Patriarch & Matriarch |
Thomas W. Peek, b. 13 Jul 1780,,, VA  d. Mar 1860, Caldwell County, KY (Age 79 years) (Father)  Naomi "Nancy" Vardeman, b. 1771, Bedford, County, VA d. 1822, Caldwell, County, KY (Age 51 years) (Grandmother) |
| Notes |
- ! Nancy Elizabeth Peek married Daniel Jarrett 8-28-1843. Their children
were:
Benjamin (1850-1922), married Sara Birch Peek abt 1879.
Margaret Jarrett, abt 1844
Daniel Jarrett, abt 1846
Henry C. Jarrett, abt 1848
!The following story involves Elizabeth's father-in-law, Daniel Jarrett.
ID: I5849
*Name: Daniel Jarrett
*Sex: M
*Birth: 10 APR 1770
*Death: 12 DEC 1841
*Burial: Jarrett Family Plot, Lyon County Kentucky
Marriage 1 Margaret
Children
1. Daniel B. Jarrett b: ABT. 1818 in Caldwell County, Kentucky
2. Sally Jarrett b: ABT. 1815 in Livingston County, Kentucky
! Profiles of the Past
By Odell Walker
A LYON COUNTY
FOLKLORE STORY
! This week I will take a break from the purely historical and statistical
history and write about something a little more lighthearted and humorous.
A folklore story or tale is generally made up of part fact and part guessing
or assuming what happened. This story deals with a legendary counterfeit
operation in Lyon County. A folklore story is one generally spoken, rather
than written, and each person telling the story relates a different version.
! The facts of the Lyon County folklore story are as follows: Daniel Jarrett,
believed to be from North Carolina, came on the scene in Caldwell County,
now Lyon County, shortly after 1800. He no doubt was a man of
considerable wealth because the early deed books show where he bought,
sold or exchanged many acres of property. He owned a house and lot in
Princeton. He purchased a 500 acre tract of land on the Cumberland River
between Iuka and Dycusburg. He obtained a license from Caldwell County
Court to operate a ferry on the Cumberland River. In 1810 he purchased a
500 acre tract of land at the intersection of the Varmint Trace Road and
Spring Creek. About 500 yards north of the road, and near the creek was a
huge spring measuring about thirty feet in diameter across the top, and
because of its great depth, has always been called the "no bottom spring."
A one hundred foot roll of rope with a rock tied on for a weight did not
touch bottom.
! Here at the no bottom spring, along Spring Creek, Daniel Jarrett and his
wife, Margaret, built a fine, up-to-date, modern two-story log house, much
superior to a log house built by ordinary settlers. I was unable to find where
the court issued a license to Daniel Jarrett to operate an Inn and Tavern;
however, I do believe that he operated such a business because of his
operation of a ferry on the river, and the location of his house on the much
traveled Varmint Trace Road. Word of mouth information from many of the
older people reveal that the Jarretts hosted frequent and lavish parties.
They had fiddling and dancing along with lavish food and drink.
! The foregoing information for the most part is factual and true, but now
as we come to the illegal operations, facts are not prevalent, and one must
fill in the blanks with what is believed to have happened.
! Legend reveals that the Jarretts were involved in counterfeit money
operation in an upstairs room of their log house. Because of their lifestyle,
suspicion began to rise as to where thc money was coming from. This
suspicion finally came to thc attention of the law.
! One night while a party was going on , two officers appeared at the
Jarrett home. I do not know if they were deputy sheriffs or someone else,
but I am inclined to believe they were federal marshals. Daniel Jarrett no
doubt had some insight into who the persons were and what their purpose
was at his house. He extended the most cordial hospitality to the strangers
and invited them in to join the party. They accepted his invitation and began
to participate in the dancing, eating and drinking, and other festivities.
! While the officers were enjoying the party, Daniel Jarrett sent two slaves
upstairs and they lowered a trunk of counterfeit money, and all the
counterfeit equipment and apparatus by a rope, out the window, to the
ground. They then came downstairs and carried the trunk of money and all
the other evidence of the counterfeiting operation and cast them into the
no bottom spring.
! After the party was over and the officers presented their search
warrants to Daniel Jarrett the evidence was already sinking into the no
bottom spring.
! After the party was over and the officers presented their search
warrants to Daniel Jarrett the evidence was already sinking into the no
bottom spring. No evidence was found and no charges were brought
against Daniel Jarrett. A great grandson of Daniel Jarrett, Ben Jarrett,
always carried an old key in his pocket, show it and say, "If anybody ever
fishes that trunk of mkoney from the spring, I have the key to open it".
! Daniel Jarrett died in 1841 and is buried in the family graveyard on a hill
behind the house and big spring. The graveyard has been destroyed by a
bulldozer. About two years ago, this writer took a steel rod for a prod, and
found the tombstone of Daniel Jarrett under about four inches of dirt, and
broken into two pieces. I dug it out and put it together and it revealed the
following information: "Sacred To the Memory of Daniel Jarrett, April 10,
1770 - December 12, 1841."
! In a short will, his entire estate was bequeathed to his wife, Margaret,
with no indication of the value of his estate.
|
1823 -
Has 22 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
1780 - 1860 (79 years)