We left the River. The low Grounds on it are of Little value, but on the Branches are very good, and there is a great deal of it, and the high land is very good in many places. We got on a large Creek called Anthony's Creek which affords a great deal of Very good Land, and is chiefly Bought. we kept up the Creek 4 miles and Camped. This Creek took its name from an Indian, called John Anthony, that frequently hunts in these Woods. There are some inhabitants of the Branches of Green Bryer, but we missed their Plantations. 06 July 1750. From Dr. Thomas Walker's Journal
HISTORY OF GREENBRIER COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Greenbrier County was created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in October 1777 from parts of Montgomery and Botetourt counties (Virginia). It was named in honor of the principal river that drains through the county. It is considered the mother county of southern West Virginia because the following 11 counties were created, either in whole or in part, from its original territory: Boone, Cabell, Jackson, Kanawha, Mason, Monroe, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane, Wayne and Webster.
JOHN CHILDERS
He was born about 1764. He married Nancy Holly 20 February 1797 in Greenbrier Co., WV, daughter of Israel Holley and Mary ?.
Israel Holley appears to have came to Greenbrier County from Orange County, New York sometime in the late 1700s. Several families migrated south from New York to Anthony's Creek in Greenbrier County. Israel is buried at Falling Springs, Va. His tomstone reads "Here lies the body of Israel Holly dyed in the year of Christ our Lord May 1816." Buried next to Israel a Mark Holley died August 1860. Stone is black slate. E-mail from Judy D. Whisler.
1799 Israel Holley, 166 acres. Anthony's Creek, Greenbrier Co., WV. Sims Index to land grants in WV. Book 4, pg 252.
1800 Israel Holly from Thos. Butts 12 acres, Anthony's Cr. Book 2, pg 232.
1801 Israel Holly from Thos. Butts 206 acres, B. Anthony's Cr.
Israel Holley found in:
Family Archive #238 Genealogical Records: New York, 1675-1920
Event: Lived in: 1776
County: Orange
Comments: (Land Bounty Rights) 4th Reg't
Source: New York in the Revolution as Colony and State, Vol. I - Extracts
Publisher: J. B. Lyon Co.
Publication Information: Albany, NY, 1904
Page: 256 Province: New York
Not much is known about John Childers. Research has yet to produce the parents of John, or where he was born. It is possible that John came from New York along with the Holleys and other local families who descendants now populate Greenbrier County today. He is not listed in the Greenbrier tax list until 1799, and did not own any land until he purchased 100 acres from John and Anne McClung in 1808, near Anthony's Creek. Afterwards John Childers was active in land purchases over the next three decades. He was a tanner by occupation. This would seem to hint of a close relation to a Henry Childers, who lived in Greenbrier County in the same time period and later moved to Grant County, Kentucky. Henry was also a tanner by trade. Whether they were brothers or cousins is not known, but, it is very likely they were of close kin. I have spent endless hours and days searching for a clue to our John Childers was. John died betwen 1852 and 1853 in Greenbrier County. He appears to have sold all in land the past few years to John A. Holley (1792-1859), who was a younger brother to John Childers wife Nancy. Nancy Holly Childers died sometime before 1850.
Children of John Childers and Nancy Holly:re
1...William Childers was born 12 March 1800, and died 10 June 1879 in Greenbrier Co., WV. He married Rebecca Jane Perkins Abt. 1839.
Children of William Childers and Rebecca Perkins are:
2...1...Clark Lafayette4 Childers, born 25 October 1840 in Anthony's Creek District, Greenbrier Co., WV; died 11 November 1921 in Greenbrier Co., WV.
2...2...John W. Childers, born 24 April 1842 in Greenbrier Co., WV; died 09 September 1862 in Greenbrier Co., WV.
2...3...William F. Childers, born 02 October 1844; died 25 August 1864 in Greenbrier Co., WV.
2...4...Sarah Virginia Childers, born 06 February 1847; died 21 May 1920.
2...5...Robert W. Childers, born Abt. 1849.
2...6...Frances H. Childers, born Abt. 1851.
2...7...Thomas Harvey Childers, born Abt. 1852.
2...8...Lavinia Jane Childers, born 10 April 1853 in Greenbrier Co., WV; died 17 December 1925 in Anthony's Creek, Greenbrier Co., WV.
2...9...Floyd Watts Childers, born Abt. 1855 in Monroe Co., WV; died 25 April 1935 in Caldwell. Greenbrier co., WV.
2.10...Nancy E. Childers, born 10 March 1857 in Greenbrier Co., WV; died 19 September 1862 in Greenbrier Co., WV.
2..1...Mary S. Childers, born 23 December 1859; died 24 September 1862 in Greenbrier Co., WV.
2...Elizabeth Childers was born Abt. 1810 in Greenbrier Co., WV. She married John Perkins(Parkins) 13 December 1833 in Greenbrier Co., WV.
Children of Elizabeth Childers and John Perkins are:
2...1...Martin4 Perkins, born Abt. 1835.
2...2...Holly Childers Perkins, born Abt. 1835 in Greenbrier Co., WV; died 03 July 1907 in Kentucky District, Nicholas Co., WV.
2...3...Nancy Perkins, born Abt. 1838.
2...4...Sarah Perkins, born Abt. 1840.
2...5...John Perkins, born Abt. 1843.
2...6...Mary Perkins, born Abt. 1845.
3...Nancy Childers was born Abt. 1810, and died 28 April 1862 in Greenbrier Co., WV.
She married Abraham Phifer 08 March 1836 in Greenbrier Co., WV.
Children of Nancy Childers and Abraham Phifer are:
2...1...Elizabeth S. Phifer, born 02 January 1837 in Greenbrier Co., WV; died Abt. 1860.
2...2...Nancy Jane Phifer, born Abt. May 1838.
2...3...Mary "Polly" Phifer, born Abt. 1839.
2...4...Sarah "Sallie" Phifer, born Abt. 1841.
2...5...John B. Phifer, born Abt. 1843.
2...6...Abraham Phifer, born Abt. 1844.
2...7...Julia Catherine Phifer, born Abt. 1846; died Bef. 1906.
2...8...Louisa E. Phifer, born Abt. 1850 in Greenbrier Co., WV.
4...Robert Childers, born Bef. 1810 in Greenbrier Co., WV; died Bef. 1845. He married Eliza Morris 27 June 1833 in Greenbrier Co., WV.
5....Holly Childers was born Abt. 1818 in Greenbrier Co., WV, and died July 1869 in Greenbrier Co., WV. He married (1) Elizabeth S. Gardner 16 September 1841 in Greenbrier Co., WV, daughter of James Gardner and Hannah McClure. He married (2) Mary Parkins Whitman 24 August 1865 in Greene Co., Va, daughter of Thomas Perkins and Mary Coulter.
Children of Holly Childers and Elizabeth Gardner are:
2...1...James W. Childers, born 24 January 1840 in Greenbrier Co., WV; died 16 June 1905 in Nicholas Co., WV.
2...2...Nancy H.Childers, born Abt. 1845.
2...3...John Holly Childers, born Abt. 1847 in West Virginia.
2...4...Samuel Bell Childers, born 11 April 1854 in West Virginia; died 11 May 1915 in San Deigo, Tx.
Children of Holly Childers and Mary Whitman are:
2...5...Susan Melvina Childers, born 28 December 1865; died 01 July 1898 in of Consumption, inGreenbrier Co., WV.
2...6...Julia Childers, born Abt. 1868; died Bef. 1888.
Researched and Written by Gayl Wells and Greg Belcher
