson 8 Mar 1838 Bourbon Co KY, died 1879 Cass Co MO, buried Union Baptist Cemetery, Cass Co MO.  After Martha died circa 1862, Silas remarried a Rebecca Roberson 26 Dec 1866 Cass Co MO.

6.       William W., born circa 1809 KY, died 1842.  Was a physician and always lived in KY.

7.       David, born circa 1811 and was a bachelor and was reportedly killed in Texas.

8.       Margaret R, born 20 Jul 1820 KY, married Harvey T. Wilson 17 May 1838 Bath Co KY an died Bellevue, Campbell Co KY circa 1790.  She was “said to be a beautiful woman”.  Harvey was a merchant and they lived in Covington KY and educated their children in Cincinnati OH (across the Ohio River from Covington).  According to the Elder Richard Thomas Bible, Margaret and Harvey “mooved to MO on the 1^st day of Sept 1839 & removed to Ky on the 12 Sept 1842.”  An undated obituary, mentioning Margaret, was located by another researcher: “Bellevue (KY), Death of an Estimable Lady.  Mrs. Harvey T. Wilson died last night at her home on Lafeyette Avenue (Bellevue, Campbell Co KY).  The deceased, a most estimable lady, had not been immediately ill, but the life chord snapped, owing to her pent-up sorrow at the protracted illness of her beloved husband.  He was sixty-eight years of age (error: she was born 20 Jul 1820 and living as late as 15 Apr 1890…thus almost 70) and her death will arouse universal sympathy from all who knew her.  A husband and three children, Mr. Joseph Wilson of Canton Ohio, Mrs. M.R. Lockhart of Dayton (KY) and Mrs. Joseph Norville of this city (Bellevue KY) survive her.”  Probably from the Cincinnati Enquirer circa 189/1891.

9.       Nancy (aka Frances Ann), born circa 1815, married Curtis G. Phillips 1 Nov 1834 Bath Co KY.  Moved to Marion Co Indiana circa 1837 (see Marion Co IN Deed Book #44, pg 218) and later Sullivan Co IN.  While in Indiana they had three children (Clay, Ann and Susan) who, for some reason “were soon left orphans”.  One of Nancy’s brothers brought the three children to MO where Ann went to live with her Uncle James Sorency.  Susan went to live with her Uncle Silas Sorency.  Apparently Susan “had a beau, a Union soldier (there at Pleasant Hill MO.  He gave her money to go back to Indiana when the war was over.  He went there and married her and brought her to Nevdash KS.

10.   James B, born circa 1817 Bath Co KY, married Mariah M. Whitecraft 29 Jun 1841, died 1895 Columbus MO.  Mariah died 20 Jul 1871 in Johnson Co MO.  According to her obituary located in the Missouri Obits Vol. 1--1870, 1871 and 1872: “Sorency, Mariah M, wife of James B. Sorency and daughter of E. and J. Whitecraft, was born in Bath Co KY 16 June 1820; she married J.B. Sorency on 29 June 1841 and died in Johnson Co MO 20 July 1871.  Sister Sorency was converted to Christianity at a camp meeting near her native place and joined the M.E. Church.  She came to Missouri several years ago, and with her husband settled on Blackwater and became one of the prominent members of the Blackwater Church.”   After Mariah died, James remarried a Julia H. Thacher (or Barclay) 26 Mar 1872 in Johnson Co MO.  According to the “History of Johnson Co MO Illustrated, 1881”, James B’s home is listed as one of the homes that was burnt in 1862 by Kansas RedLegs.  In the “History of Johnson Co MO”, James B. is listed as buying the Jonathan Fine farm near Blackwater Church and cemetery in 1881. 

    

       

Silas Sorency

 

As mentioned above, Silas was born circa 1806 in KY (probably Bath Co). In 1830, he is listed the Bath Co KY Tax Lists as having “7 horses.”  He married Martha Ann Wilson 8 Mar 1838 in Bourbon Co KY.  According to a Wilson/Thomas researcher (H. J. Rhodes), Silas and Martha migrated from Bourbon Co KY to Cass Co MO in 1841 (although this conflicts with census records that put Silas and Martha in Bath Co KY in 1840).  After Martha died in 1862 (possibly as a result of the Civil War??), Silas remarried Rebecca Roberson 26 Dec 1866 in Cass Co MO.  They were married by a Henry Farmer, “a minister of the Gospel”.  Silas died circa 1879 in Cass Co MO.   Both Silas and Martha Ann are buried in the Union Baptist Cemetery, Cass Co MO, as are a number of their children.  Union Baptist Cemetery is located Big Creek Twp (take Boardman Street north out of Pleasant Hill to Leonard Lake, turning west for 2 miles).  Unfortunately, Silas died intestate (at least in Cass Co and Jackson Co MO; I have not checked any other adjoining counties) so we have no record of how his property was disbursed.

 

According to the History of Cass and Bates Co, Missouri, the township of Big Creek “was originally settled by Southern men, hailing generally from Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, the latter State being more largely represented than any other.  Occasionally, however, a solitary emigrant, from one of the more distant Southern states, would come to the West, to cast his lot with the adventurous frontiersmen, who were so rapidly settling up Western Missouri.  There was a settlement, known as the Farmer Settlement, called so after the Farmers, a large family who came from East Tennessee (specifically Knox Co TN it has been learned), and opened claims on Big Creek and its tributaries.  Their names were: Jeremiah Farmer, Baptist minister, Henry Farmer(*), ……….., Silas Sorency, from East Tennessee (**)………….”.

 

(*) Note: It is interesting to note that this Henry Farmer, “a minister of the Gospel”, married Silas and his second wife Rebecca Roberson.  Henry was the second pastor of the Union Baptist Church and served in that capacity for 20 years.

 

(**) Note: This reference to Silas Sorency being “from East Tennessee” is incorrect.  All the census research performed indicates that Silas was born in KY, married in KY and left KY - travelling directly to MO without an interim stop in TN.   Additionally, contact with the Tennessee Genealogical Society confirms that no mention of the Sorency surname was found in the 1820, 1830, 1840 and 1850 State censuses.

 

Martha Ann Wilson was born 3 Oct 1821 Flat Rock, Bourbon co KY to Lewis and Sarah Anderson Wilson.  She died circa 1862 in Cass Co MO.  Please see the Wilson chapter for more information about this family.

 

Silas and Martha received land patents for the following tracts of land in Cass Co KY during President James R. Polk’s and President Franklin Pierce’s administrations:

 

 

 

 

On 10 May 1859, Silas signed a Big Creek Twp, Cass Co MO road petition.

 

During the Civil War (1861-1865), the western counties of Missouri, because they were populated primarily with southerners, were ripe with pro-slavery sentiments.  In fact, western Missouri was called Little Dixie by many.  Because of the proximity of pro-slavery Missourians and the anti-slavery Kansasians, there were many cross border conflicts and attacks.  The government soon suspected that western Missourians, sympathetic to the Confederacy, were harboring confederate guerillas (also called Bushwackers). 

 

As a result, General Order No. 11 was issued effective 15 September 1863, establishing 25 or more little military posts scattered between Kansas City and Ft Scott….a hundred miles to the south.  All citizens on the Missouri side of the border were rounded up and placed in these tent cities.  By this executive order, most of the barns and homes were burnt…and the US Army confiscated all horses and mules…with the farmer’s cattle, hogs and sheep turned loose to roam wild.  Proven Union folks were sent to separate tent cities and were given proper papers so they could come and go.  It is assumed that they burnt what the Federal soldiers did not.  This all lasted some 21 months.  Silas and Martha were almost certainly part of this forced internment.

 

It is interesting to note that from the end of the Civil War up until the 1950s (almost 90 years), when Kansas and Missouri started expanding their state road systems, one could not cross from Kansas to Missouri after passing 75 Street in Kansas City UNTIL you reached Ft. Scott, Kansas (some 100 miles to the south) where there is a federal highway.

 

There are papers filed in St. Clair Co, MO (75 miles NW of Cass Co MO) that indicate that in/around 1868 Silas had been the Curator (Guardian) of Agnes M. Rogers, daughter of Harden and Elizabeth (Wilson) Rogers of Carroll Co MO.   Martha, Silas' wife, was the younger sister of Elizabeth.  Apparently Silas was the Guardian of Agnes - and when she became of age and married a Wm. H. Hammond on/about 23 Mar 1868, Silas had to remit the remaining amount in Agnes' guardian account ($50) to William and Agnes.

 

In January of 1872, Silas’ name was added to the Union Baptist Church’s building committee.

 

On an interesting side note, James M. Sorency (1915-1994) and his father Allen G. Sorency (Allen was the son of James B. Sorency, Silas’ brother) were friends of William Barry and Annie Sorency Moore of Arlington KS.  Jim and Allen called on the Moores several times in the early 1900’s.  During my Sorency research in the early 1990’s, I caught up with Jim and we exchanged numerous letters and one or two phone calls.  In once such correspondence, he told me a story of Silas and Martha Sorency:  One day 7 union calvarymen rode up to the Silas Sorency farm in Cass County sometime during the Civil War and demanded breakfast.  Martha obliged.  “We were southern sympathizers you know Andrew”.  During breakfast, she sent the boys off to find the confederates – who came and shot the seven dead.  They stripped them and buried them out behind the house in the garden.  “Andrew, we have to get a Geiger counter to locate them” (due to the lead bullets presumably in the bodies).

 

Jim’s sister was Ann Barclay Sorency (10 June 1912 KC MO – 1970/1975).  Ann was an honor graduate of Stephens College (MO) and traveled throughout the country on behalf of the national board of the YWCA.  In the late 1960s, she was associate director of development at Stephens College, assistant director of development at Stephens College, assistant director of development of the Institute of International Education in New York City, director of public support for the YWCA of New York City and the executive director of the Advertising Women of New York.  She married Dr. Ralph Bedell on 21 Dec 1968 in Webster Groves MO.  Her engagement announcement was listed in the Columbia (MO) Missourian, Sunday 6 Oct 1968.

 

The following is a 1970 account of a Civil War battle that took place on July 11, 1862 on Silas Sorency’s farm, which was located approximately three miles west of Pleasant Hill, MO.   This article was sent to me in 1990.  In April 1999, I wrote to John Thorton Buckner’s widow, Marjorie P. Bucker, 406 Bowen Circle, Raymore, MO  64083, and received permission to reprint this very interesting article.

 

Battle of the Ravines

By

John Thornton Buckner

 

By 1861 the Kansas and Missouri border country was a hotbed of conflicting abolitionist and pro-slavery sentiment which broke into open strife at the commencement of the Civil War.  Born of a turbulent frontier, fostered in Missouri by a tragic political and military situation, there emerged a reckless, merciless group of pro-southern guerillas - some of them boys in their late teens, some mature men.

 

These colorful and savage cavalrymen, led by young men such as William C. Quantrill, “Bloody Bill" Anderson, William Gregg, Frank and Jesse James and the Younger brothers, Bob, Jim, Cole and John, ranged the border from Missouri to Texas for four terrible years.   They were inspired by revenge against the hated Kansas "Jayhawkers" under James H. Lane and the equally hated “Redlegs” under Charles R. Jennison, James Montgomery and others who had been raiding western Missouri cou­nties.

 

In this particular area, civil law courts and constitutional guarantees were suspended from 1861 to 1865 and partisan strife was continuous. Heitiman's Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army has several different sections.  One section consists of an alphabeti­cal list of Battles, actions, combats, skirmishes, military events etc. from April 19, 1775 to July 1, 1902.   In Vol.2, page 352 there is a list of battles that took place at Pleasant Hill Missouri as follows:

 

July 8, 11, 1862

 

May 15 and September 4 to 7, 1863

 

May 28, June 14 to 16 and August 26, 1864

 

May 3, 1865

 

I want to tell you about one of these battles, one little inci­dent of the bitter war which many times pitted Missourian against Missourian.

 

A little over one hundred and eight years ago, on the high ground four miles west of Pleasant Hill, occurred one of the blood­iest and bitterest contests of the Civil War.  The pitched battle which was fought on July 11th, 1862 between Quantrill’s Guerillas and several units of Union Cavalry cannot be looked upon as a major engage­ment; but the raw courage, tenacity and willingness to fight shown by the men on both sides has seldom been equaled on any battlefield. The fierceness of the encounter was matched only by the fiery July sun, which beat down with unrelenting fury on both contending forces.  Connelly calls this engagement the "hardest yet fought with the guerillas, one of the hardest ever fought".

 

Quantrill and his men had made camp on the Sorency farm on the tenth and the next morning, the eleventh, were in the midst of their preparations to move on when their pickets were driven in by Union Calvarymen¹.  Soon a blue-shirted patrol under Captain Martin Kehoe roared down the lane toward the seemingly unsuspecting guerillas. Seeing the charging cavalry, the guerillas ran wildly about the yard of the Sorency home giving all the appearance of a surprised and panic ridden mob.  Such was not the case, however.  Far from being surprised, the wiley Quantrill had baited and was about to spring a trap for the Captain and his Missouri troopers.  Before closing the ring on Quant­rill’s men, lets review the men and events leading to this encounter, which raised the curtain on the main fight.

 

The men under Captain Kehoe were part of a force that had been pursuing Quantrill since July 9th.   The pursuit resulted directly from the severe mauling Quantrill had given a force of ninety men belonging to the First Iowa Cavalry, sent out from Clinton (MO), which had oc­curred on Sugar Creek, near Wadesburg, on the Cass - Johnson county line.  Major James C. Gower, commanding officer of the First Iowa, was so incensed by the defeat of his men that he vowed to capture Quan­trill dead or alive.  He promptly summoned the aid of the Union garrisons in Harrisonville, Warrensburg and Butler.  This was good tactics, as he was concentrating Cavalry on Quantrill from all directions of the compass.  The units which responded to Gower, with his seventy-five men of the First Iowa Cavalry, were sixty-five more of the First Iowa under Captain William Ankeny from Clinton, sixty-five men of the 7th Missouri under Captain William A. Martin from Warrensburg and sixty-three men of the First Missouri Cavalry under Captain Martin Kehoe and Lt. White from Harrisonville and Butler; making a total of two hundred and sixty-eight men, plus officers, against Quantrill's estimated sixty-five men.  Their orders were to meet at the Lotspeich farm, about a mile from Quantrill's camp southeast of Garden City.

 

The pursuing units, knowing full well the caliber of their opp­onent, and having experienced his fury, moved cautiously as they approa­ched Quantrill’s camp.  Upon their arrival at the camp they found the place deserted and the quarry gone.  Finding Quantrill gone only whe­tted Gowers desire to bring his forces to grip with the enemy.  He divided his command and directed the officers of the various units to fan out in all directions to locate the trail of the enemy.  In due course, the Guerillas were reported to be following the Big Creek bottom in an easterly direction.  Major Gower assembled his command and pursued the enemy at a gallop.  The trail led east of Rose Hill, in Johnson County, then up Big Creek to the Hornsby farm in Cass County.²   The forces were not to meet that day and late on the evening of the tenth, Gower halted his command at the Hornsby farm.  Here evidence was found that the Guerillas had eaten and faded into the dusk to make camp, not many hours ahead.  Having marched his men fifty miles, and determined to strike the enemy with a rested force, he ordered his men to bivouac for the night, the understanding being that the pursuit would be resumed at daybreak.

 

July 11th dawned hot and clear.  The angry sun soon bore down with an intensity that previewed the death struggle soon to be begun.

 

Historians disagree on Captain Kehoe' 5 actions on this eventful morning.  By agreement, all units were to take the field at the same time.  Some writers contend that Captain Kehoe’s troopers were first to move out but had first sent word to Major Gower of their intention.  Receiving no orders to the contrary, Captain Kehoe pushed on.  Others maintain that Kehoe, in his desire to punish the hated Quantrill or possibly to gain credit for himself, deliberately disobeyed the orders of Major Gower.³   After several hours in the saddle, Kehoe’s men exchanged shots with Quan­trill pickets at the Sorency farm four miles west of Pleasant Hill.⁴  Ke­hoe immediately sent word to Gower that the Guerillas had been located; then led his troopers down the lane toward the Sorency house.  There had been a heavy rain the evening before and the Guerillas were thoroughly soaked.  Earlier in the morning they had spread their blankets and gear to dry on the fence along the lane.  When the pickets were fired on a half mile away, Quantrill called the usual command, “Saddle up”.  The horses were at once equipped and tied back of the house.  The men were ordered to conceal themselves behind the fence and commanded not to fire until the word was given.  When the patrol, with Captain Kehoe leading, roared down the lane they were within thirty yards of the gate before they met the hail of lead. Six troopers were killed and nine wounded, including Captain Kehoe, in the first fire.  At Guerilla William Gregg’s suggestion, Quantrill, himself, opened the yard gate and the riderless horses gallop­ed into the lot.  Captain Kehoe, though wounded, and calming down his shaken command, soon returned to the fray at long range, killing John Hampton and wounding George Mattox and William Tucker.  After sending away his wounded, and quickly sensing that the Sorency clearing was too open for adequate defense against a superior force, Quantrill mounted his men and pulled them back to a series of ravines at the north of the house.  From this position the Guerillas successfully resisted their opponents, who wanted and needed help.  Sometime later, Major Gower and the balance of the pursuing group pounded up to join the fight.  With all the Union forces in position, the attack on Quantrill was then vigor­ously pressed home.   The resulting clash was furious and bloody, with no quarter expected or given by either side.  Every tree, bush or ledge of rock that could hide a man spit forth flashes of fire and leaden death. The Union troops dismounted and rushed the ravines in small squads and were soon joined in hand to hand combat with the desperate Guerillas, who pitted their revolvers and knives against the carbines and sabers of the Cavalrymen.

 

The Guerillas were slowly driven back through the ravine and forced to the opposite side of the thicket.  Major Gower, however, had sent a force to that side of the timber and Quantrill and his men were turned back.  Their position soon became desperate.  They fought back through the weaker line of Captain Kehoe, who followed them back to the ravine and continued the hand to hand struggle.  The Guerillas regrouped in another ravine and fought on against Captain Martin, who received some reinforcements.  He charged them several times but the Guerillas held their ground well.  It was here that Quantrill was wounded in the leg.

 

Eventually the superior numbers and discipline of the Union forces tilted the scales and the by now slightly wounded Quantrill, who was out of his element fighting on foot, was forced to disperse his command. A few at a time, his hot, thirsty and bone-tired warriors broke out of the ravines, taking most of their wounded with them, as was their custom.  Retreating on foot and on horseback, they scattered to the four winds, a tactic they often used to foil pursuit.  Major Gower did not follow them. The Union men, worn out by the long march, the fierce heat and the bloody fighting, held the field but failed their objective which was to capture Quantrill himself.  Part of their booty included thirty horses, includ­ing Quantrill's own.  Other booty included the coat, spy glass and other equipment of the intrepid Guerilla chieftain.  The equipment belonging to Quantrill was identified as being his by one of the wounded of his command. It is significant that no Guerilla prisoners were brought in.  Apparently the brush warrior who gave the information was given the swift death that befell all partisans who came into Federal hands.  It is equally true that had positions been reversed the result would have been the same, as neither side was prone to spare those unlucky to fall into their hands.

 

Some accounts list the Union casualties at twenty-six dead and thirty-five wounded, many seriously;  and the Guerillas at least eight­een dead and twenty-five to thirty wounded.  The forces under Major Cower, battle-worn by the bloody fighting and intense heat, limped into Pleasant Hill.  The dead were buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery and the wounded conveyed in vehicles to the military hospital at Warrensburg.⁵

 

Not much more can be found about Cower, Kehoe and the other Union officers in the histories written about the continuing war in Missouri.  Quantrill, however, is another matter.  He strides across the pages of history and still lives in men's imagination.  Before him lay Shawnee Town, Independence and the high point of the border war, the raid on Law­rence.  From this high point, his influence as a Guerilla leader waned and he moved with foregone certainty to his less than glamorous downfall and death in a Kentucky barnyard.

 

NOTES

 

1. William E. Connelley, in “Quantrill and the Border Wars” page 256, says, “Half a mile beyond the picket station Captain Kehoe found Quantrill at the house of one Sears (Searancy), a Union man, making preparations to burn the house".  End quote.  The man's name was not Sears or Searancy. His name was Silas Sorency.  He was born in Kentucky in 1806, according to the 1850 census of Cass County.  There are listed in his name three land patents, two in March, 1848 and another in April, 1853.  He owned the east half of Section 11, Township 46 (Big Creek), Range 31.  His wife, at the time of his death, was Rebecca, nee Robinson, and his children were Albert W., Annie L [later the wife of William Barry Moore and mother of Claude Sorency Moore]. and Adeline L., who married a Sousley.  Most of this information is to be found in a sworn statement of A. A. Whitsett, attorney, before Henry Cordell, Notary Public, in 1889.  The Cass County History of 1883 says he came to Missouri from east Tennessee.  I doubt that he was a Union man, or that Quantrill's men were about to burn his house.  The correct spelling of his name is confirmed by his tombstone in Baptist Union Cemetery, west of Pleasant Hill, and the same spelling is found in Cass County land and probate records.

 

2. The Hornsby farm was in Cass County, about three miles north and a mile west of Latour.  A small Cemetery, called the Hornsby Cemetery, is at this appropriate location, and is still in use.  A few years after the war, in 1869, the name Hornsby was again in public notice.  Leonidas Hornsby, known as Lon, was accused of killing a favorite hound, Old Drum, owned by his brother-in-law, Charles Burden, who lived on an adjoining farm.  A lawsuit took place and the case was the subject of several trials and became nationally famous, due to the prominence of the lawyers on both sides and on account of Senator George Graham Vest's “ Eulogy To the Dog”, deliver­ed before the jury in a packed courtroom at the final trial of the case in Warrensburg, Missouri on September 23, 1870.  After the trials, the two men, Burden and Hornsby, returned to their homes on Big Creek.  The years finally healed their wounded feelings and they were buried in the same cemetery, only a few yards apart.

 

3. Rebellion Records, Series 1, Vol.13, pages 154 - 160.  Report of Ma­jor James 0. Cower, First Iowa Cavalry, to Col. Fitz Henry Warren, Command­ing sub-district Butler, Bates County, Missouri.  Dated July 13, 1862. "Captain Kehoe marched without my knowledge, and in direct disregard of my orders, meeting Quantrill and his band at the Sears farm, three miles west of Pleasant Hill about 10 am, 11th instant, and was repulsed, with loss six men and nine wounded.  His entire advance guard was killed except Lt. White, commanding, and himself (Captain Kehoe) wounded in the engagement.  Captain Kehoe not being able to hold his position at the Sears farm, it was impossible to ascertain Quantrill's loss, but it is reported heavy.  Had it not been for this attack by Captain Kehoe I feel confident that we would have secured Quantrill and his entire band".

 

4. The battleground is located west of Pleasant Hill on route BB, about one mile north of the former location of the old Cross Roads School and a mile south of the Jackson County line.  Since Civil War days it has been held by several owners and was once known as the Gage place.  The latest occupant was W.E. Carter.  The farm was lately owned by J. Chester Knorpp, of Pleasant Hill, who sold to the Lake Winnebago Company for use as an airport.

 

5. Rebellion Records, Series 1, Vol.13, pages 154 - 160.  From the re­port of Captain Henry J. Stierlin, Co. A, 1st Mo. Cavalry to Brig. Gen. James Totten, Commanding Central Division, Missouri. Dated Warrensburg, Missouri July 12, 1862.

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Edwards, John N.  “Noted Guerrillas", St. Louis, 1877.

 

Brownlee, Richard S. - "Gray Ghosts of the Confederacy", Baton Rouge, La., 1958.

 

Connelly, William Elsey - "Quantrill and the Border Wars", Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1910.

 

Miller, Rev. George, D.D. - 'Missouri's Memorable Decade, 1860-1870", Colum­bia, Mo., 1898

 

Ismert, Martin E. – “Quantrill, Man and Myth – An Examination of W.E. Connelly’s Historianship”.    A paper in the Trail Guide for June 1961, Published by the Kansas City Posse of the Westerners.

 

Culmer, Frederick A. - "A History of Missouri", 2nd edition, Mexico, Mo. 1939.

 

Hill, John B. - "The Presbytery of Kansas City and Its Predecessors, 1821- 1901", Kansas City, Mo. 1901.

 

Davis, Walter B. and Durrie, Daniel S. - "History of Missouri", Cincinnati, 1876.

 

Heitman, Francis B. - "Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army", 2 Vol., Washington D.C., 1903.

 

U.S. War Dept - “The War of the Rebellion", a Compilation of the official re­cords of the Union and the Confederate Armies. 130 Vols., Washington D.C., 1880 - 1902. Series I, Vol. XIII, pp l54-160.

 

J.P. Burch -"A True Story of Charles W. Quantrill and His Guerilla Band", Vega, Texas, 1923.

 

Barton, O.S. - 'My Three Years With Quantrill - A True Story", as told by John McCorkle, Armstrong, Mo., N.D.

 

George, Todd M. -"The Conversion Of Cole Younger" Kansas City, Mo. 1963.

 

Garwood, Darrell "Crossroads of America " The Story of Kansas City. New York 1948.

           

Lavery, Ray -"Bitter Struggle at the Searency Farm on July 11, 1862”, A paper read before the Kansas City Posse of the Westerners.

 

For other accounts of the 11 July 1862 Civil War skirmish that occurred on Silas and Martha Sorency’s farm in Cass Co MO, please refer to the publication entitled Echoes of Home, Volume I by Norma Rouse Middleton 1988.  Published in cooperation with the Pleasant Hill (MO) Times.

 

 

The children of Silas and Martha Ann Wilson Sorency are:

 

1.       Louisa E, born 25 May 1839 (most likely Bourbon Co) KY, died 5 Aug 1841 Cass Co MO, buried Union Baptist Cemetery, Cass Co MO.

2.       Adaline Skillman, born 30 Apr 1844 Bourbon Co KY, married James Cochran Sousley (James’ 2^nd marriage) 28 Jul 1864 Fleming Co KY, was a school teacher in Tilton, Fleming Co KY, died of “uterun cancer” on 15 Sep 1902 Wichita KS, buried 16 Sep 1902 Maple Grove Cemetery, Wichita KS.  Her husband James was a Kentuckian and they lived in KY for a number of years after their marriage.  James was the son of David Sousley (b PA) who was the son of John Sousley.  James was born 31 Dec 1818 Fleming Co KY and died June 14 1875 in Fleming Co KY.  He is buried in the Garr Pond (Martha’s Mills) Graveyard in the same county.  See The KY Genealogist, 13G3:88-91 for details on the Sousley family.  Upon becoming a widow, Adaline moved to Wichita KS where she died and is buried.  Her obituary was located in the 9/15/1902 Wichita (KS) Beacon (pg 6):  “Mrs Sousley Dead.  Funeral Will Be Held Tomorrow in Morning.  Mrs. Ada L. Sousley died this morning at 5:30 o’clock at her home, 316 North Seneca Street, West Side, after a long illness.  Mrs. Sousley was born April 30, 1844, this being over 57 year old.  The funeral will be held tomorrow morning at 9:30 o’clock at Gill’s undertaking parlors and the internment will be in Maple Grove cemetery.”

 

In 1864, when Adaline was living in Tilton (Fleming Co) KY, she wrote the following letter to one of her aunts (probably Lavina Thomas Skillman who was living in Cass Co MO) and expressed her concern over the fact that her siblings Annie and Albert were living back in Missouri without a mother (who had died two years earlier):

 

 

 

 

3.       Infant #1 (Son), born circa 1845 Cass Co MO, died 25 Apr 1845 Cass Co MO, buried Union Baptist Cemetery, Cass Co MO.

4.       Infant #2 (Daughter), born circa 1846 Cass Co MO, died 5 Sep 1846 Cass Co MO, buried Union Baptist Cemetery, Cass Co MO.

5.       Albert W, born circa 1851 Pleasant Hill, Cass Co MO.  According to a old ancestor, Albert “was of a roving disposition” and “died somewhere in the South”.

6.       Silas Jr, born 18 Feb 1854 Cass Co MO, died 5 Nov 1854 Cass Co MO, buried Union Baptist Cemetery, Cass Co MO.

7.       Annie Lovena, born 5 Oct 1855 Pleasant Hill, Cass Co MO, married William Berry Moore 28 Sep 1887 Elmer, Reno Co KS, died 18 Nov 1943 Arlington, Reno Co KS, buried Pleasant View Cemetery, Darlow, Reno Co KS.

 

 

Annie Lovena Sorency

 

Annie was born on 5 Oct 1855 in Pleasant Hill, Cass Co MO.  There is a story that has circulated through the Moore family that Annie remembers being a little girl during the Civil War and helping serve meals to Jesse James and other Southern guerillas in the kitchen of her parents’ Cass Co farm house.  She is said to have remembered seeing their pistols up on the table while the men ate their meals.  Annie lived with her parents until they had both passed away (Martha in 1862, Silas in 1879). 

 

In the 1880 census, Annie and her brother Albert were still located in Big Creek Twp, Cass Co MO, living together in what was probably their parent’s farmhouse.  Albert is listed as a “Farmer” and Annie is listed as “Keeping House”.

 

An interesting Civil War story passed down through the generations is that of little Annie recalling her family serving meals to Jesse James and other confederate southern sympathizers at her parents farm in Cass Co MO (MO was southern sympathizing whereas Kansas was anti-slavery) during the Civil War.  Annie is said to have recalled se