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KESTER Family History, Part VI

Sarah Ann (KESTER) MILLER⁷ (1819-1902)

125113B. Sarah Ann Kester⁷, the eldest daughter of John Bonham Kester, Sr.² and Margaret Layson², was born on March 18, 1819, in Vigo County, Indiana. She married David John Miller⁶ in 1840 in Cedar County, Iowa. They had six children:

125113B1.	Finetta A. Miller•	23 Feb 1841	9 Apr 1908	(67)
125113B2.	Isaac Dennis Miller7	8 Dec 1843	25 May 1896	(52)
125113B3.	Margaret Elizabeth Miller•	15 Sep 1854	3 Apr 1938	(83)
125113B4.	John Valentine Miller•	24 Sep 1856	13 Apr 1940	(83)
125113B5.	Mary Jane Miller•	4 Jan 1859	3 Jul 1940	(81)
125113B6.	Sarah Ellen Miller	21 Mar 1861	6 Nov 1932	(71)

David John Miller died in 1892 in Table Rock, near Sam's Valley, Jackson County, in southwest Oregon, just north of Medford. He was 74 years old.

Sometime after David's death, Sarah moved to back to San Luis Obispo. There she was hospitalized at the San Luis Obispo County Hospital by 1900.^{[Cen 1900]}

Sarah Ann (Kester) Miller died ten years after David, on June 29, 1902, in San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County, California, where some of her grandchildren lived. She was 83 years old.

Mary (KESTER) DENNIS^• (1820-1841)

125113C. Mary Kester^• was born in Vigo County, Indiana, on October 28, 1820. She married Isaac King Dennis in March 1839 in Cedar County, Iowa, and had one daughter before her early death:

125113C1.

Malinda Dennis•

10 Apr 1840

Mar 1880

(39)

The Dennis family remained in Cedar County where Mary died two brief years later on March 23, 1841, in Cedar Bluff. She was only 20 years old.

After Mary's death, Mary's nephew, Isaac Dennis Miller⁷, was likely named for Isaac Dennis in 1843. Her widower went on to remarry her younger sister, Elizabeth, in 1848. Elizabeth also died only a few years after their wedding.

James Layson KESTER (1822-1890)

125113D. James Layson Kester was born in Vigo County, Indiana, on April 12, 1822. He was apparently named for his maternal grandfather, James Layson¹. He married Ruth Ann (Eddy) Morse on February 22, 1845, in Johnson County, Iowa, and fathered 12 children:

125113DA.	John B. Kester	30 Aug 1846	18 Apr 1847	(7 mos.)
125113DB.	James G. Kester	23 Mar 1848	25 Dec 1919	(71)
125113DC.	Clorinda J. Kester	1 Jan 1850	After 1905	(>55)
125113DD.	Jasper Frank Robert Kester	29 Nov 1852	15 Feb 1929	(76)
125113DE.	Lydia A. Kester	28 Sep 1854	9 Jan 1940	(85)
125113DF.	Newton Nethanial Kester	18 Mar 1857	Mar 1904	(47)
125113DG.	Ruth Kester	25 Dec 1859	18 Feb 1864	(4)
125113DH.	William B. Kester	23 Aug 1862	19 Feb 1866	(3)
125113DI.	Emma Jane "Ella" Kester	25 Dec 1864	--	--
125113DJ.	Charles Henry Kester	23 Jun 1867	28 Apr 1937	(69)
125113DK.	Elva Elisabeth Kester	17 Aug 1869	13 Apr 1873	(3)
125113DL.	Lillie M. Kester	2 Mar 1873	--	--

The first five children were born in Iowa, likely in Newport Township, Johnson County. There the Kester, Morse, Andrews, and Ames families all lived in close proximity. James, Ruth, and their four eldest children lived with James' widowed mother and younger brother Francis in 1856. James took care of the farm and in that year they reported on products from 54½ acres as follows: 8 acres of meadow with 14 tons of hay; 15 acres of spring wheat that netted 225 bushels; 6 acres of oats that netted 360 bushels; 25 acres of corn that netted 1500 bushels; and 1/2 acres of potatoes that netted 100 bushels. They also sold 24 hogs valued at $200; sold 4 cattle valued at $160; and manufactured 700 pounds of butter and 150 pounds of cheese.^{[Cen 1856]}

Around 1859 the family moved southwest into Kansas Territory and settled near Fort Riley, Riley County,^{[Cen 1860]} where daughter Ruth was likely born. They did not stay long in Kansas before continuing west to Napa County, California, about 1860. James was perhaps the first of his many siblings to move to California.

The next two children may have been born in or around Napa County before the family moved south to San Luis Obispo County in 1867 where son Charles was born. There they lived in Morro Township near Old Creek (Cayucos) to the north of Morro Bay by 1870, as did James' younger brother John.^{[Cen 1870]} James and Ruth were later named among the 23 charter members of Old Creek Grange, No. 26, which was organized on June 20, 1873.

Eldest son James G. ran for constable in San Luis Obispo County in the summer of 1869^[SLOTribune] while at the age of 21.

Next the Kesters moved northeast over the coastal mountains to Salinas Township (perhaps as far north as Paso Robles), San Luis Obispo County by 1880.^{[Cen 1880]} They reportedly lived in San Luis Obispo for a time as well.

James Layson Kester died on December 23, 1890, in Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County, California. He was 68 years old. He was reportedly buried at the San Luis Cemetery^[Grave] or Independent Order of Odd Fellow (I.O.O.F.) Cemetery.

Ruth Ann/Eddy (Morse) Kester died six years later on August 25, 1896, at the home of her daughter Emma (Kester) Fraser, near San Luis Obispo. She was 67 years old.^{[Obit 1896]} She is also reported to have been buried at the San Luis Cemetery.^[Grave]

Cynthia Ann (KESTER) THOMPSON (1823-1860)

125113E. Cynthia Ann Kester was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, on October 3, 1823. She married Lewis H. Thompson, Jr. in October 1848 and had four children, all believed to have been born in Johnson County, Iowa, likely in Cedar Township:^{[Cen 1860]}

125113E1.	Horace William Thompson	28 Dec 1849	--	--
125113E2.	John Thomas Thompson	May 1852	(<1860)	(<8)
125113E3.	Lewis Wayman Thompson	25 Jan 1855	--	--
125113E4.	Adelia Ann Thompson	1 Nov 1857	(<1860)	(<3)

Cynthia Ann (Kester) Thompson died on September 14, 1860, in Cedar Bluff, Cedar County, Iowa, at the age of 36. She is buried at the Gunsolus (Evergreen) Cemetery, Cass Township, in Cedar County.

Lewis went on to remarry Harriet A. between 1860 and 1862. He was in his late-30s and she in her late teens. They had four children in Cedar Township^{[Cen 1870]}.

--	James M. Thompson	(1862-1863)	--	--
--	George M. Thompson	(1863-1864)	--	--
--	Mary C. Thompson	(1865-1866)	--	--
--	Nellie M. Thompson	(1867-1868)	--	--

Harriet A. Thompson died on February 27, 1871, at the young age of 27. She is buried in Cass Township, Cedar County, Iowa.

Lewis married a third time to Sarah W. Knight around 1871. She had a son from her previous marriage and they had two more sons together in Cedar Township:^{[Cen 1880]}

--	George W. Knight	(1861-1862)	--	--
--	Robert Thompson	(1871)	--	--
--	Frank Thompson	(1877-1878)	--	--

Lewis H. Thompson, Jr. lived to the age of 59 and died on April 6, 1883. He is buried at the Gunsolus (Evergreen) Cemetery, Cass Township, in Cedar County.

Elizabeth Ann (KESTER) DENNIS (1826-1854)

125113F. Elizabeth Ann Kester was born on February 20, 1826, in Montgomery County, Indiana. She married her elder sister Mary's widower, Isaac King Dennis, on August 23, 1848. Isaac had one daughter with Elizabeth's sister Mary, and Elizabeth and Isaac had two children together:

125113C1.	Malinda Dennis•	10 Apr 1840	Mar 1880	(39)
125113F1.	Martha Margrete Dennis	27 Jun 1849	30 May 1892	(42)
125113F2.	Walter William Dennis	(1850-1851)	--	--

After their marriage, the Dennis family lived next door to Elizabeth's mother and her five younger siblings in Center Township, Cedar County, Iowa.^{[Cen 1850]}

Unfortunately, Elizabeth died only five and a half years into their marriage on March 27, 1854, in Johnson County, Iowa. She was only 28 years old.

After Elizabeth's death, Isaac married for a third time to Mary Ann Haynes/Haines on June 23, 1857, in Johnson County, Iowa, and had one son, who was born five months later in Missouri:

--

John M. Dennis

Nov 1857

--

--

The Dennis family lived in Cedar Township, Johnson County, next door his sister-in-law Cynthia (Kester) Thompson.^{[Cen 1860]} Later in the 1860s they continued north to Putnam Township, Linn County, near Cedar Rapids, where daughter Malinda and her husband Samuel Fackler had settled after they married in 1860. There Mary Ann's 71-year-old mother, Catharine Haynes, lived with them.^{[Cen 1870]}

The Dennis family continued their wanderings, this time back-tracking to Big Grove Township in Johnson County by 1880^{[Cen 1880]} and settled in the northwest quarter of Section 3^{[Cen 1885]} near Fackler's Grove. Mary Ann's mother continued to live with them through 1880.^{[Cen 1880]}

Isaac King Dennis died on June 18, 1886, at the age of 66. He is buried at Fackler's Grove Cemetery in Johnson County.

Mary Ann (Haynes) Dennis died five years later in Johnson County and is also buried at Fackler's Grove Cemetery.

John Bonham KESTER, Jr.^• (1829-1921)

125113H. John Bonham Kester, Jr.^• was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, on September 19, 1829. He married Sarah Jane Chord, nine years his junior, in Cedar County, Iowa, on April 10, 1854. They had eight children before her death in 1881. John remarried to the widow Mrs. Elizabeth (Brown) Hill, who had two children. John and Elizabeth had one daughter together:

125113H1.	John Chord Kester•	7 Jun 1855	20 Apr 1932	(76)
125113H2.	Willard Ward Kester	6 Feb 1857	20 Dec 1927	(70)
125113H3.	Margaret Ann Kester	1 Oct 1859	--	--
125113H4.	Upton Frank Kester	22 Sep 1861	29 Mar 1947	(85)
125113H5.	Edwin James Kester	14 Sep 1866	27 Feb 1914	(47)
125113H6.	Charles Decater Kester	14 Sep 1871	18 Dec 1948	(77)
125113H7.	George Kester	(4) Dec 1874	23 Dec 1875	(1)
125113H8.	Felix Kester	6 May 1877	27 Aug 1948	(71)
--	Minot Elmer Hill	1864	1937	(73)
125113H9.	Julia Belle Kester	18 Sep 1883	8 Jun 1961	(77)

John and Sarah's first two children were born in Johnson County, Iowa, where, in 1856, the Kester, Andrews, Ames, and Morse families all lived in close proximity in Newport Township.^{[Cen 1856]} About 1859 the family moved briefly to Collin County, Texas, where their third child, Margaret, was born. By the 1860 census they returned to Graham Township, Johnson County, Iowa,^{[Cen 1860]} but not long after moved west to California in 1863. By 1866 they had settled in Napa County, as did John's eldest brother James several years earlier. There Edwin James was born. The family then moved south to San Luis Obispo County and settled near John's eldest brother James in Cayucos, Morro Township, by 1870.^{[Cen 1870]}

The Kester family was enumerated in San Simeon Township (presumably referring to the Cayucos area), San Luis Obispo County, in 1880, with all but the two eldest sons and George, who died in infancy. Eldest son John had already started his own family in Salinas Township to the east.^{[Cen 1880]}

Sarah Jane (Chord) Kester died on January 13, 1881, in Cayucos and was buried at the Cayucos-Morro Bay District Cemetery. She was only 42 years old.

John remarried the widow Mrs. Elizabeth (Brown) Hill, who was an elder sister to Robert S. Brown, the husband of John's niece Clorinda (Kester) Brown, around 1882. John was about 53 years old and Elizabeth about 42. She had a total of three children^{[Cen 1930]}, but so far only Minot Elmer Hill, from her first marriage, and John and Elizabeth's daughter Julia have been identified.

John served as the San Luis Obispo County Supervisor from 1890 to 1898.

The Kester family was enumerated in 1900 by none other than John himself. He recorded his family of Elizabeth, their daughter Julia, and son Charles from his first marriage, in Morro Township. There John worked on his mortgaged farm and 28-year-old Charles worked as a farm laborer. Elizabeth was said to have three children surviving of three born during their 17-year marriage.^{[Cen 1900]} One, presumably from Elizabeth's first marriage, has yet to be identified.

John and Elizabeth lived along South Broad Street in San Luis Obispo in 1910. With them lived Elizabeth's unmarried, 45-year-old son Minot Elmer Hill, who worked as a newpaper printer.^{[Cen 1910]} Later that same year, as the San Luis Obispo Tribune celebrated its 42nd year, it recognized John, age 81, as its eldest and longest subscriber in 1910.^[SLOTribune]

Elizabeth (Brown Hill) Kester died on October 2, 1912, and was buried in the San Luis Cemetery. She was 72 years old.^[Grave]

John lived in the rear of the property of daughter Julia (Kester) Green and her family at 1126 Mill Street in San Luis Obispo in 1920.^{[Cen 1920]}

John Bonham Kester, Jr. died on July 17, 1921, in Cayucos at the age of 91. He is buried at the Cayucos-Morro Bay District Cemetery, where his first wife was buried.

William KESTER^Δ (1831-1894)

125113I. William Kester^Δ was born August 19, 1831, in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana. He married Harriet D. Andrews^Δ on March 5, 1854, in Johnson County, Iowa, and raised five children:

125113I1.	Dulcena Estell KesterΔ	4 Apr 1855	14 Jan 1935	(79)
125113I2.	Homer K. Kester	31 Dec 1857	Bef. 1945	(<88)
125113I3.	Emma Kester	Apr (1860)	--	--
125113I4.	Eunice Lillian Kester	2 Jul 1860	25 Nov 1946	(86)
125113I5.	Herbert Harlow Kester	15 Jun 1863	--	--

By the time of Harriet's mother's death in 1879, the Kesters had moved to Stockton, San Joaquin County, California. By the 1900 census they moved further north to the Pitt River district in Lassen County.

William Kester died on December 27, 1894, in California at the age of 63.

Harriet (Andrews) Kester died nine years later on October 6, 1913, in Pittville, (Shasta/Lassen County), California. She was 80 years old.

Naomi (KESTER) WORKMAN^Δ (1833-1885)

1251131J. Naomi Kester^Δ was born on September 7, 1833, in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana. She may have been named for her great-aunt Naomi (Kester) Boyer, who died when she was three years old. Naomi married Stephanas Workman on November 27, 1853, and raised six children:

125113J1.	Chloe M. Workman	25 Oct 1854	23 Jun 1874	(19)
125113J2.	Jane M. Workman	6 May 1857	15 Nov 1884	(27)
125113J3.	John Frank WorkmanΔ	11 Jul 1859	--	--
125113J4.	Isaac M. Workman	7 Apr 1864	23 Feb 1893	(28)
125113J5.	Electra R. Workman	14 Feb 1867	--	--
125113J6.	James E. Workman	27 Jun 1867	--	--

Naomi (Kester) Workman died on March 18, 1885, at the age of 51.

Stephanas Workman lived 16 years longer and died on April 17, 1901, at the age of 72.

Eliza Jane (KESTER BALDWIN) BRIGGS (1836-1888)

125113K. Eliza Jane Kester was born in Mercer County, Illinois, on February 17, 1836. She married David Vance Baldwin about 1854 and had four children before he died in 1871:

125113K1.	David Wilbert Baldwin	5 May 1855	--	--
125113K2.	Alfred Chester Baldwin	(1857-1858)	1868	(11)
125113K3.	Edgar Dighton Baldwin	2 Aug 1861	After 1904	(>43)
125113K4.	Elma Eliza Baldwin	12 Oct 1869	4 Aug 1929	(59)
--	Joseph Briggs	(1873-1874)	--	--

The Baldwins lived in Cass Township, Cedar County, Iowa, near Cedar Bluff, where David was a merchant. While in Cass Township, the Baldwins took in Eliza's niece, Martha Dennis, whose mother had died in 1854, by 1860.^{[Cen 1860]}

In 1863 they packed into a horse-drawn covered wagon and set out from Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, on the Oregon Trail and resettled in Scio, Linn County, Oregon, where David worked as a photographer.^{[Cen 1870]}

David Baldwin died on February 20, 1871, at the age of about 38.

Eliza remarried five years later to Albert L. Briggs, who had four children from an earlier marriage. Their marriage ended in divorce by 1880 and Eliza and her children, including Albert's son Joseph, lived with the elderly Edward and Ann Loat couple in Scio.^{[Cen 1880A]} In 1880, Albert lived nearby on Mill Street as a boarder with the M. Alexander family. He worked as a sign painter^{[Cen 1880B]} and went on to remarry to Lucinda Francis (Bilyeu) Mack, a widow with seven children, in 1881. They lived about 8 miles north of Scio in Stayton, Marion County, Oregon.^{[Cen 1900]} They had four more sons.

Eliza and children Edgar and Elma moved to California, probably in the mid-1880s.

Eliza Jane (Kester Baldwin) Briggs died on December 20, 1888, in Monterey County, California. She was 52 years old.

Albert L. Briggs died of cancer on October 30, 1913, at his home in West Stayton, Marion County, Oregon. He is buried at Lone Oak Cemetery in Stayton. He was 72 years old.

Francis Marion KESTER (1838-1920)

125113L. Francis Marion Kester was born in Cedar Bluff, Cedar County, Iowa, on July 1, 1838. He married Mary RATE on September 1, 1862, in Johnson County, Iowa, just days before enlisting in the Union Army during the Civil War. They are not known to have had any children. He later remarried to Mary Ruth Mathews, 25 years his junior, on September 9, 1882. They had nine children:

125113L1.	Mary Margaret Kester	27 Aug 1883	13 Sep 1883	(2 wks)
125113L2.	Annie Aquila Kester	19 Nov 1884	(< 1910)	(< 25)
125113L3.	Albert Francis Kester	25 May 1886	(< 1910)	(< 23)
125113L4.	Sarah Ann Kester	3 Feb 1888	(< 1910)	(< 22)
125113L5.	Chester Abot Kester	2 Apr 1890	--	--
125113L6.	Myron Sidney "Skip" Kester	18 Mar 1892	20 Oct 1960	(68)
125113L7.	Melissa Elizabeth Kester	20 Nov 1894	--	--
125113L8.	Walter Marion Kester	17 May 1902	--	--
125113L9.	Ruth Myrtle Kester	10 Dec 1907	26 Nov 1993	(85)

Civil War

Francis enlisted as a private with the 22nd Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Company A. The 22nd Iowa Infantry was organized in Iowa City, Iowa, and mustered in for three years on September 9, 1862. It served in General Ulysses S. Grant's campaign against Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton at Vicksburg, Mississippi, where it engaged at the Battles of Port Gibson (1 May), Champion Hill (16 May), Big Black River Bridge (17 May), and the Seige of Vicksburg. The regiment is known for being the only Union unit to breach the defenses of Vicksburg, during the May 22, 1863, assault.

The following year the regiment went north to Virginia and participated in General Philip H. Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah and Valley Campaigns against Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early. It engaged rebels at the Battle of Opequon Creek (19 Sep 1864), Battle of Fisher's Hill (21-22 Sep), and Battle of Cedar Creek (19 Oct).

The regiment mustered out on July 25, 1865. Francis mustered out at the rank of Second Corporal.

Family

Francis married Mary Rate on September 1, 1862^{[Mar 1862]}, just days before enlisting in the Union Army. Their marriage ended (reason unknown) by 1880 and Francis worked as a farm laborer for the A[s]el (Asahel) D. and Mary L. Wallace family in San Simeon Township, San Luis Obispo County.^{[Cen 1880]}

Francis remarried to Mary Ruth Mathews, who was 25 years his junior, on September 9, 1882, perhaps in San Simeon Township, San Luis Obispo County, where both were enumerated two years prior in the census.^{[Cen 1880]} He 44 years old and she only 19 years old. They had nine children, likely all born in San Luis Obispo County.

The Kesters settled in Morro Township, San Luis Obispo County, by 1900, when Francis' brother John served as the township census taker.^{[Cen 1900]}

Tragedy appears to have struck in the 1900's when by 1910 Ruth is noted to have only five children surviving at the time--the five youngest. At the time they were living in Paso Robles Township, in the Salinas River Valley of San Luis Obispo County.^{[Cen 1910]}

The Kesters were enumerated along Las Pilitas Road, Pilitas Precinct, Santa Margarita Township, further up the Salinas River Valley of San Luis Obispo County, in 1920.^{[Cen 1920]}

Francis Marion Kester died on March 8, 1920, at the county hospital in San Luis Obispo. He was 81 years old.

In the late 1920s, Mary lived with her son-in-law and daughter, Harry and Ruth McNeil, along Pozo Road in Santa Margarita Township.^{[Cen 1930]}

His widow Mary Ruth (Mathews) Kester died 15 years later in Atascadero, San Luis Obispo County, California, on December 31, 1935. She was 72.