On the Trail of John P. Meharg: More Preponderance of the Evidence in the Meharg Problem

Note: As always, the endnotes are important.

First of all, my great thanks to Dennis Ison for contacting me and giving me two pieces of invaluable information that proved immensely helpful in my pursuit of John P. Meharg.

As discussed previously in my book The Downings of Choccolocco Vol. 1 and later posted on this website as “The Meharg Problem,” I concluded, via preponderance of the evidence, that John P. Meharg was the son of John Meharg and Mary Y. Moody [Mary later married Benjamin Griffin in Benton/Calhoun County, Alabama].[1]

At that time, I had managed to track down only four records for John P. Meharg:

1) A marriage record for John Meharg and Margaret L. Reed[2] on 4 November 1849 in Benton [Calhoun] County, Alabama [FamilySearch.org].

2) The 1850 US Census for St. Clair County, Alabama, lists “John P McHurg” 21,[3] born Alabama, with his wife, Margaret L, 20, born Georgia. They had married within the last year. [FamilySearch.org]

3) Land records for St. Clair County, Alabama, show John P. Meharg purchased a parcel of land on 2 October 1854.[4] [General Land Office Records, www.glorecords.bml.gov]

4) Land records for St. Clair County, Alabama, show John P. Meharg purchased a parcel of land adjoining his previous purchase on 1 March 1858. [General Land Office Records, www.glorecords.bml.gov]

This 1858 record was the last piece of evidence I could find for John P. Meharg. I also could not find any further evidence for his wife, Margaret Louisa Reed Meharg. My erroneous conclusion was they died prior to 1860. Their children were dispersed among both their Reed and Griffin relatives.[5]

Now, thanks to Dennis Ison, I was able to trace John P. Meharg further.

The 1860 US Census for Franklin Parish, Louisiana lists “Jno Maherg”[6] age 30 [giving him a birth year of c1830], born Alabama, employed as an overseer in the household of William S McIntosh. This appears to be “our” John P. Meharg. [FamilySearch.org]

Civil War records list a John P. Meharg as a Private in the 4th Battalion Louisiana Infantry, Co. C. He enlisted in 1861 in Winnsboro, Franklin Parish, Louisiana. [I do not have access to this information; it was provided by Dennis Ison and I confirmed it via a summary at Ancestry.com.]

John P. Meharg, however, went AWOL as of 1 August 1864 [Ancestry.com summary of Civil War record], and ended up back in Calhoun County, Alabama. On 27 September 1864, John P. Meharg married “Virginia Sheffield” in Calhoun County, Alabama [FamilySearch.org].[7] From there, the trail went cold.[8]

I started down a new trail—Virginia Sheffield—and uncovered the following.

Virginia Bennett married Thomas Shuffield in Benton [Calhoun] County, Alabama on 6 January 1853 [FamilySearch.org]. The 1860 US Census for Calhoun County, Alabama, shows this couple living in “Cove Creek” [near Peaks Hill, which, I believe, was north of Pelham Range]. Virginia is listed as 25 [c1835], born in Georgia. The couple has no children. They are surrounded by Bennett and Shuffield households.[9]

Thomas and Martha Bennett live two doors down. This proved to be Virginia Bennett’s parents, Thomas Bennett born c1810 and Martha Rollins born c1815. Prior to the family’s arrival in Alabama, they lived in Georgia. In 1850, they lived in Russell County, Alabama.[10] Among the children is their daughter Rachel Jane Bennett, born 1842.[11]

As Virginia Bennett Shuffield married again in 1864, the natural conclusion is her husband, Thomas, died in the Civil War. I could not confirm his service, but Thomas A. Shuffield is included among the dead on the Calhoun County Confederate Memorial.

Unable to find anything further, I decided to search the internet to see if anyone had researched the Bennett family. Sure enough, I learned the Bennett family moved to Craighead County, Arkansas at the end of the Civil War.[12] These family trees include Virginia, listed with the nickname “Jennie.” Unfortunately, they list her as married to a “Mr. Jones.” This did not bode well.

I searched for Thomas and Martha Bennett in Arkansas in 1870, and found them in Jonesboro, Craighead County, Arkansas.

And to my immense joy, when I looked at the original census record, there, next door to them, was “John C MeHerg” born Alabama, and his wife Virginia. Included in the household was Thomas “Sheffield”, age 7, born in Alabama, and Pinckney Meharg, age 18, born in Alabama.

I have no doubt this is our John P Meharg. What’s more, I believe Pinckney Meharg is one and the same as the 8-year-old boy, John Meharg, listed in the household of Samuel Reed [Margaret Louisa Reed Meharg’s brother] in the 1860 Census for St. Clair County, Alabama. If correct, then his full name would have been John Pinckney Meharg, and perhaps he was even a Junior.[13]

Unfortunately, John P. Meharg, his son Pinckney, and stepson Thomas Shuffield all disappear from the records after the 1870 census.

Worse, no marriage records for Craighead County, Arkansas exist prior to 1878. So if Virginia married a Mr. Jones, there’s no official record of it.

But, working on the idea that she did, I found a Virginia Jones, widow, age 45 [giving her a birth year of 1835], working as a cook, in Jonesboro, Craighead County, Arkansas, in the 1880 census.[14] This would mean John P. Meharg died prior to 1878, that his widow Virginia remarried prior to 1878, and that her second husband, Mr. Jones, died prior to 1880.

Continuing with the possibility that this is, indeed, the right person, I found “Jennie” Jones in the 1900 US Census for Brookland Township, Craighead County, Arkansas. She was living alone, a widow, born in August 1834 in Georgia. She had 0 out of 3 children still living. Simply put, all the vital information for this woman matches the known facts about Virginia Bennett Shuffield Meharg.

Finally, there is a page for “Jennie Jones” at Findagrave, for the Mount Pisgah Cemetery, Jonesboro, Craighead County, Arkansas. However, it does not include a photo of the gravestone, which leads me to believe there isn’t a gravestone. This listing gives the dates of 20 August 1834 – 8 October 1905. Two of Virginia’s brothers are buried in this cemetery as well: James Knox Polk Bennett (1845-1914) and Jeremiah M. Bennett (1858-1904), both with headstones.

Is Jennie Jones one and the same as Virginia Bennett Shuffield Meharg? I suspect she is, but at this time, there isn’t enough evidence to prove it. However, the unsourced information at Findagrave and on the various Bennett family trees suggest family documents somewhere—a Bible, an obituary, an account by Grandma.

One final bit:

Virginia’s sister, Rachel Jane Bennett (1842-1895), married Henry M. Griffin (1842-1888), who appears to be one and the same as John P. Meharg’s half-brother. Henry disappeared from Calhoun County records after the Civil War, and now it appears he married and went with the Bennetts to Arkansas, where he and Rachel are listed in 1870 in the US Census for Craighead County. Again, there is no record of his marriage, but according to family trees, he and Rachel Jane Bennett married 3 February 1867.[15] The 1870 census includes a two-year-old child in their household, which would be consistent with this wedding date.

In the end, none of this proves John P. Meharg was the son of John Meharg and Mary E. Moody. It’s simply more preponderance of the evidence. But his approximate birth year of 1829/1830 is consistent with two of the unknown male children in John Meharg’s household in St. Clair County in 1830. It is also consistent with three of the unknown male children living in Benjamin Griffin’s household in Benton [Calhoun] County in 1840. And consistently, John P. Meharg’s known associations link him back to the Griffin household, but never the household of James Meharg.[16]

John P. Meharg is a Meharg living among Mehargs. He doesn’t fit in the 1830 or 1840 households of James Meharg. No males under the age of five appear in the household of Archibald Meharg in 1830. William Meharg’s son, John A. Meharg (1850-1917),[17] is well accounted for. Likewise, Lewis S. Meharg’s son, John Henderson Meharg (1838-1828),[18] is well accounted for.

All of which leads back to the conclusion John P. Meharg must be the son of John Meharg and Mary E. Moody.

Note: I’m sticking with my conclusion from “The Meharg Problem” that John P. Meharg and Margaret Louisa Reed had at least three children: 1) Mary Meharg born c1851 2) John Pinckney Meharg born c1852, and 3) George Arthur Meharg (c1858-1931).[19]

UPDATE: A photo has been added to Jennie Jones's Findagrave page, confirming the dates listed above for her. Furthermore, Dennis Ison visited the grave site and reports that it is near the Bennett brothers. He also found two additional stones near Jennie's. Unfortunately, the names were worn away, but he has hypothesized that these might be stones for John P. Meharg or the elusive "Mr. Jones." Or they could be Jennie's children. Regardless, all evidence continues to point to this being "our" Virginia Bennett Shuffield Meharg.

[1] Please see The Meharg Problem to see how I reached this conclusion.

[2] Since the original publication of this theory, I have found the proof for Margaret Louisa Reed’s full name, as well as her familial relationships. St. Clair County, Alabama, court records concerning the death of her father, James C Reed, list his wife as “Eunicy G Reed” [Eunice Green Brandon], his minor children as Parthena C Reed, Margaret Louisa Reed, Sarah Ann Reed, George Thomas Reed, and John Pinckney Reed, as well as his adult children Samuel Reed, William B Reed, and Mary Ann Varnon. [St Clair County, Alabama, Orphan Court Minutes 1843-1848, page 176, 13 October 1845—Giles L Driver was the administrator of the estate]. Samuel Reed’s daughter, Mary A Reed, later married William P Downing, who was the widower of Nancy Caroline Meharg, whom I contend was John P Meharg’s sister. See note below regarding Mary Ann Varnon.

[3] This would give him an approximate birth year of 1829.

[4] This purchase was a Bounty Land Warrant in the name of Lewis Varnon, who was married to Mary Ann Reed, the sister-in-law of John P. Meharg. Lewis Varnon’s probable nephew, Marion Francis Varnon, married Sarah A Griffin, the daughter of Mary Y Moody Meharg Griffin and therefore John P Meharg’s half sister.

[5] I concluded the couple had at least three children: Mary Meharg born c1851, John Meharg born c1852, and George Arthur Meharg (c1852-1931).

[6] Jno is an abbreviation for John.

[7] How I missed this originally, I don’t know. Without Dennis Ison telling me about it, I’d still be oblivious.

[8] Given all the available information eventually uncovered, the “John Meharge” listed in the 1866 Alabama Census for Calhoun County, in my opinion, is John Henderson Meharg, son of Lewis S. Meharg. In 1865, John H. Meharg married Nancy Moore. Their first child, Ella/Lenora, was born in 1866. This matches the household of “John Meharge” listed in the 1866 census, with one male over 20, one female under 10, and one female over 20. If this were the household of John P Meharg, it would certainly include Virginia Bennett Shuffield’s small son, Thomas, who was two or three in 1866. [See more below.]

[9] Virginia and Thomas Shuffield live in household number 179. The home of Benjamin Griffin and Mary Y Moody Meharg Griffin [John P Meharg’s mother] is household number 327.

[10] This census record is very difficult to read.

[11] Which becomes pertinent later.

[12] They don’t even stick around Alabama for the 1866 Alabama Census.

[13] Although, he could just as easily have been named for Margaret Louisa Reed Meharg’s brother, John Pinckney Reed.

[14] It lists her birthplace as Alabama, but such errors are common in the census. The important aspect of this is it links her back to Alabama and is in keeping with “our” Virginia Bennett Shuffield Meharg.

[15] Suggesting the existence of a family Bible or such.

[16] John P Meharg also does not fit the only male child in the 1830 household of James Meharg in St. Clair County. That child was born prior to 1825. The other male in that household is an adolescent believed to be Lewis S Meharg.

[17] Findagrave, Arkansas death index, FamilySearch.org

[18] Texas Death Certificate, FamilySearch.org

[19] Mary Meharg disappears from the record after 1860, when she is last scene in the household of Benjamin Griffin and Mary Y Moody. It is possible she married. John Pinckney Meharg disappears after the 1870 census in Arkansas. George Arthur Meharg was raised by Sarah A Griffin Varnon, whom I contend was his “half” aunt. I also suspect Margaret Louisa Reed Meharg died giving birth to him.