As in all good stories,

there must be a beginning! ...

 

The Popplewell name is from 'Old English', and has a few different meanings. One is, " dwelling by a bubbling spring". Another is,"dwelling in pebbly soil or, on a pebbly bank". The last I've heard is, "lives beneath the Poplar Trees". I have chosen the last version, and planted quit a few around here... just to keep truth in history!

'This section is for 'The Family Tree'

Click on one of the following names to get your Line. We are limited to using from Isaac's son's so far and hope to have more as time passes! This section is still under construction!

Children of Isaac Popplewell and Elizabeth Flint are:

i. JUDITH POPPLEWELL, b. 1785; d. 1816-1879.

ii. SOVERIGN POPPLEWELL, b. April 5, 1787; d. Abt. 1866.

iii. SIMCO S. POPPLEWELL, b. 1791-1792, Virginia; d. 1873, Russell Kentucky.

iv. SARAH POPPLEWELL, b. 1794.

v. NANCY POPPLEWELL, b. 1796.

vi. JOHN POPPLEWELL, b. February 4, 1801.

vii. JO POPPLEWELL, b. 1802.

viii. ISAAC POPPLEWELL ,JR., b. January 2, 1804, Adair Kentucky; d. April 10, 1889, Adair Kentucky.

ix. BARRETT POPPLEWELL, b. 1806.

 

 (If you have information on these names,

Please send them to us.)

 

 

Here are a few stories about the Family, as they were given to me...

Isaac,

Soverign and Simco (brother's) were both 'JUSTICE OF THE PEACE' who officiated

at many weddings in the 1850s in Russell County, KY. I also found

something kind of entertaining about Simco. Once he was appointed an

appraiser along with three other men on the estate of Thomas Wilson.

He turned in one bill to the court for $7 to cover the coffin he made

for Wilson, 4 days of appraising, and 2 days of supervising the

estate sale. He was also paid $4.75 for whiskey consumed during the

appraisal and the susequent sale.

 "Deb Zimmerman"

Cousin to Popplewell's

About the Popplewell Alligator Dock and Marina, it is on Wolf Creek

near the Wolf Creek Dam. The dam is what created Lake Cumberland.

It was built by the Corps on Engineers in the 1940s to alleviate

flooding along that creek and the Cumberland River. Hundreds of acres

of farmland were purchased for the project, including the original

parcels owned by my Simcoe Popplewell. (In his will he says his

mother and father (Isaac and Elizabeth) are buried on his land.) All

known graves were relocated. The graves of Squire Popplewell, his

wife, and several children were relocated from the Caney Fork

Cemetery to the Square Oak Church Cemetery during the 1940s. About

30 other graves were also moved, but had no markers at the time.

Those graves are marked today only with small rocks. Issac, Elizabeth,

and Simcoe could be among those. Who knows. There are several small

Popplewell family cemeteries on the backroads near the marina. The

gravestones in those date back to the 1880s.

"Deb Zimmerman"

'Cous'

On may 1, 1858, Daniel Cummings purchased of Gohlson Popplewell, a Negro

woman named Ann for $1000. At the time of the sale Popplewell warrented

that the slave was of sound mind and body. However, according to Daniel,

Ann was unsound in body at the very moment of sale, for expended immediatly

$100 to sure her. A sum he believed Popplewell ought to pay!"

"Family Records"

page 419

During the civil War, the Military headquarters of Central Missouri

appointed a board of loyal citizens, sworn into office at Lion Creek. The

board was authorized to levy upon active southern sympathizers when

requested to do so by the militia. The account lists about a dozen names of

which Soverign Popplewell was included for $250.

"Family Records"

pg 54-55

The name Richard Poplar (one spelling of Popplewell) is signed to an 1838

petition to the Miller County Court praying for organization of Glaize

Township...a petition granted May7, 1838. There is a Richard Popplewell

buried in the Warren Cemetery in the southern part of Galize Township. He is

believed to be the brother of Soverign and Isaac...

"Family Records"

  My husband's line

begins with Isaac Popplewell who was married to Elizabeth Flint. We do not

have his birthdate but know that he died in 1841. Elizabeth was born in

1770 in Virginia and her son Simco Popplewell was born in 1792 in Virginia.

He married Sinchi ?.

Their son Soverin Popplewell was born Jan 5, 1817 in Russeltown Ky. He

married Polly Jane Meredith who was born April 30, 1818 in Weekly Co. Tenn.

The were married Oct 15, 1840 in Camden Co., Mo. Soverign and Polly are

buried on their plantation in Miller Co., Mo. We were there last March

(1996). According to the records of Miller Co. the following children were

born in Miller Co.--Cynthia C. Popplewell, Margaret Popplewell, Jame E.

Popplewell, Soverign Green Popplewell, Mary, Martha Jane Popplewell, and

Miranda Isabell Popplewell (my husbands gr grandmother). I am still trying

to research the elder Isaac Popplewell and his son Simco. Beginning at

least with the elder Isaac Popplewell, the Popplewells all seemed to name

their son's Isaac, Soverign, and Simco. We have found all three of these

names in Kentucky and Missouri--obviously different individuals some almost

the exact same age.

Mary Evelyn (Corky) Swanson

1463 Beechwood Lane

Abilene TX 79603

e-mail:

mswanson@camalott.com

'Cous'

I do

have pictures of the graves of Polly and Soverign Popplewell and Margaret

Popplewell Reed (one of their daughters) and their granddaughter Lena. The

"Plantation" is partly in the middle of the Lake of the Ozarks now. the

cemetery and the remains of the house are in the Lake of the Ozarks State

Park Wilderness area now. We hiked in about a mile through much overgrown

greenbriar in March of 1996. I think when I get all of the tree

together--hope to have it by the end of the summer at the latest, I will

find that your Soverign is our Soverigns Uncle but I am not sure. One of

our problems in tracing this family was that we too had copies of the Mormon

records--our Popplewells were not Mormons but some of their decendants

were--and since the names involved were the same we had to do quite some

digging to uncover the right family. We know for sure that the Soverign

Popplewell born in 1817 and the Polly Meridith Popplewell born in 1818 were

my husbands ancestors. They were only 22 and 23 years old when they were

married in Bridal Cave in Camden Co., Mo. He was named after his uncle

Soverign (Simco's brother) Simco was born in 1792 and was younger than his

brother Soverign. I will keep you informed as I can uncover more--will also

send you copies of the headstones from Miller Co., Mo.

They are not super plain, but they headstones do

have the 1817 and 1818 birthdates on them. I found a number of Soverign

Popplewells and Simco Popplewells on the 1840 and 1850 census. Most from Ky

or Mo, but a few from other places as well. I have not been able to find

out when or where they came into this country for sure. Family history on

our end says that Isaac came from France--however, the only records I have

found for entry into the U.S. by Popplewells dates in the late 1600's when

three of them were sent over from England as indentured servants. I have

not found any other record to date of Popplewells entering the U.S. --none

of the three were names Isaac, Soverign, or Simco or even James which seems

to be another favorite name for the Popplewells. Oh yeah! Back to the

Plantation--It is about six miles east of Brumley. To even get to a place

to hike in through the woods, you have to go over a suspension bridge that

is over a 100 years old. You hike through the woods over the hill and

through a hollow and back up on the hill to reach the remains of the house.

It was at least 2 stories high with a basement. There are probably 15 or 20

graves in the cemetery which is about 100 feet nw of the house. It looks

down on a river valley that leads down to the edge of the lake. Their were

two wagon roads down to the property--one low to the "farm land" and one

high up to the house. It took us two trips and a roll of twine--you could

get lost in those woods real easy--to find the cemetery and house. We plan

to take my husband's mother back the first of August. All four of her

gr-grandparents are buried in Miller Co. and we located all of their graves

when we were there.

 

Mary Evelyn (Corky) Swanson

1463 Beechwood Lane

Abilene TX 79603

e-mail:

mswanson@camalott.com

'Cous'

'The Civil War'

Four sons of Isaac Popplewell Jr. and Susannah Chamberlain,

Isaac B., Richard, Mason, and Flint, fought for the union army during

the Civil War. So did Leo Popplewell, the son of Albert Popplewell

and Prudence Chamberlain. These five Popplewells served as members

of the Third Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, joining the U.S. Army of

the Cumberland in the fall of 1861.

Leo H. Popplewell, 23, enlisted on Nov. 5, 1861 at Camp Wolford,

according to army records. A private in Co. G., he was described as

5' 8" with blue eyes, light hair and complexion. During his

enlistment, he was briefly a prisoner of war. On Nov. 15, 1862, he

was captured by the enemy near Gallatin, TN. The next day he was

released.

Isaac B., age 21, was made a corporal upon mustering into Co. F

in January 1862. During the course of the war, he would fight in

Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia, earning a promotion to

sergeant in January 1864. Isaac was wounded in the left arm and

captured at the Battle of Stone's River in December 1862. During a

prisoner exchange later that year at City Point, VA, he was released.

In May 1863 he returned to his regiment.

Mason, was 23 when he entered the service. He also was captured

at the Battle of Stone's River on Dec. 31, 1862. Like Isaac, he was

released in a prisoner exchange and returned to the regiment on June

8, 1863. A few months later, Mason was wounded at the Battle of

Chicamauga. Suffering with wounds to his left leg, he was

hospitalized in Stinson, AL.

Richard, 30 years old when he enlisted in 1861, spent part of

1863 detached to a union supply train by order of Gen. Thomas. He

also fought in several major Civil War battles.

Leo, Isaac, Mason, and Richard all mustered out of the army on

Oct. 13, 1864 in Louisville.

Flint never saw any combat. Like hundreds of other soldiers that

winter, Flint Popplewell, 25, died Jan. 22,1862, in Columbia, KY, of

typhoid fever. He was unable to go with his regiment when it left on

Jan. 16 to help strengthen Union positions on the Cumberland River

during the Battle of Mill Springs.

According to the Kentucky Adjutant General's Report, this is the

history of Third Infantry:

On March 18, 1862, the Third Infantry, by then about 900 strong,

embarked on steamers for Nashville. From there the regiment marched

by way of Franklin, Columbia, Waynesboro, and Savannah, TN, to the

field of Shiloh where they helped reinforce Gen. Grant's troops and

bring about a union victory. Shiloh was one of the bloodiest battles

of the war, with an estimated 23,746 casualties, 13.047 for the U.S.

and 10,699 for the Confederacy.

Following the victory at Shiloh, the Third Infantry moved by

gradual approach to the vital rail center of Cornith, Miss., where

Union forces took control of the town and consolidated its position

in northern Mississippi.

During June of 1862, the Third was involved in skirmishes at

Iuka, Miss. and Tuscumbia, Al. Later that year, the regiment fought

in the Kentucky battles of Munfordville, Bardstown, and Perryville,

banishing rebel forces from the Bluegrass State.

The Third Infantry, as part of the larger Army of the Cumberland,

pursued Bragg into Tennessee fighting at Stewart's Creek on Dec. 29,

1862, and then at Stone's River on Dec. 31, 1862 and Jan. 1, 1863.

This was the battle where Isaac and Mason were captured. Stone's

River, near Murfreesboro, TN, was claimed as a Union victory after

the Confederates retreated. There were an estimated 23,215 casualties,

13,249 for the Union and 10,266 for the Rebels.

Chicamauga, GA was the next major battle for the Third Infantry.

Mason was among 34,624 soldiers who were wounded, killed, or taken

prisoner. A Confederate victory, Gen. Braxton Bragg forced the Union

Army back to Chattanooga.

But Union forces regrouped and pushed their way back into Georgia.

The Third Infantry was part of the Atlanta campaign. Our Popplewells

were part of the forces who fought in Georgia at Rocky Face Ridge,

Resaca, Pumpkin Vine Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, and

the battle of Atlanta. The Third Infantry was responsible for

destroying eight miles of the Atlanta and Montgomery railroad tracks

on Sept. 9, 1863. The regiment spent the rest of September in the

Atlanta area and then traveled north to Tennessee, and finally back

to its home state.

'Researched at The Tennessee Archives'

"Deb Zimmerman"

'Cous'

 

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