Descendants of John Essery and Sarah Hester (Easter) Clark

Learn how you can connect to these descent lines.

Many genealogies give pedigrees – ancestry traced back in time from a given person. It is much more difficult to bring descendancy forward in time from a given person without neglecting many lines at the expense of those lines followed. In the book “Logan Esarey: His Ancestors and their Decendants” Myra Esarey Evans did just this latter task – detailed a very broad range of the descendants of the John Essery (1744-1828) and Hester Clark (1758-1818). That extraordinary genealogy is the primary source for the information presented here.

If you do not know your line from the top down you may be able to use SEARCH function here to help find the most recent of your ancestors listed here and then work back in time to follow their ancestors. Alternately, services such as Rootsweb may be consulted. OR, if you need more details, you can download the Esarey genealogical studies and try to find the “missing” links that connect you back to your ancestors in Southern Indiana.

The descendants of this couple now branch into thousands of lines. Here, the majority of these diverging lines are not posted beyond the first three generations. Descendants are welcome to supply links to other sources of information or charts that can be posted here or downloaded that will help flesh out the story of these various lines. Other on-line sources do present this information. For example Rootsweb provides descendancy information from John Essery in at least twelve family trees with thousands of entries each. Gary Essary’s tree lists 8650 entries and he expresses a willingness to supply his complete gedcom source files to family members desiring them. Riley Lamkin’s “Southern Indiana Connections” tree lists over 127,000 individuals, including nearly all of the 1968 Esarey family history.

The main emphasis on this web site is to illustrate how genealogy works – the rapid divergence of the upper levels of this family tree into several hundred lines starting from the particular set of 45 lines beginning on this page – first cousins – the grandchildren of John and Hester.

A note on the numbering system.

Level 1 and 2:

The 9 children and 45 known grandchildren of

John Essery (1744-1828) & Sarah Hester (Easter) Clark (1758-1818).

Married 17 June 1776 in Delaware County, PA, John and Hester produced 9 children (born 1878-1800), who produced at least 45 grandchildren (born 1802-1836). At least 245 great-grandchildren were documented by Myra Esarey Evans, but the number certainly exceeds that. As you can see below, a number of descendant lines have not been documented to the third generation.

1-1 Sarah Essery/Esrey (1778-1857) married Richard Willett (dates?). 8 children survived infancy

     1-1-1 Maxfield Willett (1802-1878), mar. Betsey Harrison (8 child.)

     1-1-2 James Esrey/Essary “Ezra” Willett (1804-1856), mar. Lydia A. Stout (11 child.)

     1-1-3 Richard Peyton Willett (1806-1852), mar. Elvira Boone (10 child.)

     1-1-4 Mary (Polly) Willett (1808-1879), mar. John Sprinkle (9 child.)

     1-1-5 Thomas Willett (~1810-1846), mar. Nancy Ewing, then Amanda Moseley (7 child.)

     1-1-6 Edward Willett (~18120?), mar. Mary Stout (1+ child.)

     1-1-7 William Willett (1814-after 1874), mar. Nancy Dennison (6 child.)

     1-1-8 Zebulon Pike Willett (1832-before 1874), mar. ? (2 child.)

1-2 James Essery/Esrey (1780?-1802) (See p. 89 of M. Esarey Evans vol. for what little is known of James. )

1-3 Jonathon Davis Essery/Esarey/Esrey (1783-1858) mar. 4 times:

ALL those using the Esarey spelling and MANY of those using the Esry spelling of the name descend from Jonathon Davis Esarey (join Jonathon’s Facebook page for updates on revisions to the website and information on the Esarey Bicentennial Reunion).

Go to a page detailing his children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren

Children of JDE and Sarah Wiley (?-1805), mar. 7 July 1802

     1-3-1 John (Jack) Wiley Esarey (1805-1849)

Children of JDE and Sarah Shaver (1778-1843), married 12 Jan. 1809 (12 child.)

     1-3-2 Benjamin Mason Esarey (1810-1876), mar. Eliz. Meisner (5 child.), later Eliz. Rhodes

     1-3-3 Matilda Esarey (1811-1838/1839), Wyatt Smith Pearson, Sr. (3 child.)

     1-3-4 Hiram Marcus Esarey (1813-1891), mar. Sophia Walker (9 child.), later Dorothea Saalman

     1-3-5 Reason Esarey (1815-1873), mar. Mary Lamon/Leman (6 children)

     1-3-6 Jesse Clark Esarey (1817-1869) mar. Susannah Hughes (12 children)

     1-3-7 Felix Esarey

     1-3-8 Isaiah Horton Esarey (1821-1871), mar. Clarissa Lasher (11 child.) Download 1871 Will.

Note: the Esry spelling of our surname begins with several of Isaiah and Clarrissa’s children.

     1-3-9 Jonathon Davis Esarey, Jr. (1823-1843) See Walker Cem. tombstone

     1-3-10 Nancy Ann Esarey (1824-1884), mar. Benjamin J. Carmickle (8 child.)

     1-3-11 Verona Esarey (1827-1887), mar. Isaac Misner (9 child.)

     1-3-12 Jacob Esarey (1829-1910), mar. Barbara Ann Elder (11 child.)

     1-3-13 Mary Esarey (1832-1864), mar. Simeon Shircliffe (6 child.)

JDE and Frances Hammack (1796-1851), mar. 7 Jan. 1844 (no children)

JDE and Catharine Gaddis, mar. 25 Aug. 1854 (no children)

1-4 Elizabeth Essery/Esrey (1785-1846), mar. Benjamin Shaver (1783-1846)

1-5 Abigail Essery/Esrey (1788-1841), mar. Isaiah Horton (1777-1830) then Roswell Minor (?-1840)

Abigail had 2 step-children by Isaiah’s first wife (Samuel Horton and Nancy Horton)

Abigail and Isaiah Horton then had 12 children

     1-5-1 Elizabeth Horton (1806-?)

     1-5-2 Sarah Janet Horton (1807-1889), mar. Amos Woodruff, (8 child.)

     1-5-3 James Esarey Horton (1809-1877), mar. Amanda Bates (9 child.)

     1-5-4 Harriet S. Horton (1812-?) mar. Robert Kercheval, then Jefferson Rowsey

     1-5-5 William C. Horton (1814-1884), mar. Marth Jane Baker (8 child.)

     1-5-6 John E. Horton (1817-?), mar. Elizabeth McCulla

     1-5-7 David L. Horton (1819-?

     1-5-8 Jesse E. Horton (1821-?)

     1-5-9 Martha Ann Horton (1824-?)

     1-5-10 Edward H. Horton (1826-?), mar. Martha Galloway (8 child.)

     1-5-11 Andrew Jackson Horton (1828-?)

     1-5-12 Minerva Horton (1830-?)

1-6 Hannah Essery/Esrey (1791-1845), mar. Peter Shaver

1-7 Nancy Essery/Esrey (1794-1852), mar. (1825) Arthur Forster (1801-1875)

     1-7-1 James Forster (1822-1901),

mar. Nancy Parrish (d. 1855 w/ 4 child.), then (1857) Nancy Ann Stump (6 child.)

     1-7-2 Leona Forster (1826-1861), mar. Christopher Link, (6 child.)

     1-7-3 Hannah Forster (1832-1906), mar. Benjamin Thomas Parrish (9 child.)

1-8 Hester Essery/Esrey (1797-?), mar. William Forster, then (1823) Adam Cox

1-9 Jesse Essery/Esrey (1800-1855), mar. Hannah Forster (1798-1879)

Go to a page providing links to history of these people

     1-9-1 Elvira Esrey (1823-1865), mar. James Henry Shackelford (4 child.)

     1-9-2 Amanda Esrey (1825-1906), mar. Daniel Rhodes (7 child. w/ 4 surviving childhood)

     1-9-3 James Esrey (1826-1861 Civil War), mar. Sarah Rouse (0 child.), then Phoebe Blair (2 child.)

     1-9-4 Justin Esrey (1827-1900)

     1-9-5 John Esrey (1828-1888)

marr. [1] Sarah Jane Stratton in 1849, Ray Co., MO

mar. Nancy J. Buckley in 1869, Tulare Co., CA

     1-9-6 Thomas Esrey (1829-1862 Civil War), mar. Sarah Ann Winsett (4 child.)

     1-9-7 Jonathon Esrey (1831-1904), mar. Sarah Ann Winsett (his brother’s widow – 4 more child.)

     1-9-8 Niles Esrey (1835-1910), mar. Missouri Ann Stratton (7 child.)

     1-9-9 Septer Patrick Esrey (1836-1900), mar. Mary Rosell, then Char. Jasper, then Frances Hill. (6 child.)

Learn how you can connect to these descent lines.