Between May 1983 and January 1991,
John C. Philley, a college professor from Morehead, Kentucky, edited and
distributed a newsletter called The Filley/Philley Phamily Newsletter
. Done mostly before the age of computers on mimeograph stencils, he
dutifully mailed the newsletter each month. In it he published all the
family information he could get from his own and other family sources.
This effort on his part was undertaken with only a small
contribution from subscribers and is of immense value. It includes many
personal stories hardly ever obtainable in normal research. One that
needs to be told is the brief tale of Hannah Filley,
Remembrance and Hannah Hubbard Filly's third child and her rather
interesting husband, Peter Andress. The story came from a Philley in
Texas.
Hannah was born June 25, 1791. She is
described as short, plump, sandy haired, freckled, and blue-eyed. She
married, probably around 1810 in Herkimer County, New York, Peter
Andress who was born of a German or Swiss father and a Native American
mother. He was described as of medium build, with black hair that never
turned grey, and black eyes.
Peter and Hannah had nine children only six of whom
can be traced; Isaac, Roxanna, Maria, Nancy, Edward, and Jesse. In
addition, Peter had a brother who wandered in and out of the family's
lives. Known by no other name than Injun Doctor, he was not very welcome
in the homes of Peter and Hannah's relatives and children either
because they had no room or because they thought him too "Injun". This
was particularly true of sister-in-law Roxanna Barnum who was
quite taken with her own social position. Peter and Hannah spent
most of their time traveling from one relative or child to another.
Injun Doctor spent the winter of 1865 visiting Jeremiah
Philley, his nephew where he found a warmer welcome.
Isaac was their firstborn. He was named after his uncle
Isaac Barnum. Isaac married a woman named Rebecca and they had a
son Theodore. They lived briefly in Chenango County, New York and then
moved to Woodland Michigan where many of the family settled. There
Isaac died at age 39 and Rebecca and Theodore went to live
with brother - in - law Edward, who never married. Unfortunately,
Theodore also died at age 20. He was said to have been a talented singer
and songwriter.
Roxanna, their
first daughter, married Bethuel Webster and they had eight children by
1860. They also lived and farmed in Woodland,
Michigan.
Maria was born next. She
married Thomas Goland who was an immigrant from England and they lived
and farmed in Lorain County, Ohio where they raised a son and three
daughters.
Nancy, their third daughter,
was tall and slim with black hair and eyes and a fair complexion. She
was very pretty but had no education and no social standing.
Nevertheless, love is blind to those considerations, and Rufus Murray
Turner was attracted to her. The Turners were from a long line of Scotch
- English doctors, teachers, statesmen, and professional men. Rufus'
father was a doctor and married to Lydia Murray Turner. She was not
blind to the considerations of education and standing. Rufus was
their only son and showed promise as an artist or writer. Imagine the
reaction when, at age 18 he left college and married Nancy, a "Quarter
blood Indian girl" and a seamstress at that! There was friction between
Lydia and Nancy as can be imagined. Still, the couple managed to produce
six children the first of whom was named after Rufus' mother Lydia.
(nothing like a namesake grandchild to soften her up.) Rufus worked as a
joiner and died early. Nancy later married Joshua Peck and had three
more children by him.
Edward became a
farmer and settled in Woodland, Michigan. He was to care for
his brother's widow and son and his elderly parents until
their deaths which occurred at his home.
Jesse is the last son about whom we have information.
He was an adventurer who went on the "Gold Rush". The story is that
Jesse and some of his friends set fire to a neighbor's haystack. When
the sheriff arrived Jesse jumped on a horse and took off. He wound up in
California and did not return for several years. When he did he brought
gold with him. Presents were given such as a gold ring to his uncle John
Turner, and gold beads to Ella Barnum.
Jesse is said to have
married a girl named Kate and legend has it that both drowned in a ship
wreck on a river in California weighed down by the gold they were
carrying. This sounds more legend than fact, but who knows?
By far the most interesting member of the
family is the father of these children, Peter Andress. He was always
ready for a "put on" and it was hard to tell when he was serious.
He loved a sensation and was willing to make it. When he was making a
trade for a horse or anything else he would resort to "romantic flights
of imagination" to get his opponent's mind off the deal at hand and get
him flustered. If he was dickering with a blacksmith then Peter was a
blacksmith too. If his partner in conversation liked stories of
adventure, he would detail his wanderings in the forests.
Peter
loved to pick on his brother - in - law Isaac Barnum and his wife Roxie
who I referred to earlier as "snooty". Here's how it was described in
the newsletter:
"When the Baptist Church was established in
Woodland Township, about 1850, Roxanna and her husband Isaac were made
Deacon and Deaconess of the church. Now, it was in the Barnum blood to
do innumerable things for their own aggrandizement and the downfall of
the other fellow; quietly, skillfully, and with the most angelic face
and manner. Peter knew this and his intense searching eyes and almost
uncanny intuition saw much that Isaac would have preferred to keep
hidden."
"It was Peter's delight to attend the church services
(being Baptist, Lutheran, Unitarian, Methodist, or any other kind of
"ist" to suit the occasion) Sitting with his cane between his knees, his
hands clasped over the head of the cane, and his chin resting on his
hands, his eyes gleaming like holes of light in his head, he would watch
the minister intently, storing in his wonderful memory every thought and
phrase."
"After Sunday dinner he would walk over to Roxey's and
engage Isaac in a discussion of the sermon. Isaac, like a good Deacon
would stoutly uphold the minister. Again and again Peter would lead his
brother - in - law into deep water, and then remind him wherein his
daily life was inconsistent with his professed beliefs and his
preacher's teachings. Needless to say the Barnums were not comfortable
with him around and tried to even up by sticking their noses in the air,
shrugging their shoulders, and sniffing, "Them Andresses"."
Peter was both the torment and delight of his
grandchildren. He would come at them with sinister noises and gestures
and corner them only to then cuddle them and tell them wonderful
"bugaboo" yarns of fact and fancy until "their little feelings were
racing up and down like a glass ball in a fountain." I'll bet they
loved him dearly. However, everyone agreed, "he was a very strange
man."
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