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Mathews-Williams Family Genealogy
Notes
"Dr. Joseph G. Chinn was a noted physician of Lexington, KY., who died there in 1892." - ref. "Genealogies of Kentucky Families", KY Historical Society, p. 198.
Joseph G. Chinn & Barbara Garland Graves were first cousins prior to their marriage.
The following is taken from "Biographical Cyclopedia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky", John M Gresham Company, Chicago-Philadelphia, 1896:
"Dr. Chinn practiced medicine in Jessamine County in 1835-6, removing to Lexington in the latter year, where he was a successful practitioner for many years. He was a good and honored citizen and did more charity practice than probably any other physician in Lexington. He was a kind-hearted man and a spirit of meekness seemed to rule his conduct. In his daily life he was sensibly alive to every claim of his fellow-citizens and his voice on behalf of benevolence was emphatic and strong. The results of his efforts, as a true Christian gentleman, although limited as they were, in his old age, were appreciated by the people of Lexington, who will not soon forget him. He was born in Virginia and his father was one of the pioneer settlers of Harrison County. Dr. Chinn was a soldier in the War of 1812 in the capacity of assistant surgeon. He made a specialty of the diseases of women in the latter part of his life, but became almost blind and was retired for several years previous to his death, which occurred in Lexington in 1893. He was three times married: His second wife was Mrs. Shepherd and his third wife Mrs. Katherine Lawson of lexington. His last wife died in 1892, at the remarkable age of one hundred and four. She was ninety six years of age when she married Dr. Chinn. She was a refined lady and was particularly well versed in the principles of Christianity. It is supposed that they were the oldest couple ever married in Lexington. Dr. Chinn was Mayor of Lexington many years and a staunch Democrat and was a lifelong member of the Christian Church. He built a church in Missouri, the cost of which he paid out of his private funds. He was an elder and exhorter in the church and a well known writer for the religious papers of his denomination, and no member was more highly respected by his brethren than Dr. Chinn. The Chinns are of Scotch ancestry."Marriage of Dr. Joseph G. Chinn and Mrs. Katherine Lawson" ("Evergreens and Orange Blossoms") (From a newspaper clipping taken from the scrap-book of Mrs. Harry Chinn):
"A wedding took place on Monday at the Main Street Christian Church which has seldom, if ever, had a parallel in the history of this Commonwealth. Dr. Joseph G. Chinn, an old and highly respected citizen, at the advanced age of 84 let to the hymeneal alter, Mrs. Katherine Lawson, a lady equally esteemed, nearing her 90th birthday. Two thousand persons assembled to witness the ceremony, filling the church to its utmost, and presenting a scene of bustle and anxiety, indicating clearly that more than an ordinary event was about to transpire. Promptly at the hour of eleven, the door of the right hand aisle was thrown open, and the bridal couple advanced, preceeded by an usher, and followed by a few friends in plain attire. The groom advanced with the alacrity of a man of forty, taking upon himself the bonds of matrimony for the first time. (Note: This is an incorrect statement. He was married twice before).
"Standing before the minister, the Reverend Mr. Marshall, the audience had ample time to view the unusual scene, and narrowly scan the bride's attire. The same care and good taste, which even to an entire stranger, impressed itself at first sight, characterized the entire bridal trousseau -- a rich colored slik, delicately marked with the lines in black, made in a style at once rich and plain, a handsome beaver cloth cloak, a black silk velvet bonnet, with deep and handsome black thread lace completed the outfit in entire harmony with the occasion. Throughout the ceremony the responses were given with such earnest assent as "to make assurance doubly sure", that the pledges being given would be kept in the spirit and the letter of the law. A noticeable feature of the occasion, was the great number of widows, widowers, and old maids and old bachelors present, all of whom seemed many years junior to what they really were, and whose radiant faces and winning ways verified the deep philosophy of the poet who said "Hope springs eternal in the human breast." When the ceremony was finished, a very handsome little boy (Coleman Gentry) dressed in tartan plaid, advanced with a handsom bouquet of orange blossoms and other white flowers, presented it to the bride and hastily retired. Just then he missed the flood of fortune, for the bride stooped to kiss him and repeated the effort, but he, thinking his mission was completed, was rapidly retiring. Had he stayed a little longer, an honor not often conferred since the days of the Patriarchs, that of getting the first kiss from a bride of ninety would have been his.
"Altogether it was a beautiful scene and one calculated to inspire only the deepest feeling of respect and affection for the aged couple who thus linked their destinies together."
James Ball lived at "Bewdley". He was sworn as Major, 15 Oct 1778 (Lancaster Co., VA, Order Book 16:15b). In 1792 He purchased "Ditchley" in Northumberland Co., VA. (Northumberland Co., VA, Orders, Deeds, etc., 1798-1825:280-281).
The inscription on the tombstone for Colonel James Ball, and his wife Fanny, (located in the St. Mary's Whitechapel Parish Churchyard), Lancaster Co., VA, reads as follows:
In Memory of Colonel James Ball, Son of James and Letice Ball, Born February 20, 1755, Died December 18, 1825; and Fanny, his wife, Daughter of Rawleigh and Frances Downman, of Morattico. Born May 4, 1758, Died January 23, 1821. One Grave Contains the Faithful Pair."Col. Ball was a vestryman of Christ Church, Lancaster Co., VA. In 1785 James Ball, Jr., Gent., was elected lay deputy to the Diocesan Conv. of VA. In that year it was also ordered that Col. James Ball, Jr., "attend convention occasionally." May, 1786, it was ordered that the Treasurer pay him L9.0.4-1/2 for his expenses. September 10, 1786, he was appointed to attend court October 3, 1786, for the nomination of Rev. Ed. Jones. He was for many years a delegate from Lancaster, and a Justice. Portraits of Col. and Mrs. Ball are owned by Joseph Ball, Clifton, TX. (Source: "Virginia Genealogies", Hayden, p. 111).
Atherall Ball never married.
Cyrus Ball served as a Lieutenant in the 92nd Regiment of the Virginia Militia in the War of 1812.
The Gravestone for Rawleigh William Ball, in St. George's Cemetery, Fredericksburg, Virginia, reads as follows: "R.W. Ball, only child of / Major Cyrus and Fedelia Ball of / Lancaster County, Virginia. / Died February 17, 1826 / Aged 17 years / & 5 months."
Thomas Scott Chinn was born in Virginia. He moved, first to Kentucky, then to Indiana (Indianapolis), and from there to Muscatine, Iowa, where he died in 1837.
Thomas Scott Chinn was born in Virginia. He moved, first to Kentucky, then to Indiana (Indianapolis), and from there to Muscatine, Iowa, where he died in 1837.
Chichester Chinn died of Yellow Fever, while serving in the state senate in Kentucky.
Chichester Chinn was a senator from Harrison and Bracken Counties, KY. The obituary of Col. Chichester Chinn was in the Feb 12, 1814 issue of the Frankfort, KY, "Argus".
Walter Scott in writing to his cousin, Chichester Chinn, always addressed his letters thusly: Chichester Chinn, Esq. F. F. V. - Cynthiana - Glen Doakie, America. (Glen Doakie because he could never remember Kentucky. These letters were always delivered.) They were stolen during the Civil War. (Thanks to Katherine Corbert for the above information) Ref: "THE CHINN BOOK".
Chichester Chinn was of Scottish descent through his mother. His maternal great grandfather, Walter Scott, (commonly called "Auld Beardie") was also the great grandfather of Sir Walter Scott, the author. "Auld Beardie" was the son of Lord Walter Scott of Abbotsford, Scotland.
Chichester Chinn began his education under a private tutor in his father's Virginia home, but was sent, at an early age, to his mother's ancestral home to complete it. He attended school in Kelso and later the University of Edinburgh with his cousins Walter and Thomas Scott.
He was adopted by his maiden aunts in Scotland whom upon his graduation from the University, bough him and ensign's commission in the British Navy. He served in the War between France and England, was captured, parolled, returned to Virginia and resigned his commission whereupon his very patriotic aunts disenherited him.
Refernce: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of La., Vol. II.
In 1816 his family, led by his oldest son Thomas Withers Chinn, sold the family's Kentucky estate. Thomas brought his widowed mother, sisters, and brother to West Feliciana Parish in Louisiana.
Ethan died young.
Margaret Scott (Chinn) McCausland died in 1853 during a Yellow Fever epidemic which also claimed the life of her daughter, Eliza.
Judge Thomas Chinn, a doctor and a lawyer, was appointed in 1849 as US Minister to the Kingdon of the Two Sicilys by his friend, Pres. Zachary Taylor. The family of Judge Chinn is buried in the family plot in Magnolia Cemetery, Baton Rouge, LA.
Hon. Thomas Chinn, born in Kentucky, removed south, and was appointed Minister to the Siciles Islands. -ref. "Genealogies of Kentucky Families", KY Historical Society.
The following information is taken from, "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-1989, Bicentennial Edition", United States Government Printing Office, 1989: (see page 772)
CHINN, Thomas Withers: A representative from Louisiana; born near Cynthiana, Harrison County, KY, November 22, 1791; atended the rural schools of his community and was also tutored by his father; served as a private in the First Rifles of the Kentucky Militia Volunteers from August 15, 1812, to October 14, 1812; clerked in a general store in cynthiana until 1813; moved to Woodville, MS, and engaged in mercantile pursuits; studied medicine and commenced the prctice of his profession in St. Francisville, West Feliciana Parish, LA about 1817; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1825 and commenced practice in St. Francisville; appointed judge of West Feliciana parish in 1826; moved to CYPRESS HALL plantation, near Baton Rouge, in West Baton Rouge Parish, LA in 1831; continued the practice of law and also engaged in sugarcane planting; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1839-March 3, 1841); was not a candidate for renomination in 1840 to the Twenty-seventh Congress; appointed by President Taylor as Minister to the Two Sicilies on June 5, 1849, but did not assume his duties because of ill health; died at his plantation in West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, on May 22, 1852; interment at Gross Tete, LA near Rosedale, LA.The re-dedication of the Marker on Tomb of Judge Thomas Withers Chinn took place on October 25, 1981, at Live Oaks Plantation, Rosedale, LA, on Grosse Tete Bayou. The following is the story leading up to that re-dedication:
Judge Chinn, as a young man, served in the War of 1812, and following that, became a jurist, planter and churchman, was both a United States Senator and Congressman, a Delegate to Constitutional Convention of 1844-45, and in 1849 was named by President Zachary Taylor as United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Mrs. Walter E. Haase, of Baton Rouge, Chapter President and noted genealogist, in researching the Chinn lineage, discovered that the quaint Chinn Tombs had been moved from the Chinn 1,000 acre plantation, Cypress Hall, built by Judge Chinn, to a neighboring plantation of the Dickinsons, Live Oaks, when the Union forces took over Cypress Hall for a hospital for Federal soldiers wounded in the Battle of Baton Rouge in 1862. Later, Cypress Hall was burned by the Federals to furnish a beacon to guide the Yankee gunboats to Port Hudson for the siege of the Confederate Army there. The Dickinsons offered a burial place of refuge for the Chinn dead, away from the ravages of war and the ever threatening Mississippi River. The Chinns had intended to move their tombs from temporary burial in their own Cypress Hall Rose Garden to magnolia Cemetery, in Baton Rouge, when that cemetery was completed, but the War Between the States and its aftermath changed many plans. The tehn believed to be and interim burial spot for the Chinns at Live oaks, became the permanent resting place. And so, the handsome monument which has been erected in Magnolia Cemetery, bearing the inscription "Thomas Withers Chinn", Born 20th November 1791, Died 22nd May 1852. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord", is actually a cenotaph. (Def. - "A monument erected to the dead but not containing their remains".)