Our Hiestand/Haston Connection to a Musical Superstar

Bert Kaempfert on a Historic Swiss Hiestand Farm

If you were listening to popular music in the 1960s-1970s, you may not remember his name, but you will remember his music–Bert Kaempfert. Mr. Kaempfert was not one of our Hiestand relatives, but at the height of his success and fame, he was living and composing music on a Swiss farm that our ancestors cleared and claimed 500+ years earlier.

Take a look at this Schönau article (link below) to understand the significance of this Bert Kaempfert story.

On June 19, 2023, our Hiestand-Haston tour group visited a farm on a ridge high above Lake Hütten (Hüttnersee), south of Lake Zürich in Canton Zürich, Switzerland. The farm is known as Hinter Schönau, meaning the rear farm in a remote nook (Schönau) of Canton Zürich. We were warmly greeted by the couple who currently live and farm on the very spot where our Hiestand ancestors lived nearly 600 years ago. In fact, our Hiestand ancestors were connected with the first known (May 15, 1453) mention of the Schönau. Hiestands were likely the ones who cleared the Schönau by controlled burning in the first half of the 1400s. Sometime after the Anabaptist (Mennonite) movement started (1525) and took hold along the southwest shore of Lake Zürich, the rear (Hinter) Schönau became a place of refuge for Anabaptists, including some Hiestands who were living there.

We were surprised when the Schönau farming couple informed us that the famous Bert Kaempfert had owned the farm, lived there from 1969 until he died in 1980, and composed music on that remote farm that overlooks scenic Lake Zürich.

The following material is from an October 2023 article by Adrian Scherrer, a Swiss historian.

In the summer of 1966, Kaempfert moved from Germany to Canton Zug in Switzerland for a more tax-friendly residence. From there he came across a property above Hütten (Canton Zürich) that seemed ideal as a retreat. Next to a farm on Schönau was a weekend and vacation home that had been built in 1961 and was for sale. In 1969, he acquired the entire farm including the vacation home. He had the latter extensively renovated and extended. His primary residence remained in the canton of Zug for tax reasons. But after the conversion, he mainly lived and worked in the house at the rear of Schönau. He leased out the farm. “In the solitude of the mountains was where he had the best ideas.”¹ In reality, however, his house was a spacious property with several guest rooms, a large well-kept garden, and a terrace that offered a fantastic view over the whole of Lake Zürich. To achieve this he had part of the plateau on which the house stood removed. He set himself with his grand piano and a sound studio and prepared his recordings together with Herbert Rehbein. He traveled to Hamburg twice a year to record the new compositions.

Bert Kaempfert created a retreat for himself in Hütten. But he certainly sought contact with the local population. Every now and then he invited guests from the village. And he also liked to entertain in the Hüttner inns. Source: Jahrbuch der Stadt Waedenswil 2023

¹Agency text in numerous newspapers on June 30, 1980.

Bert Kaempfert - The Arranger and Conductor

1923-1980

Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, including “Strangers in the Night”, “Danke Schoen” and “Moon Over Naples”.

Kaempfert was born in Hamburg, Germany, where he received his lifelong nickname, Fips, and studied at the local school of music. A multi-instrumentalist, he was hired by Hans Busch to play with his orchestra, before serving as a bandsman in the German Navy during World War II. He later formed his own big band and toured with them, following that by working as an arranger and producer, making many hit records.

In his capacity as a record producer, Kaempfert played a part in the rise of the Beatles. In 1961, he hired the Beatles to back Tony Sheridan on an album called My Bonnie. Sheridan had been performing in Hamburg and needed to recruit a band to play behind him on the proposed tracks. Kaempfert auditioned and signed the Beatles [See below]. -Wikipedia

On the Death of Bert Kaempfert: A Life Full of Music

“Wonderland at Night”, “Strangers In The Night”, “Thank You” and “Spanish Eyes” are just a few titles that have made Kaempfert, who has lived in Zug for 14 years, world-famous. In recent years he has enjoyed great success with his dreamy music, especially in the USA.

Bert Kaempfert music has been an unmistakable, typical trademark for many years. Dominant bass figures, an imperceptible beat, gentle trumpets, a unique mix of strings and voices – that’s how millions know and like him. A man of quiet tones who didn’t need noisy mountains of amplifiers for his concerts. With his music he shaped a style that went around the world. Although he became world-famous through super hits like “Spanish Eyes” and “Strangers In The Night,” he didn’t make many comments about himself and his global successes. For years he lived in seclusion, hidden from the public. “It’s enough if you know my melodies,” said “Fips” – as his friends called him. Only recently has he been able to persuade himself to go on tour and show his audience in front of the television camera.

When Bert Kaempfert composed and arranged (he made at least two long-playing records every year) he retreated to a small chalet on a mountain farm outside Zug. “The best melodies come to me in the solitude of the mountains,” he said. As a native of Hamburg, he often and enjoyed visiting his hometown. Especially since his two married daughters live on the Elbe. By the way, the grandchildren are also highly musical. As soon as Bert Kaempfert gave them trumpets, they played “Strangers In The Night” for him. But he also visited Hamburg often for another reason: many of his old friends live in the Hanseatic city. And there is also the studio where his records were produced.

57-year-old Bert Kaempfert died of heart failure in Malta.

Source: Thuner Tagblatt, Volume 104, Number 150, June 30, 1980.

Listen to Many of His Greatest Hits

Bert Kaempfert - The Music Producer

Signed the Beatles to Their First Contract

And if I may add: I know that the Beatles episode is considered very important in the English-speaking world. His songs for Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole had much more impact.

Adrian Scherrer, Swiss Historian

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Charles Lynn Haston, Sr.

Charles Lynn Haston, Sr.

From a White County, TN Farm to a Leader in Tennessee Higher Education

From a White County, TN farming family to a Vice President of Middle Tennessee State University and other leadership roles in Tennessee higher education, Lynn Haston has lived a very full and productive life. Beginning as a seven-year-old paperboy in East Sparta, TN, he worked a wide variety of common jobs throughout his teen and young adult years, including a couple of stints in Detroit automobile plants. There is so much that could be said about his professional life and experiences! I want to present a few of the highlights from the life of this remarkable Haston cousin.

Charles Lynn Haston's Family Background

Great-Great-Great Grandson of Daniel Haston

Grandparents: Joe Morgan & Willie Rogers Haston

Parents: Charlie V. & Elizabeth Maude Mitchell Haston

Charles Lynn Haston was born on February 3, 1932, in White County, TN. His parents were Charlie V. and Elizabeth Maude Mitchell Haston. I know that Lynn would be quick to add that his mother’s Mitchell family played a major role in his development as a child and young adult.

In an era when higher education was not on many of the minds of young men in White County and Sparta, TN, Lynn was determined to pursue a college education but probably not yet aware of how far he might go up the ladder of higher education.

1st and 2nd Grades – Sparta (TN) City School
3rd through 6th Grades – Elementary School; Detroit, Michigan
7th and 8th Grades – Doyle Elementary School; Doyle, TN
High School – White County High School; Sparta, TN (top ten graduate)
Freshman and Sophomore Years College – Middle Tennessee State University; Murfreesboro, TN
Final Two Years College – George Washington University; Washington, DC – Bachelor of Arts
[Enlisted in the army, stationed at Fort Knox, KY]
Summer term at Tennessee Technological University; Cookeville, TN
Graduate School – Vanderbilt School of Law; Nashville, TN – LL.B (Legum Baccalaureus)
Graduate School – Memphis State University; Memphis, TN – Masters in Business
Graduate School – Memphis State University; Memphis, TN – EdD (Doctor of Education) ABD (all but dissertation)

Lynn's Professional Experiences

Some Highlights of Lynn Haston’s Professional Career

House Document Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. – 1952-54
State Auditor and Legislative Liaison, Comptroller of the Treasurer, State of Tennessee, Nashville, TN – 1956-59
Nashville Bank and Trust, Nashville, TN, Assistant Trust Officer – 1959-64 (Nashville Bank and Trust merged with Third National Bank)
Third National Bank, Nashville, TN, Assistant Trust Officer – 1965
Owensboro National Bank, Owensboro, KY, Assistant Trust Officer – 1965
Memphis State University, Memphis, TN – Administrative Assistant to the President, Legal Counsel, and Assistant Dean of School of Law – 1965-73
State University and Community College System, State Board of Regents, Nashville, TN, General Counsel and Secretary to the Board – 1973-75
Tennessee School of Boards Association, Nashville, TN, Legal Consultant – 1974-79
Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, Vice President for Administration – 1975-1980; Associate Professor in MTSU School of Business – 1980-1981

White County, TN Roles, After MTSU Years:
Practiced law in Sparta, TN
City Attorney for Sparta and Spencer, TN
City Judge and Municipal Court Judge of Sparta, TN
White County, TN Election Commission Member and Chairman
Chairman of the Democratic Party for White County, TN
Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce for Sparta and White County, TN
County Commissioner for White County (two years)

Charlie V. and Elizabeth Haston with Kay and Lynn

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After Whom Was White County, TN Really Named?

Is the Information on this Historical Marker correct?

Was John White the First Settler of White County, TN?

And Was White County, TN Named to Honor Him?

The most common tradition is that the county was named for John White, a Revolutionary War veteran from Virginia and an early settler in White County. Monroe Seals, author of History of White County, stated (without indicating a source) that John White “was the first settler of White County and that the County was named for him.”[i] Seals asserted that John White was living in the White County area as early as 1789, which would have been prior to the 1791 Holston Treaty and 14 years before the October 1805 Tellico Treaty that opened White County to white settlements.

[i] Seals, 84.

As far as I know, there has never been any documentation to prove that John White was in pre-White County that early or that the county was named for him. In fact, there is evidence to the contrary. On July 26, 1804 his daughter, Elisabeth White, married John Scoggins in Washington County, Virginia.[i] And there are tax records that show he and his family were in Washington County, Virginia as late as October 1805.[ii]

[i] Marty Hiatt and Craig Roberts Scott, Washington County, Virginia Marriages – Minister Returns, 1776-1855. (Athens, GA: Iberian Publishing Company, 1994), 178, 406.

[ii] Thomas Jack Hockett, Washington County, Virginia Personal Property Tax Lists, Volume 3 (1800-1807, 1809-1810), (Athens, GA: Iberian Publishing Company, 2005), 155.

According to a previous White County historian, Charles Leonard, John White first settled in the northern portion of White County. Then on June 1, 1808 he purchased 592 acres in the lower end of Hickory Valley, only a mile or so north of the Caney Fork River from the Daniel Haston family. It was on his Hickory Valley land that he built a house which is supposedly the “the oldest house in White County.”[i] In 1995 the building was moved to the White County fairgrounds, north of Sparta, and is still standing.

[i] J. Sharon Johnson Doliante, White County Tennessee Oldest Marriage Book, 1809-1859. (Printed by author, 1977), v.

Some of my family members who grew up very close to John White’s homeplace have said there were portholes in the original log structure of John White’s house. If that is true, the house was definitely built very early, even before Indian threats ceased in that area. According to a long standing popular story in White County, while John White was clearing ground for his first crop, two hostile Indians captured his 17-year-old daughter or tried to do so. Thus, if that is true, his fears of Indian threats were well-founded.

Although John White did serve his country as a fifer in the Revolution, his service record apparently was not extraordinary and he does not appear prominently in the early records of the county’s government. The first record of his presence in White County is a signature on the July 22, 1806 petition to create the county, the same petition signed by Daniel and Joseph Haston.

In 1965, one descendant-researcher of John White wrote:

This John White is not known to have been in the area which became White County, much before the date he purchased his land there, on June 1 1808. White County was formed in 1806, and John White did not sell his land in Washington County, Virginia until late in 1805. He was neither a wealthy nor a famous man. He had been a Revolutionary soldier, but merely a private. The only possible reason we can think of, and it’s hardly plausible, might be that John White helped to survey the area* which was to be formed into the new county, and by some twist of fate, someone named it for him; but frankly, we doubt any connection.[i]

*In 1976 (eleven years after making the above statement), based solely on the fact that survey instruments were mentioned in John White’s estate settlement, the author of the above statement hedged her previous assertion. She wrote, “We are now inclined to give some credence to the possibility that the county may indeed have been named for John White, Sr.”[ii]

[i] J. Sharon Johnson Doliante, Genealogical Serendipity, Volume I. (Alexandria, VA: published by author, 1965), 278.

[ii] J. Sharon Johnson Doliante, White County, Tennessee Oldest Marriage Book (1809-1859). (Santa Barbara, CA: published by author, 1977), v

There is no evidence that John White surveyed the boundaries of White County. Being a newcomer in 1805 or 1806 to Tennessee, White County in particular, it is unlikely that he would have been chosen to conduct the survey, at least as a lead surveyor.

The earliest (known) account of the history of White County was published in 1886 by the Goodspeed Company, almost 50 years before the 1935 publication of The History of White County by Reverend Monroe Seals and only 80 years after the county was founded. Although it was only a brief overview covering 15 1/2 (small print) pages, the Goodspeed history does provide a wealth of historical data on the origin, description, and early years of the county and appears to be quite accurate. John White is only mentioned once in this 1886 book and that is only in a list of over 100 other names of earlier settlers in the county. The is no special recognition given to him, particularly any mention of White County having been named after him.

As far as we know now, Monroe Seals was the first person to state in print that the county was named for John White. Rev. Seals grew up in the general area where John White and his family lived. Since Seals does not state any documented proof of his assertion, it is very possible that he was simply influenced by family lore that circulated in and around the John White family.

In All Fairness to Rev. Monroe Seals...

PREFACE

I have drawn from all sources, am indebted to hundreds of people, to records and the original section of the Expositor. I aim to give many things not in print. I introduce witnesses who have gone before for sixty years. It has been a difficult task, tradition as such being unreliable, and the written works not much better. I have written under great difficulties.

I have aimed at an unbiased narrative, giving the truth. I likely have made omissions in this work inadvertently, therefore I invite corrections by the public.

-Rev. Monroe Seals

If Not John White, Then Who Was Honored with the White County Name?

General James White?

In 1902, more than three decades before the Monroe Seals History of White County book was published, a special historical edition of the Sparta Expositor asserted that “J.M. Overton, President and manager of Bon Air Coal, Land, and Lumber Company, is great-grandson of General James White, for whom White County was named.”[i] At the time this 1902 article was written, the author stated that “These are all familiar names to White Countians.” In 1806, when White County was founded, the names General/Judge James White (as well as others mentioned in the article) would have been even much more familiar to White Countians. At that time, James White was still very active in East Tennessee. He was the Speaker of the Tennessee Senate, from 1801-1805, finishing his term only about a year before White County was formed and named. During the Creek War, Brigadier General James White led a military offensive in late 1813 against Creek villages in Alabama. He died in 1821.

[i] White County Heritage Book Committee, 1.

General White was certainly a prominent Tennessee man. He was the founder of White’s Fort and Knoxville, and a key military and civic leader in East Tennessee. Many of the earliest White County settlers would have known him from their sojourns in East Tennessee, including members of Daniel Haston’s family.* He would have been the kind of man for which many other Tennessee counties were named–heroic, famous statewide, and a significant leader in the creation and earliest years of the State. Perhaps J.M. Overton knew something about the naming of White County that time has buried.

*Note: You may recall that this James White was the Justice of the Peace to whom Nathaniel Hays went to initiate the “cow tails” case against David Haston. His “White’s Fort” was located across the Holston River from where Daniel’s family lived.

Hugh Lawson White?

Hugh Lawson White, the son of Knoxville’s General James White has occasionally been mentioned as a possible person for whom the White County, TN was named. After filling in several posts particularly in Tennessee’s judiciary and state legislature since 1801, thereunder as a Tennessee Supreme Court justice, Hugh Lawson White was chosen to succeed former presidential candidate Andrew Jackson in the United States Senate in 1825. In 1836, HL White was a Whig candidate for the office of United States President.

Note: Hugh Lawson White was the prosecuting attorney in the Knox County, TN “timothy lot” case in which Joseph Haston, Daniel’s son, was the successful defendant.

In a 1904 article, Jay Guy Cisco asserted that White County was named in honor of Hugh Lawson White, jurist and statesman, who was born in Iredell County, North Carolina. Among other professions, Cisco was an editor of the Forked Deer Blade newspaper in Jackson, Tennessee. Coral Williams responded to Cisco’s claim regarding Hugh Lawson White and White County in her “Legends and Stories of White County, Tennessee” master’s thesis: “It is improbable that the county was named for Hugh L. White, for he was at that time an obscure young man.”

Hugh Lawson White certainly distinguished himself as a key figure in the early decades of the state, but in 1806 he was 33 years old and most of his impressive career was still ahead of him.

The 1887 Goodspeed History of White County, Tennessee does not mention the name of the man for whom the county was named.

Former White County historian Charles Leonard wrote an article for a July 25, 1992 supplement to The Expositor newspaper in Sparta—“Who Was the Founder of White County?” This article was republished in the January-March 2005 edition of the White County Genealogical-Historical Society’s PastFinder newsletter. Leonard made a strong evidence-based case for the county being named for General James White.

But, In View of the Evidence, What Do You Think?

Who was, most likely, the man for whom White County, TN was named?

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The Haston Family Tree – From Roots to Shoots

The Story of the Daniel Haston Family Visualized

Telling Our Haston Family Story - From Bottom to Top

Our Daniel Haston family story is rather simple.
It can be told in four steps, and clarified with a bit of explanation at each step.

First – Our European roots are in Switzerland. Our original family name was Hiestand. The first known appearance of the name occurred in 1401 in Zürich, Switzerland. In the 1600s, some of our ancestors became Anabaptists (Mennonites) because they believed that people should be old enough to (1) understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and (2) personally receive Him as their Savior before being (3) baptized. Because of their basic evangelical faith these ancestors were severely persecuted and forced to flee Switzerland.

Second – Our Anabaptist (Mennonite) ancestors were invited to settle in and near the village of Ibersheim on the Rhineland of Southwest Germany. In 1704, Henrich Hiestand was born there to one of the Swiss refugee farming families. In 1727, as a young adult, Henrich left Germany and journeyed to Pennsylvania in order to secure land to farm and raise a family. He soon had 226 acres surveyed in what became Lancaster County, got married there, and began to raise a family. But after a few years in Lancaster County, Henrich (our immigrant ancestor) moved to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and purchased 205 acres on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River.

Third – On the beautiful riverfront property in Virginia, his youngest son Daniel was born in about 1750. A Shenandoah County, Virginia marriage record informs us that Daniel married Christina Nave on September 28, 1773.

Fourth – In about 1783, Daniel moved his young family to what is now East Tennessee. While the U.S. Government was negotiating with the Cherokee native Americans for the ownership of land west of the Cumberland Mountain range, Daniel moved to what is now Middle Tennessee and settled as a “squatter” in about 1804 in what became White County a couple of years later.

From there, some of his children and grandchildren spread westward to Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and even farther west. As they moved, some branches of the family adopted changes of the surname, to such iterations as Hastings, Hasting, Hastin, and Hastain. Apparently, they became convinced that their European ancestors were English, thus the changes to names more acceptable to English clerks and their English neighbors.

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The Centuries-Old Mystery of Daniel Haston’s Mother

Clues to the Identity of Daniel Haston's Mother

A Centuries-Old Mystery

The family of Henrich Hiestand has been thoroughly researched for many years, but the identity of his wife has never been conclusively determined. However, if you dig very deeply into Henrich Hiestand family research you will find that there has been no lack of wholly undocumented speculations as to her family name.

What We Know

When Daniel’s father (Henrich/Henry Hiestand) arrived from Germany in Pennsylvania in about 1727, he was single.
By approximately 1733 or so, Henry was married. Barbara, his firstborn child was born in about 1734 in Lancaster County, PA. And Jacob was born a couple or so years later.
Henry’s wife bore at least eight children, five boys and three girls. She may have given birth to others, but these eight we know survived into adulthood.
Land records inform us of the Mennonite families that were living around Henry Hiestand in Hempfield Township of Lancaster County.
There is no marriage record or other reliable document that tells us who Henry Hiestand married.
Consequently, we can not say for certain who was the mother of Daniel Hiestand/Haston and his siblings.
Henry’s wife (Daniel’s mother) died on January 12, 1777, in what was then Shenandoah County, VA, as per a family record in Peter Hiestand’s Bible. Peter, an older brother of Daniel, was born in about 1738 and was approximately 10 or 12 years older than Daniel.

Clues to the Possible Identity of Daniel's Mother

I certainly can NOT say for sure who Henry’s wife / Daniel’s mother was. But I think there is enough evidence to hypothesize who she may have been, at least the identity of her maiden surname.

There is a common Hiestand family tradition that Henry married a Kauffman (Coffman) in about 1732. For example, when introducing Henry Hiestand in his 2002 book, Hiestand of Virginia, David B. Trimble wrote: “…married ____ (Kauffman?) about 1732.” That guess is plausible due to Henry’s proximity to the Coffmans, especially John Coffman, in East Hempfield Township of Lancaster County. And the Hiestand family’s later interactions with and nearness to Kauffmans from the same Kauffman/Coffman family in Virginia may add support to the Hiestand-Coffman marriage theory. If so, Daniel Haston’s mother was a Coffman. But some other family names have been hypothesized.

There is no known-to-me documentation to prove or disprove that theory. The two-volume 1937 set of books on the Kauffman family by Charles Fahs Kauffman does not mention a marriage between Henry Hiestand and a member of the Coffman/Kauffman family.[i] So apparently Charles Fahs Kauffman was not aware of a marriage involving Henry Hiestand and a Coffman woman, even though he did record numerous other connections between Hiestands and Coffmans.

[i] Kauffman, Charles Fahs. A Genealogy and History of the Kauffman-Coffman Families of North America, 1584 to 1937, Parts One and Two; including Brief Outlines of Allied Swiss and Palatine Families Who Were among the Pioneer Settlers in Lancaster and York Counties of Pennsylvania from 1717 On; Viz., Becker, Baer, Correll, Erisman, Fahs, Kuntz, Kneisley, Hershey, Hiestand, Meyers, Musselman, Neff, Martin, Ruby, Snavely, Shenk, Shirk, Sprenkle, Witmer, and Others. (York, PA: printed by the author, 1940).

Due to the limitations of mtDNA (female DNA) to pinpoint ancestral connections, at this time genetic research is not helpful in identifying the family background of Henry’s wife.

Coffman/Kauffman family records suggest that John Coffman was born about 1700 and died in 1755,[i] so he and Henry Hiestand were close to the same age (1704, Henry’s birth year). If Henry married a Hempfield or Manor Township Coffman, she would not have been John Coffman’s daughter, but perhaps a sister or other close relative.

[i] Kauffman, 481.

The Hempfield Township John Coffman of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania was a brother of Martin Kauffman, a Mennonite minister who moved to what is now Page County, Virginia,[i] and lived near the Henry Hiestand family.* In a later chapter, you will see that Henry Hiestand’s family had some significant connections to John Coffman’s minister brother, Martin Kauffman, and Martin’s son and grandson, both also named Martin Kauffman.

*Seven miles down the winding South Fork of the Shenandoah River or about five miles over land northeast from Martin Kauffman to Henry Hiestand.

[i] Ellen Coffman, “The Genetic Genealogy of Some Mennonite and Amish Kauffman-Coffman Families,” Mennonite Family History, XXV, no. 4 (October 206), 203.

Isaac C. Haston – Jesse C. Haston

One early Mennonite tradition may offer a clue to the identity of Henry Hiestand’s wife. The letter “C” was the middle initial for at least two of Daniel Haston’s children, Isaac and Jesse, the only two whose middle initials I am aware of. One prolific 20^th Century Mennonite author and seminary professor, John C. Wenger,[i] wrote:

It should be noted that the bride’s surname was always preserved in the form of the middle name of every child. For example, Jacob Funk married Susanna Fretz and they were the parents of John F. Funk. There was simply no question as to what the middle initial of the children would be; the bride’s surname settled that.[ii]

[i] J. Denny Weaver, “John C. Wenger (1910-1995),” Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, accessed October 21, 2023, https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Wenger,_John_C._(1910-1995).

[ii] Wenger, 28.

When Daniel’s father, Henry Hiestand, married, he was living among several Coffman families. Think about it.

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Samuel Haston and Mary Lowry – Lost Son of Daniel?

Samuel Haston - A Lost Son of Daniel Haston?

Daniel Haston’s grandson, William Carroll Haston, said his grandfather had 13 children. Whether or not that was accurate, I do not know. Even if it was accurate, how many of those children lived to become adults–old enough to appear in public records? There are nine children of Daniel Haston that we know of, six boys and three girls. I’m constantly looking to discover other children of Daniel who have been hidden from Haston researchers for 200 years, more or less.

At the same time Daniel Haston’s son Jeremiah Haston was living in Gallatin County, Illinois, a Samuel Hasten (also spelled Haston in an Ancestry.com record) secured a marriage license to marry Mary Lowry in that county on May 30, 1829. According to another Ancestry.com record, the marriage occurred on May 31, 1829. But the couple does not appear on the 1830 census for Gallatin County, IL. Was this another son of our Daniel? If so, where did he go and what happened to him?

The Old Testament name “Samuel” fits the naming pattern of Daniel Haston’s sons–David, Joseph, Jesse, Daniel (Jr.), Isaac, and Jeremiah.
Even though we don’t know this Samuel’s age at the time of his marriage, his probable age could certainly fit a son of Daniel Haston.
The fact that Jeremiah Haston was living in the same county at the time of the Samuel Haston – Mary Lowry marriage is a reason to think a brother of Jeremiah may also have been living there.

Samuel's License to Marry Mary

Source: “Illinois Statewide Marriage Index,” Office of the Illinois Secretary of State, https://www.ilsos.gov/isavital/marriageSearch.do

Gallatin County, Illinois on the Ohio River

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2023 Pacific Northwest Haston Reunion

Our First Daniel Haston Family Association Regional Reunion

Portland, Oregon

Our first Daniel Haston Family Association-sponsored regional (mini) reunion was held in Portland, Oregon on Friday evening, September 29, and all day Saturday, September 30. The Friday evening event was very informal, with snacks, coffee, etc. For nearly four hours, the place was buzzing with cousins meeting cousins, many for the first time.

Saturday began with a light breakfast. Wayne then gave a PowerPoint-illustrated overview of the history of the Daniel Haston family, including our European roots and Daniel’s life and family. After lunch, Wayne gave a presentation covering the life of Isaac Hastings (Daniel’s son) and his family. Following a break, Wayne then presented the history of Jeremiah Haston’s (another son of Daniel) life and family.

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Haston-Hiestand Heritage Tour Book

For $10 You Can Virtually Experience Our European Heritage Tour

Hiestand-Haston 2023 Heritage Tour to Switzerland and Rhineland Germany

This is an illustrated journal from the June 14-26, 2023, Heritage Tour led by Lemar and Lois Ann Mast. Join the group of 29 persons as they walked the streets of their ancestors in Germany and Switzerland. Personalized diary entries from tour participants give you insight into their tour and are accompanied by beautiful color photos that were taken during the trip. (32 pages, full-color illustrations. Masthof Press 2023)

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Jeremiah Haston’s Son-in-Law Escaped Hanging but …

The Civil War Divided the Haston Family in Missouri

The August 10, 1861 Battle of Wilson’s Creek was the first major Civil War battle west of the Mississippi River. It was fought just a few miles southwest of Springfield in Greene County, Missouri. Fortunately for Isaac Haston and most of his family, the battle took place about four years after he moved from the Springfield, Missouri area to California. But his brother, Jeremiah Haston, and all of his children, sons-in-law, and grandchildren were still in the Ozark region of Missouri, living only about 35 to 40 miles northeast of the battle.

Apparently, Jeremiah Haston (son of Daniel Haston) was pro-Union. Citizens of Dallas County, MO, where Jeremiah lived, largely aligned with the Union. But there were many Southern sympathizers in Dallas County and surrounding counties, such as Webster County, where Jeremiah’s son, John W. (and wife, Mary C.) Haston and his daughter Hester Ann (wife of George W. Stever) lived. All three of Jeremiah’s sons served in Federal military units. One of his sons-in-law, Martin Rose (husband of Malinda Haston), enlisted in the Confederate Army, the first Missouri unit to officially enter the Confederate Army.

The Battle of Wilson’s Creek crystallized Civil War loyalties in the Missouri Ozarks and resulted in family divisions.

George Wasington Stever, Jr., Part 1

Hester Ann Elvira Haston, daughter of Jeremiah and Esther Riddles Haston, married George Washington Stever, Jr. (born in Madison, Kentucky) on June 1, 1848. George married Elizabeth Hill in Missouri on October 24, 1844, but she died in 1848. At the time of the 1860 census, the George Stever family was living next door to Hester’s brother, John Wesley and Mary C. Haston. They were in Washington Township of Webster County, Missouri.

Jeremiah Haston’s son-in-law, George W. Stever, was involved with some rebel marauders in Webster County, Missouri in December 1861, as well as late August and early September 1861. He was tried for those activities by a Union Army Commission in Springfield, Missouri.

George Stever was tried under Missouri’s General Order 18, proclaimed on May 29, 1862, which stated that rebel guerilla fighters should be executed on the spot. George pleaded “not guilty.” Had he been found guilty, he would have been hanged or shot.

George Wasington Stever, Jr., Part 2

Although the specific dates of George Stever’s trial are not known to me, the summary of the final verdict was issued on December 24, 1862. George’s trial revolved around two questions: Was his participation with rebel marauders forced or voluntary? Had he been loyal to the United States since December 17, 1861, when his protection expired, according to Missouri Governor Gamble’s amnesty proclamation regarding pre-December 17, 1861 transgressions?

George Stever was found not guilty of the specification that he carried away property of Union men. The Commission concluded that he did consort with rebel enemies but it could not be proven that he was a willing participant. However, the “acts imputed to the prisoner were subject to an amnesty from Gov. Gamble which expired on the 17th of December 1861 as by subsequent General Orders.” George was required to give a $1,000 bond and renew his oath of allegiance.

In the trial, his neighbor and sister-in-law, Mary C. Haston (wife of John Wesley Haston, brother of George’s wife) was not favorable to him on the witness stand—she was his most-condemning witness. She probably knew him very well. If Governor Gamble had not proclaimed a pre-December 17, 1861 amnesty, Mary’s testimony would no doubt have resulted in her brother-in-law being hanged or shot. Here are some of her responses under oath:

Question: Do you know whether the prisoner was in the habit of associating with secessionists?
Answer: He was.
Question: What means have you to know that he associated with rebels?
Answer: He brought them to my house.
Question: How many did he bring to your house?
Answer: There were himself and eight others the first time.
Question: Did he come to your house at any other time with rebels?
Answer: He came to my house about two weeks after his first visit with fourteen rebels besides himself.
Question: What did the prisoner [George Stever] do while at your house the first time?
Answer: He did nothing but remained at the gate while the rebels who were with him searched my house.
Question: What did the prisoner do while at your house the second time?
Answer: The prisoner did nothing but remained at the gate with his gun while the rebels with him searched my house, abused me and made threats of violence unless I procured a light.
Question: About what time or times in the year 1861 was the prisoner at your house?
Answer: He was at my house the first time about two weeks after the Wilson Creek Battle.
Question: What time was he at your house the second time.
Answer: About two weeks after the first.
Question: Did the prisoner ever take and carry away any of your property?
Answer: He did not, but the rebels in company with him took and carried away a pair of bullet molds.
Question: What is the prisoner’s general character in the neighborhood as to his being a rebel and having acted with them.
Answer: He has the reputation of being a very busy rebel, pointing out to rebels the property of Union men and keeping rebels at his house.
Question: (Something about how close he lives to Mary Haston’s house.)
Answer: Less than half a mile. [See the 1860 census record on page ?. The Stevers were adjacent neighbors to John Wesley and Mary Haston.]
Question: (Something like – “Are you the two of you friendly?”)
Answer: No, we are not.
Question: How long have you been unfriendly?
Answer: It has been as long as six years since we have been friends.
Question: (Something about her knowing the men who were with the George at her house.)
Answer: I do not know any of those he was with at my house. They told me that they were Southern men.
Question: (not recorded)
Answer: All his neighbors tell me that he is a rebel. His father-in-law, Mr. Hastings [Jeremiah Haston, Sr.] say so and a great many whose names I cannot recollect.

Note: It appears that she may have said or started to say that Mrs. George Stever [Hester Ann Elvira Haston] also said her husband was a rebel (or something to that effect), but she was stopped and it was marked out of the record.

George Washington Stever, Jr., Part 3

Source: https://crhailey.tripod.com/steverhist/gwstjr.html

George’s homestead was about 1/2 mile north of the Stever Cemetery [GPS Coordinates: 37.4646988, -93.0397034], where he was living at the time of his death. He homesteaded 120 acres in 1857, with the grant maturing in 1877. The grant was authorized by Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States. In 1852, George purchased forty acres from Emsley Wharton. Sarah Stever Miller, George’s granddaughter tells us that she has the original papers.

On May 28, 1863, George was plowing the farm of his mother south of the cemetery when he was shot and killed by “bushwhackers.” Bushwhackers were people who sided with either the Union or Confederacy but were not in either army. They were a despicable lot to the local residents and known to take advantage of the war to further their own interests. The family thought the shooting was due to the fact that George had hauled some supplies for the Confederate Army for hire.

Left with a large family, the widow, Hester Ann, continued to operate the farm and care for her family. After George’s death, the Union soldiers took all the meat that Hester had for the family table.

The family has passed to the younger generation the names of those suspected of shooting George. When Peter [Stever] and James Madison [Stever] returned to Missouri, after the war, two of the “suspects” left the community. We will not list the names here.

Peter Stever and James Madison Stever were brothers of George Washington Sever, Jr. (all sons of George Washington Sever, Sr.). Our uncle, James Benton Stever, told us of the incident. He could remember it well. He was at that time living with grandmother, Sarah Payton Stever. Someone heard the shot from the gun. Then, shortly the horse came to the house dragging the plow. Some of the family, probably James Madison, went looking for George. When the report of his having been shot was brought to his mother, Sarah, James Benton told of his remembering how she wept and mourned.

The Civil War was a most trying time for the Stever family, as it was for many persons in that area. We find among the old letters this brief note, which gives some insight into the times.

“Jefferson Nimo and a Mr. Franklin was killed at the widow Wolf’s last friday nite. The court house in Marshfield is burnt. The feds done it their selves. Everything in it was burnt except the safe. Hell is aflote here and the devil is stering oar. J.T. have received your letter. Rite now. March 2, 1864.”

George’s son by his first wife, Franklin Stever, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, Co. M., 16th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry, Volunteers. This was the same regiment in which his first cousin, Jeremiah M.C. Haston, served. Franklin was mustered in Nov. 1, 1863 and mustered out, July 1, 1865. Both actions were at Springfield, Missouri.

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1 – David Haston – What We Know of His Pre-Marriage Life

230-Plus Events in the Life of David Haston, Phase 1

David Haston - His Early (Pre-Married) Years
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1777 May 6	Birth Date: David Haston, Daniel Haston's firstborn son, was born during the Revolutionary War. The 1850 census of Van Buren County, TN gives his birth state as Virginia. Dunmore (Shenandoah) County land records indicate the Daniel Haston family, into which David was born, was living near the head of Passage Creek in Powell's Fort Valley (in the Massanutten Mountain between New Market and Luray, VA) during this time. Passage Creek in Powell's Fort Valley Near Where Daniel Haston's Family Lived in 1777 David Haston was probably born somewhere in or near the area of this circle. Google Map Location Read More About Powell's Fort Valley David Haston Bible Recordï»¿
1785 September 28	Margaret Roddy Born: The David Haston Bible record says the future wife of David ("Margrete Roddy") was "Borne [sic] September 28, 1785." The 1850 census record indicates she was born in North Carolina. Her family (Philip and Mary Roddy) was living in Randolph County, NC according to the 1790 census.
1798 April 12	David Convicted for Cutting Cows' Tails: David and Joseph were tried for cutting the tails off of two horned cows belonging to Nathaniel Hays, whose fence was apparently insufficient to contain the cows. David Hasting, Daniel Hasting, and John Miller put up a total of $100 in bond money for David and Joseph. Moses Roddy, Mary Ann Roddy, Eleanor Roddy, Wm. Haslet, Sr., Wm. Haslet, Jr., and Richard Cahell (spelling ?) were called to witness for the State and against David. Daniel, David's father, made some kind of plea to the court. David was found guilty and fined $5.00. Joseph was acquitted. Source: State vs David Haston & Joseph Haston; Knox Co, TN County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions; Docket # 796/65 (1798). More About the "Cow Tails" Incident and Court Case
Although there is no known documentation concerning David Haston's education, there is later evidence that he did receive a decent English language education somewhere and sometime in his growing up years. Also, he may have made some significant contacts with early Tennessee politicians and businessmen while living in the little pioneer village of Knoxville, first while it was the capital of the United States Southwest Territory and later after became the capital of the state of Tennessee.

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2 – David Haston – Early Marriage Life

230-Plus Events in the Life of David Haston, Phase 2

David Haston - Married Life in Knox County, Tennessee
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1800 May 5	Marriage to Peggy (Margaret) Roddy: This marriage took place in Knox County, TN, and Isham (Isam/Isom) Bradley was the bondsman. Isham Bradley married Susana Matkocks (Maddox?) on May 13, 1798, in Blount County, TN, and David Haston was his bondsman. Isham Bradley (of no known kinship to the Hastons) moved his family to White County with the Daniel Haston family, where he lived near them and interacted closely with them for several years before moving to Missouri. David and Peggy named one of their sons, Isham Bradley Haston, after him. Both David's and Isham's names are clearly signed on the marriage certificate. David's bride is named "Peggy Roddy" on the document. The David Haston family Bible record indicates that Peggy ("Margute") was born on September 28, 1785, thus she wasn't quite 15 years old when she married David. The 1850 Federal Census says she was born in North Carolina and was 64 years old at the time of the census. A 1790 census record tells us her (Philip Roddy) family was living in Randolph County, NC at that time. For many years, the family identity of Peggy (Margaret) Roddy was one of the perplexing mysteries of early Haston research. However, we now know that her parents were Philip and Mary McComiskey Roddy. Her maternal grandparents were Daniel and Rebecca McComesky (McComiskey, et. al. spellings) who lived in Baltimore County Maryland. The Philip and Mary Roddy family lived near the Daniel Haston family in Knox County, TN. Source: Knox County, TN Marriage Bonds for 1800 David's Marriage to 14-Year-Old Peggy Roddy More About the McComisky Family
1800 August 16	David Put Up Bond Money For Joseph, His Brother: In the Samuel Cowan vs Joseph Haston ("timothy lot") case, David, Joseph, and Daniel vouched for $2,000 in bond money to assure that Joseph would appear in court as ordered. David and Joseph signed the bond in their own handwriting, but Daniel signed by making his mark. David's signature here was nearly identical to his signature on his marriage certificate of three months earlier. Joseph was acquitted. The case was settled on April 15, 1801. Source: Samuel Cowan vs Joseph Haston; Knox Co, TN Court Case File: Docket # 138511235, April 1800. Bond Money for Josephï»¿
1801 September 1	First Child (Malinda) Born: Malinda married Arthur Mitchell in 1818. She is thought to have died in Warren County, TN but her date of death is unknown. Arthur Mitchell, son of Spencer (Sr.) & Rachel Roberts Mitchell, was born on October 20, 1799, in Person County, NC. He died on April 19, 1874, in Warren County, TN. Arthur & Malinda were parents of nine children. Source: David Haston's Bible Record & Cynthia Butler Mitchell
1802 October 28ï»¿	David Purchased Land in Knox County, TN: David purchased 111 acres from John Armstrong for $300 on this date. The tract of land was located on the east fork of Grassy Creek, northwest of Knoxville, between Beaver Ridge and Black Oak Ridge. Source: Knox County, TN Real Estate Purchase, pages 300 & 301 of Volume C, Volume in the original books; Volume C, Volume 2 of the transcribed version. David's 111 Acres in Knox County, TN
1803	1803 Knox County Tax List: A David Hasston appeared on this list. He owned 111 acres on Grassy (says "Grassey") Creek and his household had one "white poll." He was in Captain Childs (probably should be "Chiles") Company. The list was put together in 1804 Source: Knox County, TN Tax List for 1803
1803 January 11	Knox County, TN Jury Duty: David Hasting served on a jury for these cases: Thomas Humes vs James Watson and Stephen Haynes vs Joseph Ravenhill. Source: Pages 100 & 103 of Records of Knox County, TN Record Book No. 4, 1802-1805 (WPA transcriptions). Original pages 103 & 106.
1804 January 22ï»¿	Second Child (Mary ["Polly"]) Born: Mary (Polly) married William "Black Bill" Lewis (son of William Lewis, Jr.) in 1827. This William Lewis was born about 1805 in Pendleton District SC. They named their first son "David" (b. 1828) and their second daughter "Margaret" (b. 1833). Margaret, the daughter, married William Newel Crain (who was a minister as per the 1880 census) on August 23, 1849, in Van Buren County. Mary is thought to have died before 1862. Sources: David Haston's Bible records (source of Mary's birth date). Descendants of William Lewis" by Mickey Dodson (White County, TN - 1994). Pages 167, 168, & 170 of Pioneer Lewis Families, Volume III, by Michael L. Cook (Cook Publications, 1981). ----- Notes: (1) Mary/Polly was involved in a bastardy case at age 20. See the October 15, 1824 entry in the third section of this timeline series. (2) Remember that "Mary" was the name of Philip Roddy's wife. She (Mary Roddy) was the daughter of Daniel McComiskey, Sr. of Baltimore, MD. We don't know why David and Peggy Haston named their first daughter "Malinda."
1805 February 4	Knox Co, TN Road Work Oversight: It was "Ordered that David Haston be overseer of the public road from the top of the Black Oak Ridge to Low Station, and that hands that formerly wrought under Josiah Armstrong do work thereon." One year later, that position was assigned to John Chiles (see January 20, 1806 entry). Source: Page 53 of Knox County, TN Road Order Book, 1792-1891 (available on microfilm from Knox County, TN Archives in Knoxville).
1806ï»¿	1806 Knox County, TN Tax List: David Haston appeared on this 1806 list as an owner of 111 acres in the Chiles Company. His household was categorized as having 1 "free poll." Source: Page 8 from the 1806-1812 volume of the Knox County, TN Tax List.
1806 January 20ï»¿	Previous Knox County, TN Road Work Assignment: It was "Ordered that John Chiles be overseer of the public road from the top of the Black Oak ridge to Reed's Bridge and that the hands who formerly wrought under David Haston do work thereon." Source: Page 69 of Knox County, TN Road Order Book, 1792-1891 (available on microfilm from Knox County, TN Archives in Knoxville).
1806 June 11	Third Child (Willie B.) Born: This oldest son of David and Peggy married (1) Tamsey Austin before 1825 and (2) Mary Durham on July 13, 1845, in Van Buren County, TN. Some Haston researchers have confused this "Willie B." (David's son) with a grandson of Joseph Haston, who had the same name and died at the October 8, 1862 Battle of Perryville, KY. However, this (David's son) Willie B. Haston's family appears on the 1860 Sebastian County, Arkansas census. He (W.B. Haston) was listed as being 54 years old, a farmer, and born in TN. Mary, also from TN, was 35 years old. Eight children (ages 1 month to 24 years) dependent on Willie B. and Mary were included in the census. It is interesting that two of Willie B.'s and Mary's children were named Margaret (age 7) and David (age 4). Also, "William Haston" (age 35 years old) seems to have lived in the same house, along with his wife Nancy (age 30) and two young sons (ages 7 & 3). According to this census, of the 14 total people living in this house, only 4-year-old David was born in Arkansas. The rest, including the children of William and Nancy, were born in TN. So, Willie B. & Mary would have been in Arkansas (at this time) for at least 4 years and less than 7 years. However, some family records have the four children (of Willie B. and Mary) born between 1851-1860 as having been born in Arkansas. Was his middle name "Blount?" See the notes on this possibility from the 1828 White County militia list and the 1851 Van Buren County court minutes. Note: As per Leslie Liddiard, "William" was William Dillard Haston, the oldest son of Willie B. and Tamsey Austin Haston. He married Nancy Adaline Riddles on January 8, 1852, in Van Buren Co, TN. Source (of Willie B.'s birth date):* David Haston's Bible records; Arkansas information from the 1860 Sebastian Co, AR census. Note: According to a May 7, 1860, Van Buren County court minutes entry, W.B. Cummings became the "guardian of Nancy Haston daughter of W.B. Haston and his former wife Tamsey Haston deceased." Isaac T. Haston (younger brother of this W.B. Haston) served as a bondsman for this transaction. If W.B. Haston and his second wife, Mary Durham Haston, had moved to Sebastian County, Arkansas (as per the 1860 census), why did Nancy remain behind? Why did this transaction not take place prior to the time that W.B. & Mary moved to Arkansas? This was probably the "Nancy" who appeared in the W.B. Hastion [sic] family on the 1850 census (Van Buren County, TN) and who was 10 years old at that time. Thus, she would have been 20 years old at the time that W.B. Cummings became her guardian. It is possible/likely that she chose to remain behind in Tennessee and was allowed to do so due to her age. Source: Pages 398-399 of Van Buren, TN county court minutes for May 7, 1860 (June 1855-December 1860 book). TSLA Microfilm #14 for Van Buren County, TN. Question: What did the "B" in Willie B. Haston's name stand for? Did it stand for "Blount?" Willie Blount (1768-1835), Governor of TN from 1809-1815, was the half-brother of William Blount, who had been the territorial Governor of the Territory South of the Ohio River prior to Tennessee's statehood and was one of Tennessee's earliest senators. In Knox County, the Hastons lived just across the river from Governor William Blount. It's very possible that David Haston and Willie Blount were friends in their Knox County years. See Howard H. Hasting, Sr.'s material for more information on this son of David and Margaret Haston. David Haston Research Report as per Howard H. Hasting, Sr.
1806 July 22	David's Name Not On the Petition to Create White County, TN: David (as later evidence indicates) was the most civic-minded member of Daniel's family, but his name does not appear on the July 22, 1806, petition for the formation of White County, TN. He did not move to middle Tennessee at the same time Daniel and Joseph moved there. As the September 11 entry (below) indicates, David did not sell his Knox Co property until after the date on which the White County, TN petition was signed. Source: Petition for the Formation of White Co, TN, available through the Tennessee State Library and Archives as Legislative Petition # 5-1-1806.
1806 September 11ï»¿	David Sold the Land on Grassy Creek: David sold 111 acres to Ezekiel Baldwin for $490. The deed was witnessed by Isaac Pruett and Isaac Johnson. Presumably, David sold this land in preparation for his move to White County, TN. Source: Knox County, TN Real Estate Sale, page 280 of Volume MV2; deed date, September 11, 1806; filed on December 12, 1807. David's 111 Acres in Knox County, TN
1806 November 11	Jacob Neff (Nave) Estate Settlement: David Haston was paid $1.00 for a role in the estate settlement of Jacob Neff / Knave in Knox County, TN. The WPA transcription says "for crying vendue" but the original document is unclear. According to the 1828 Webster's Dictionary, a vendue was an "auction, a public sale of anything by outcry [emphasis added], to the highest bidder." Thus, David was probably the auctioneer for this estate auction or the person who proclaimed notices about the upcoming auction. David's friend, Isaac Prewet, also was paid for some role. Source: Original page 224 of Knox County, TN Estate Book, Volume 1 (1792-1811). David Haston most likely was related to the deceased Jacob Neff, in some way. Was this Jacob Neff related to Christina Nave who married Daniel Hiestend in Shenandoah County, VA in 1773? Or was he related to Jacob Neff's widow? Abraham Hiestand, son of Daniel Haston's oldest brother Jacob Hiestand, married the widow of Jacob Strickler's Magdalena Moomaw Stricker, who was the mother of Mary Strickler who married Jacob Neff.* Even though David Haston left Virginia when he was a six-year-old boy, doubtless he would have known that he was related to Jacob Neff one way and/or the other through Mary if not through the Neff family.

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Meeting of Haston Cousins in the Pacific Northwest

Meeting Our Cousins in & from the Pacific Northwest

As Well as Others from Around the USA

Contact Carol Haston for information and to register: CarolHaston@gmail.com

Descendants of Daniel Haston spread all throughout the United States. Many of them moved into the Pacific Northwest. As the Family dispersed, unfortunately, branches of Daniel Haston’s Family became disconnected. The Daniel Haston Family Association hopes to reconnect these branches and twigs.

Our original name, going back to at least 1401 in Switzerland, was Hiestand. Daniel’s immediate family adopted “Haston” while they were living in East Tennessee around 1800. But as his offspring moved west, some branches spelled their family names “Hasting,” “Hastings,” “Hastin,” “Hastain,” and etc. Two of Daniel’s sons who settled in Missouri, Jeremiah and Jesse, kept the “Haston” spelling as did David and Joseph back in White County, TN, and Daniel Haston, Jr. in South Central Kentucky.

In recent years, research has uncovered a lot of historical information about the Daniel Haston FAMILY. We now know:

Our European ancestors were from Zürich, Switzerland. They became Anabaptists (Mennonites) and were forced to flee Switzerland and settle on the Rhineland of southwest Germany.
Our immigrant ancestor, Henrich Hiestand, came to America in about 1727. He settled in Lancaster County, PA for about 15 years and then moved to and permanently settled in what is now Page County, VA in about 1743.
Soon after Henrich Hiestand died, Daniel (his youngest son and our ancestor) moved to what is now East Tennessee, formerly the western wilderness of North Carolina.
A couple of years before the Cherokee Indians sold the rights (to the United States) to their portion of Middle Tennessee, Daniel moved his family onto Cherokee land in about 1804–they were squatters (preemptors).
Daniel purchased 150 acres on the Big Spring Branch in what became White County, TN (now Van Buren County, TN) where he lived the remainder of his life. He was one of the petitioners to create White County in 1806.
Daniel died in 1826 and is buried in the Big Fork Cemetery, about a mile from his house.
There were nine now-known and documented children of Daniel Haston: David, Joseph, Daniel, Jr., Isaac, Jesse, Jeremiah, Loucinda (Mitchell), Elizabeth (Roddy), and Catherine (Austin). There were probably a few others that we do not know about.
Only the two oldest sons, David and Joseph, and their sister Catherine remained in Middle Tennessee.

The Formal Program, In Between Times of Getting Acquainted and Some Fun Activities

Presentation 1: An overview of the history of the Daniel Haston Family, from the southeast shore of Lake Zürich in Switzerland to Rhineland Germany, and on to Pennsylvania, Virginia, Western North Carolina, East Tennessee, and eventually, White County, Tennessee…then spreading out all over western USA.

Presentation 2: The story of Isaac Haston and his family, including his War of 1812 service, his life and family in two areas of Tennessee, Greene County, Missouri, and the 1857 ox wagon journey to and remaining life in Sonoma County, California

Presentation 3: The story of how we connected Jeremiah Haston to the Daniel Haston family, as well as his move to and life in Dallas County, Missouri by way of Gallatin County, Illinois, including information on all of his children.

Q & A sessions to discuss any of your questions about Daniel Haston, his family or any of its various branches.

The Story of the Daniel Haston Family book will be available for purchase. $50

The mission of the Daniel Haston Family Association is to reconnect the various branches and twigs of the Daniel Haston Family TREE and to...

Rescue from oblivion the history and stories of our early Hastons and related ancestors.

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Hiestand Kids Discover Marengo Cave

Daniel Haston's GG Grand Niece and Nephew Make Amazing Discovery

Indiana's Most Visited Natural Attraction!

Marengo Cave text from www.marengocave.com/

Marengo, Indiana

The two kids were Hiestands, from the very same family as Daniel Hiestand/Haston–his great-great-grandniece and nephew!

For more of the story about Blanche and Orris’s story of the discovery of the cave, see 1883 on the timeline found in the Marengo Cave website (link below).

12:23 Minutes Video

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Maggie Chandler’s Stories

Maggie Chandler's Stories

Two sets of hearings and trials were planned, one set in the juvenile court for Ida’s daughter Thelma and another hearing and trial in the circuit court for Mrs. Ida Haston. But accusations and defense testimonies were a major part of Thelma’s juvenile case.

Maggie Chandler's Witness Stand Stories

This case started with a story told by Maggie Chandler, as a response to being caught in a lie about having a job with the telephone company. As the case continued, Maggie became the focus of much of the witness stand activity in the trial.

09-24-1917 – hearing over and trial of (four) girls started; 12 men on the jury; one girl [Maggie Chandler], “That statement is true–every word of it” but she later repudiated it and said she had spoken falsely about the entire matter; said the girls had later agreed to say they had lied – because Thelma chose to keep her mother out of prison; names of jurymen; Dan Nee, Warren L. White, and Val Mason = prosecutors; first case is that of Thelma Haston;

09-25-1917 – Maggie Chandler boldly and w/o trace of shame admitted the improper conduct at the Haston home every day for a month before she was caught – testifying against Thelma; admitted that one man with black hair and gold teeth came to see her about every other day but she did not know his name (but Judge and next witness thought she knew the man’s name); the girls joked about the case in the witness room–about being sent to the Girls’ Industrial Home in Chillicothe; Maggie was on the witness stand for about five hours and looked straight into the eyes of the people in the courtroom; said she did not remember crying and asking her to forgive her for lying when she met Ida in the corridors of the courthouse; Attorney Neville who represented Thelma tried to prove that Maggie confess to Judge Johnson that she made the false confession because her parents had accused her of improper conduct and she wanted to throw the blame on someone else; she said her original confessional statement was true even though she later repudiated it; Judge Johnson (as a witness) said he didn’t know that Ida had three other children at the time she was arrested, said he was under the impression that as many as 15 men per day were visiting the girls in the Haston home; Johnson didn’t know that the parents of the Chandler girl had charged he with delinquency before she was questioned and made her confession implicating Mrs. Haston; Johnson said Maggie told him that one woman at the Haston house displayed a large razor;

09-28-1917 – the trial settled into a contest of veracity of the girls implicated; three of the girls have denied Maggie Chandler’s story but Maggie insists it is true, even though she later repudiated it; a boy accused by Maggie was on the witness stand, and said he knew the girl who was on the witness stand but she denied every word of his testimony; he told a story of taking this girl and Maggie home one night after a picture show, which the girl denied, even denied of ever seeing him; Maggie’s mother took the stand and told how Maggie had falsified about working for the phone company and said Maggie was never a bad girl and she had never been whipped by her parents; mother admitted that Maggie had been nervous from the time she started working for phone company; Maggie’s sister (who began the investigation) took the stand after her mother and said that Mrs. Haston had come to her to tell her that Maggie had been coming to her house to eat dinner on the porch; the sister said that Maggie was very nervous and seemed to be carrying a mental burden; Mrs. Chandler said that Thelma had spent one night at their house and seemed like a good girl; three implicated boys were called to the stand and all denied visiting the Haston home;

How does Maggie Chandler's stories affect your opinion of this case and the possible outcome?

The Case Against Mrs. Ida Haston - Guilty or Not Guilty?

Links activated one at a time, August 13 through September 3, 2023

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Witnesses Come to the Defense of Mrs. Ida Haston

Witnesses Come to the Defense of Mrs. Ida Haston

Two sets of hearings and trials were planned, one set in the juvenile court for Ida’s daughter Thelma and another hearing and trial in the circuit court for Mrs. Ida Haston. But accusations against Ida and defense testimonies in her favor were a major part of Thelma’s juvenile case.

Ida's Neighbors and Others Testify of Her Good Character and Deny the Allegations

09-18-1917 – Neighbors defend Ida, none saw or heard anything like she was accused of and paid high tribute to her character and believed she was a victim of a great wrong, said it would have been impossible without their knowledge; Irvin and Ida and family lived on the NW corner of Broad and Orchard Avenues; “Mr. Haston was very particular about how his children conducted themselves”; one neighbor who witnessed on behalf of Ida had lived there three years, which was “much longer than the Haston family had resided in this neighborhood”; Ida – “Without anger or indignation she denied the charges…”

09-22-1917 – Mrs. Haston’s (Preliminary) Hearing is Set for Wednesday; before Judge Thomas R. Gibson, justice of the peace; Attorney J.T. Neville represented Ida; [Acting] Judge Guy D. Kirby tried the cases of the girls in the juvenile court

09-26-1917 – 3rd day of testimony; 24 witnesses attempted to prove the good character of Ida; Maude Gibbons (15-year-old high school freshman) made and signed a statement of confession (“last Friday”); said she, Maggie Chandler, Lula Wresche, and Thelma Haston had repudiated their confessions to protect Thelma’s mother from prison; Maude made the statement in the court house one day and went back the next day to repudiate it; Miss Retha Goodman presented an alibi for Maude that she had not missed a day at work in two weeks; Maude said conversations were always moral and no men other than Thelma’s father were ever in the house; said she lied to avoid being sent to Detention Home or reform school; said she didn’t know why she made the last statement (about fear of reform school?); 24 character witnessed from Orchard Avenue neighborhood, all testified of her good character; Myrtle Needham said her mother told her to stay away from the Haston home and Thelma but had never heard anything bad about Thelma; Policewoman Margaret Hull took girls to doctor for physical examination and that the girls had told her their statements were lies; the State tried to impeach character of witnesses; Miss Hull testified about a previous complaint about Maude’s conduct;

09-25-1917 – Preliminary Hearing of Mrs. Haston Tomorrow; would be held in the criminal courtroom instead of Justice Thomas R. Gibson’s courtroom because of crowds;

09-26-1917 Springfield News-Leader, p. 1 – seven or eight neighbors testify they say nothing wrong at the Haston house; a 14-year-old girl told of frequent visits to play with Thelma and other girls [including Maude Gibbons and Maggie Chandler] at the home (“she won the courtroom by her innocence”) – said she “saw nothing improper, nor did men visit the home while she was here”; said she never saw the black-haired woman whom others mentioned; one of the accused girls said this little girl was a companion with them in their misconduct; she told “what appeared to be a straight-forward story of her visits to the Haston home and denied that her playmates ever hinted that their conduct was not proper; a department store manager of a local store said that one of the accused girls worked for her every day during the week until school started and could not have been at the Hason home during the day; Mrs. Haston took the stand and denied anything improper went on in her house and said the girls’ stories were false from beginning to end; Ida’s husband, R.I. (says “L” but it’s “I” for Irvin) testified that Ida had spent some time in an asylum in Texas and that her mind was affected when she worried; courtroom was crowded and a number were high school students; “Indications are that the Haston girl will be convicted of delinquency for the parents admitted yesterday that she went on a fishing trip against their will. It was said that a married man went with her but they did not know that this was true, they said.”

09-27-1917 – Thelma (age 15) on the stand, says the State threatened to send her to reform school – she denied her previous confession; said Ida refused to let her (with Maggie) go riding with two men in a car; boys who were accused were called to witness stand – they denied the truth of the accusations; Thelma went to the river fishing on Sunday morning; Maude said she fainted four times while talking to officials but later said she lied about fainting; Lula Wresche admitted that during the trials “threats” to get Maggie Chandler had been made in the hall on the 2nd floor of the courthouse;

09-27-1917 – postponement of the preliminary hearing of Ida Haston until next Wednesday morning due to the fact that the preliminary hearing of the girls was not completed.

09-28-1917 – (5th day of trial) Judge Johnson said nothing was done to frighten the girls to make confessions; Nellie Ackridge testified that Ida had remarked about her body and clothes and asked her to come to see her; Nellie had a piece of paper with Mrs. Haston’s name and address on it, written by Ida’s hand; Mrs. Grace Meyers lived in the same house as the (Nellie) Ackridge girl; Mrs. Meyers and John, her husband, were known to have “fits” but Nellie said she didn’t think they were real; Mrs. Meyers was charged with the same alleged offense as Ida; Nellie was a ward of the juvenile court; defense said that the name and address paper was about trying to get work at Armour’s, same place Nellie had worked; Nellie testified that she never knew anything wrong about Ida and thought she was a good woman;

If you were sitting in this courtroom now, what would your thoughts about the case be at this point?

The Case Against Mrs. Ida Haston - Guilty or Not Guilty?

Links activated one at a time, August 13 through September 3, 2023

Verdicts in Thelma and Her Mother’s Cases

Verdicts in Thelma and Mrs. Ida Haston Cases

Two sets of hearings and trials were planned, one set in the juvenile court for Ida’s daughter Thelma and another hearing and trial in the circuit court for Mrs. Ida Haston. But accusations against Ida and defense testimonies in her favor were a major part of Thelma’s juvenile case.

The hearing and trial for Mrs. Ida Haston NEVER HAPPENED because the Judge heard enough in Thelma’s trial to realize that Maggie Chandler had created and spread the entire story as a lie. The judge even decided to not send the case to the jury and to spare Ida Haston from having to go through a hearing and trial for what was obviously just a huge lie by Maggie Chandler!

Thelma's Trial Comes to an Unusual Ending

09-29-1917 Springfield Leader and Press pages 1 and 5 – Mrs. Haston Freed of Accusations by Trial of Daughter, Girl Thelma, Acquitted; defense attorney (Judge Neville) trapped Maggie Chandler in false identification of the black-haired man with the golden teeth she claimed to have had improper relations with; “then came the realization that Mrs. Haston was not guilty as charged and that her daughter was not delinquent as was charged”; the attorneys met with Judge Guy Kirby in a brief recess and told him to the take the case in his hands and do as he thought best;

Judge Guy Kirby concluded: “This is one of those cases where judgment ought not to take place. The court won’t permit the jury to brand this little girl a delinquent. Furthermore, I want to say that some of the girls who were connected with this case are as innocent of any wrongdoing as Caesar’s wife”; “A conviction of the Haston girl would put a stigma on her character that she perhaps could never live down”; toward the end of the trial John Meyers was brought into court from jail to tell of a fishing trip he and his wife and Thelma and another man had taken, but John Meyers admitted of going to the front door but never was inside the Haston house; his wife was mentioned in the case as the “woman in black.”; Maggie Chandler never said she was frightened into making her confession;

The judge stated, “It is “far better to let 99 guilty persons go free than to convict one innocent one.” Judge said he was “not passing innocence or guilt on Thelma and Mrs. Haston but was going to dismiss the case.”

Blackstone’s ratio = “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” (a maxim in early English law)

“Congratulations from many persons in the courtroom, for Thelma and Mrs. Haston and her husband followed. Crowds shook hands with them and wished them success.”

09-29-1917 Springfield News-Leader pages 1 and 2 – Haston Girl is Held Innocent, Charge Against Mother Will Also Be Dismissed and Two Held in Jail Released; Maggie Chandler story discredited; Judge Kirby would not permit the case to go to the jury and “the entire investigation of the alleged ‘house of depravity’ went up in smoke’”; charge against Ida will be dismissed and John Meyer and his wife will be turned out of the county jail; Other three girls will be tried for delinquency and Maggie’s admission of guilt will be used against her; courtroom was filled with high nervous tension; Maggie was called into courtroom and identified a boy as the man with the gold teeth but he came to the stand and he said, “I was taken before her during the investigation and in the presence of Mr. Nee she positively denied that I was the man.”; Thelma’s attorney looked at the jury and smiled and rubbed his hands; Sheriff Webb was called to the stand and testified that he heard Maggie tell John Wren, her brother in law that this boy was not the one who visited her at the Haston home;

The biggest mystery is why Maggie Chandler would tell such a horrible story about herself, repudiate it, and then go back to her original statement on the witness stand.

Now, honestly, after reading Part 1 of the story, what did you think about Mrs. Ida Haston?

How do you think about her now that you've heard both sides of the story?

What can we learn from this case?

The Whole Story - Good, Bad, and Ugly

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Tragic Death of William Carroll Haston, Jr.

Tragedy at the Tennessee State Capitol Building

A shudder passed through the convention hall last night when the announcement was made that a man had fallen from the second story of the Capitol and killed. The Chairman of the White County delegation was called for, as the victim was one of his men, and a crowd immediately hurried to the scene. The man was lying on the northern esplanade just in front of the door. He was unconscious, and a broad puddle of blood surrounded him. In spite of the entreaties of his friends, the curious mob crowed close around him, and many turned sick at the ghastly sight. One man fainted dead away. -Nashville Tennessean

William Carroll Haston, Jr. was a great-grandson of Daniel Haston. His father was William Carroll Haston, Sr. –
the youngest son of David Haston, Daniel’s oldest son.

Correct name: William Carroll Haston, Jr. – Age: 33 – Born February 8, 1857 — Died July 17, 1890

William Carroll Haston, Jr. is buried in the Old Union Cemetery in White County, Tennessee.

The Story of William Carroll Haston, Jr.'s Tragic Death

The Tennessean (Nashville, TN)
18 Jul 1890, Fri · Page 1

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Ida Haston’s “House of Depravity”?

Mrs. Ida Haston Charged With Prostituting Teenage Girls

Who Was Mrs. Ida Haston?

Mrs. Ida [Gattis] Haston was the wife of Richmond Irvin Haston, apparently often known by his middle name as Irvin Haston. Richmond Irvin Haston was born on June 13, 1874 in Tennessee. According to the 1880 census for District 7 of Van Buren County, TN, he was six years old and a son of Richmond [T., not J.] and Regina (sic, Rejorney) Riddles Haston. The senior Richmond (born 1838) was adopted (officially or unofficially) into the David and Peggy Roddy Haston family. His birth name was Richmond Jones, but he took on the Haston surname. So, by formal or informal adoption Richmond Irvin Haston was a Great Grandson of the then-deceased Daniel Haston.

Irvin and Ida were married on December 30, 1900 (license issued December 28) in Franklin County, TN, about 60 miles southwest from where he was born in Van Buren County. In 1910, they were living in Cleburne, Texas, where they were living in 1903 when their oldest daughter Thelma was born. In 1920, they were living in Kansas City, Missouri. From information provided by a Greene County (Springfield), Missouri archivist it appears that these Hastons only lived (as renters) for a brief time in Springfield, MO.

Ida Haston Arrested in Springfield, MO on September 13, 1917

On a Charge of Operating a "House of Depravity" With Young Girls

Two sets of hearings and trials were planned, one set in the juvenile court for Ida’s daughter Thelma and another hearing and trial in the circuit court for Mrs. Ida Haston. But accusations against Ida and defense testimonies in her favor were a major part of Thelma’s juvenile case.

Seven girls had made confessions of a revolting nature to the juvenile authorities. Mrs. Haston was charged with running a “house of depravity,” essentially prostitution orgies, in her house. It was called “the most revolting condition of vice and depravity in the history of Springfield, MO.” The investigation began on Wednesday, September 12, 1917. Ten to fifteen girls, all under age had allegedly been involved. Mrs. (Ida) Haston was accused of enticing girls to her home through her daughter Thelma, for at least six weeks (later, it was estimated to be at least three months). Ida was being held under a $2,000 bond in the Greene County, MO jail. Warrants had been issued for six men, with at least five more to be issued.

The investigation started when 15-year-old girl (later we learn it was Maggie Chandler) told her family a story about working at a telephone office, but her suspicious brother-in-law followed her and learned that she was going to the home of the Hastons.

Thelma Haston, Ida's Daughter Informs ("Confesses") Against Her Mother

Thelma, Ida’s 15-year-old* daughter “broke down and confessed everything,” including a signed confession. She said she had been “familiar” with men in boys in the house while her mother looked on. She told of participating in orgies with her own mother laughing and talking in the room. Previously, she had denied that anything wrong had occurred in the house and that the girls just came to play. Additional confessions were made by other girls who have been visitors in the house.

*Says “13-year-old” but she was born April 22, 1902.

In her cell, Mrs. Haston (age 45) denied the entire story, except saying that the girls came to her house to play with Thelma. “Lies, all lies,” Mrs. Haston responded.

One 15-year-old girl (Maggie Chandler?) said that “Thelma persuaded me.” The girl said that many she was intimate with many men in the Haston house and gave the names of other little girls. She said that no men gave her any money but she guessed they paid Mrs. Haston. She stated that “Every day, or every other day, for six weeks, men visited” her at the house and Mrs. Haston paid her $1.00 every two weeks, but the men gave Mrs. Haston $5.00 every two weeks.

Another girl said that she was sent to a bedroom where there were three little girls and four men. One man grabbed her and started her on a shameful life. She spoke of the brutality of Mrs. Haston.

The Case Against Mrs. Ida Haston - Guilty or Not Guilty?

Links activated one at a time, August 13 through September 3, 2023

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Schedule Your Personal Haston Heritage Tour

A Haston Heritage Tour Based On Your Family Line Back to Daniel Haston

Now that we are living back in the Haston Homeland...

We would love to guide you on a tour of sites that were important to the early Daniel Haston Family.

Let me know about your family line back to Daniel and I’ll customize a tour based upon your Haston ancestors who lived in White and Van Buren County, TN. And, if you don’t know your Haston ancestral line, some of our Daniel Haston Family Association members will help you discover it if you contact us early enough.

Some of the more common sites of interest to descendants of Daniel Haston are…

The Big Fork Cemetery and site of the Big Fork Primitive Baptist Church
The original home site of Daniel Haston that remained in the Haston family for more than 150 years
The Isaac T. Haston family cemetery
The William Carroll Haston family cemetery
The Old Union Cumberland Presbyterian Church building and cemetery
The Haston Big Spring
The Gamble-Haston Century Farm
The Montgomery Greenville Haston Century Farm, now in the Haston family for more than 150 years
Burritt College in Spencer, Tennessee
The Spencer Church of Christ, continuing in ministry for more than 150 years (on a lot purchased from David Haston)
The Spencer Town Cemetery
The historic Van Buren County, TN Courthouse and Van Buren County Historical and Heritage Museum
The Haston Block Building and other Haston-significant buildings in Spencer, TN

And there may be other local historical sites of interest to your specific family! I’ll help you visit those sites as well, if possible.

And the tour is free. A contribution to the Daniel Haston Family Association would be appreciated, but that would be totally up to you.

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We Are Moving Home

Back to the Soil of Our Haston Family Roots

We are now officially homeless people.

As I write this, it’s Friday, July 14, 2023. We closed on selling our house in Pennsylvania today. And we close on the purchase of a house in White County (Tennessee) on July 31, so temporarily we are homeless people, living for almost two weeks in a house that is no longer ours. Signing those papers today was a bittersweet experience. It’s a house we have loved and put a lot of time and money into, but it’s not in Tennessee–where we want to be for the remainder of our lives. We are looking forward to being much closer to lots of old friends and relatives. And, frankly, I look forward to living where people recognize the name “Haston.”

Our home in Pennsylvania for 27 years.

Sharon and have been busy packing for several weeks. We can’t believe how much stuff we have accumulated while living here. We still have much more to do before the truck is loaded on Wednesday, July 26. And we hope to be unloading at 11979 Old Kentucky Road–a just-finished new house–in White County on Saturday, the 29th of this month (July).

We are looking forward to beginning this new chapter of our lives. For me, it’s home. It has always been “home” even though I haven’t lived there since 1966. I grew up in Sparta and White County and graduated from White County High School in the class of 1965, a tight-knit group. Sharon has spent lots of time there too, since we married in 1970, especially when my parents were still alive and living there. And she enjoys the warm reception that she knows awaits her there.

I’m looking forward to settling down and getting back to work on my Daniel Haston Family research and writing. I’ll be closer to some of important research facilities, such as those in the local area as well as the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville.

And as many of you know, it’s the roots-soil of the Daniel Haston Family.