James Russell Prather was born 17 Nov 1807 in Clark Co IN, the son of Lloyd Benton and Nancy (Redman) Prather.[1] He died of smallpox in Jefferson Co IA, 25 Jan 1850.[2]
James R Prather married first 11 Feb 1830, Clark Co IN, Louvica Caroline Veach.[3] He married second 27 Jan 1842, Harrison Co IN,[4] Elizabeth Jane Jamison, daughter of George Washington and Elan (Reneau) Jamison.
Louvica Caroline Veach was born between 1806 and 1810 in KY and died 15 Jul 1841 in Harrison Co IN.[5] She was a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Hilton) Veach.
Elizabeth Jane Jamison was born 6 Aug 1822 in TN and died 26 Apr 1906 in Macon Co IL. After the death of her first husband, she married Job Clark, 8 Jan 1857 in Harrison Co IN.[6]
The first year in which James’s household is listed in federal censuses is 1830: Clark Co IN, p 110: James Prather, 00001/00001. Along with his father and brothers by 1840 he had moved to Harrison Co IN, p 603: James Prather, 100001/32001.
James listed along with his father, brothers and brothers-in-law in the 1850 Voters’ List in Jefferson Co IA.
Children with his first wife, Louvica Caroline Veach, were:
1. Mary Elizabeth PRATHER. Born on 21 Nov 1831 in Clark Co IN. Mary Elizabeth died in Skagit Co WA, on 16 Oct 1909. On 24 Jan 1856, she married as his second wife William HAMILTON[7] in Jefferson Co IA. They had the following children:
i. Francis Russell
ii. Edwin Perry Light
iii. Emma
iv. Charles Grant
2. Nancy Jane PRATHER. Born on 12 Sep 1833 in Clark Co IN. Nancy Jane died in Wymore, Gage Co NE, on 4 Aug 1895. She had been a schoolteacher, a minister’s wife and a committed member of the WCTU. On 6 Sep 1853, she married Oliver Perry LIGHT, son of David LIGHT & Harriet DICKINSON, in Shelbyville, Shelby Co IL. Born on 7 Apr 1828 in Clermont Co OH. Oliver Perry died in Wymore, Gage Co NE, on 28 Mar 1904. They had the following children:
i. Mary Catherine (Died as Infant) (1854-1854)
ii. Minnie (Died as Infant) (1858-1858)
iii. Laurie Matilda (1859-1943)
iv. William Russell (DAR Line approved) (1861-1934)
v. David Franklin (Died as Infant) (1863-1863)
vi. Harriet Caroline (1866-1927)
vii. Francis Dickinson (1873-<1934)
viii. Olive Jennie (1877-1899)
3. Enoch Locke PRATHER. Born on 4 Sep 1835 in Clark Co IN. Enoch died in Fresno Co CA, on 27 Mar 1904. On 31 Dec 1867, he married Mary Anna WALMER in Appanoose Co IA. Born on 12 Aug 1848 in Miami Co OH. Mary Anna died in Fresno Co CA, on 3 Nov 1931. They had the following children:
i. John Henry (1868-1936)
ii. William A (1870-1954)
iii. Enoch P (1870-1954)
iv. Christina Anna (1875-1961)
v. Clara Isabelle (1877-1957)
vi. Mary E (1882-1961)
vii. Rosa May (1887-1954)
4. Sarah Ann PRATHER. Born on 25 Nov 1837 in Harrison Co IN. Sarah Ann died in Jefferson Co IA, in the 1870s. On 2 Jan 1858 Sarah married Benjamin EVENS in Jefferson Co IA. Born on 17 Aug 1838 in Sangamon Co IL. Benjamin died in Jefferson Co IA, on 23 May 1918. They had the following children:
i. Louvica/Ann (ca1859-)
ii. Margaret Ellen (1863-1926)
iii. Martha Jane (1866-1937)
iv. William (ca1867-)
5. Indiann PRATHER. Born on 25 Nov 1837 in Harrison Co IN. Indiann died in Jefferson Co IA, on 11 Apr 1919. On 29 May 1862, she married Henry GRAMMER in Jefferson Co IA. Born in 1842 in Jefferson Co IA. Henry died in Jefferson Co IA, in 1917. They had the following children:
i. Mary Frances (1863-)
ii. Laurie Alice (1866-1921)
iii. Melinda Anne (1867-1949)
iv. Charles Anson (Died as Infant) (1870-1870)
v. Emma Jane (1872-1920)
vi. James Albert (1875-1938)
vii. Anna (ca1877-)
6. Elvira Ellen PRATHER. Born on 7 Sep 1839 in Clark Co IN. On 19 Jan 1856, she married William H SMITH in Jefferson Co IA. Born ca 1837 in IL. William and Elvira were both living in 1880. They had the following children:
i. David (1858-)
ii. Asa (1859-)
iii. John (1865-)
iv. Drusilla (1869-)
v. William (1871-)
7. Louvica Caroline PRATHER. Born on 5 Jul 1841 in Harrison Co IN. Caroline died before 1900. She married Anson C JONES. Born in Aug 1835 in NY and died after 1900. They had the following children:
i. Viola Ursula (ca1861-)
ii. Mary Jane (1864-)
iii. William HH (1866-)
iv. Emma Elnora (1873-)
Children with the second wife, Elizabeth Jane Jamison, were:
8. Margaret Elan PRATHER. Born on 10 Jan 1843 in Jefferson Co IA. Margaret died in Macon Co IL, ca 1921. On 27 Jul 1857 she first married William E JONES in Lawrence Co IN. They had the following children:
i. Wylie A (1859-)
ii. Margaret Elizabeth (1861-)
iii. Elvira Ellen (1862-)
On 7 Sep 1865, she second married Samuel Henry BARLOW in Lawrence Co IN. They later divorced. They had the following children:
i. Nancy Jane (1866-)
ii. Henry David (1868-)
9. Marion Washington PRATHER. Born on 8 Dec 1844 in Jefferson Co IA. Marion Washington died in Martin Co IN, on 4 Apr 1906. On 14 Apr 1879 Marion married Nancy J SMITH in Martin Co IN. Born on 21 Oct 1858 in IN. Nancy died in Martin Co IN, on 19 Apr 1920. They had the following children:
i. Josephine Vandalo (1880-1940)
ii. Joseph Henry (1885-ca1943)
10. Maria L PRATHER. Born on 18 Nov 1846 in Jefferson Co IA. Maria died in Jefferson Co IA, about Jun 1848; she was 1.
11. Martha Emmeline PRATHER. Born on 18 Jan 1849 in Jefferson Co IA. On 13 Oct 1883, she married Jackson BLACK in Marion Co IN.
© 2008, Kathy Alvis Patterson
[1] These and other dates were obtained from the notes of Rev. Oliver Perry Light. See https://alvispat.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/family-charts-of-oliver-perry-light/.
[2] He is not listed in the 1850 Mortality Schedules. His widow had gone back to her father’s home in Harrison Co IN, and the children of his first wife were living in various households in Jefferson County.
[3] Clark County Marriage Book, Clerk Clark County Circuit Court, Jeffersonville IN. Also, Anna M. Cartlidge, Marriage Records of People Named Prather, Prater, Prator, Praytor, 1976.
[4] Harrison Co IN MR. Cartlidge, op cit.
[5] Light manuscript.
[6] Harrison Co IN MR. The death date is from a descendant, Becky Van Vliet.
[7] GL Compton at Genforum: William H. Hamilton born 1811, in Butler Co OH. He married Nancy Mann Billingsley, with children: George W, John H, William F, James H, Amanda (Lizzie), and Mary F. When Nancy died, he remarried to Mary E. Prather, and had children Francis Russell, Edwin Perry, Emma, and Charles Grant. William and Mary were part of the 1862 wagon train to California, from Iowa.
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