On 22 November 1842 in Christian County, Nancy married William Bryan Sutton, son of William Sutton.^[2] Nancy’s brother James Bryson gave bond for the marriage with William B. Sutton on 21 November 1842. On the same day, James Bryson submitted a signed statement that he was the “parent” of Nancy and son of Nancy Bryson Sr., who was unable to subscribe, so that he was signing in their mother’s place. (Abner Bryson, Nancy and James’s father, had died in 1839). William B. Sutton signed at the same time vouching that he was 21. A note signed by James Bryson the same day and preserved in the marriage file states that Nancy’s mother Nancy Whitlock Bryson agreed to the marriage. This note has both James Bryson’s and William B. Sutton’s signatures. 

A return by Methodist minister Henry Hopson states that he joined the couple in marriage on 22 November 1842. In his 1878 account of his life and travels as a Methodist minister, William Bibb Landrum notes that in the middle of August 1829, he had preached at Henry Hopson’s house near Hopkinsville, Kentucky.^[3]

After appearing on the 1850 federal census in Christian County, Kentucky, while they were living with Nancy’s mother Nancy and brother James, the Suttons moved by 1860 to Newton County, Missouri, where they’re enumerated on the federal census at Neosho.^[4] The family evidently moved to Missouri in 1851-2. Nancy and William’s daughter Viannah was born 3 February 1850 in Christian County, and their next child Sarah Elizabeth was born 22 September 1852 in Johnson County, Missouri, where they must have settled temporarily before going to Newton County. Information about Sarah Elizabeth’s place of birth appears in her obituary in the Carlsbad, New Mexico newspaper Cavern City Chronicle on 6 February 1930.^[5] Johnson County is in west central Missouri east of Kansas City. 

The 1860 federal census shows that Nancy’s nephew Abner Bryson Mackey, son of Nancy’s sister Elizabeth and Reid Mackey, had gone to Missouri with his aunt Nancy and uncle William B. Sutton, and was living in their household. As the posting I’ve just linked states, in 1862 Abner was in Nebraska where he married Ann Bird. He and Ann then returned to Missouri and in 1870 appear on the federal census in Cedar County, Missouri, which borders Polk County, the county to which Nancy and William had moved by 1870. The 1870 census listing for Abner shows him and Ann with a son Charles, aged 4, who was born in Nebraska. 

Newton County, to which William and Nancy Bryson Sutton had moved by 1860, is in southwest Missouri bordering both Kansas and Oklahoma. By 1870, the family had settled in Polk County, which is also in southwest Missouri north and east of Newton. Cedar County, where their nephew Abner Bryson Mackey was living in 1870 before moving to Montana in 1872, borders Polk on the west.

In the time frame in which Sarah Whitlock Bryson and husband James Franklin Thompson and Nancy Bryson and husband William Bryan Sutton moved from Christian County, Kentucky, to Missouri, there was extensive migration out of Kentucky to Missouri. As Patti Lee Hobbs notes, the 1860 federal census shows that in that census year, the highest numbers of non-Missouri-born residents were born in Kentucky, followed by Tennessee and Virginia.^[6]

Family records offer conflicting pieces of information about the Sutton family’s whereabouts at particular times. If information on the death certificate of their son Reuben Riley Sutton, with his daughter Sadie Mae Sutton Kreller reporting, is to be believed, William and Nancy either moved their family back to Kentucky by 5 December 1855, or Nancy returned there for Reuben’s birth on that date.^[7] But federal censuses in 1860, 1870, and 1900 report that Reuben was born in Missouri, while the 1880, 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses have him born in Kentucky. I find it difficult to think that the Suttons moved back to Kentucky after their daughter Sarah Elizabeth was born in Missouri on 22 September 1852, and then returned by 25 October 1859 when their daughter Mary Catherine was born in Newton County, Missouri.

The obituary of Mary Catherine in the Walnut Grove (Missouri) Tribune on 1 September 1915 says that she was born in Newton County on 21 October 1859, and that her family moved to Polk County when she was eleven years old — i.e., in 1870.^[8] However, the obituary of Mary Catherine’s brother William Abner Sutton in Montana’s Billings Gazette on 20 May 1937 states that he was born in Fair Play (Fairplay in the obituary), Missouri, on 3 August 1865, and this information is also on his death certificate with William Abner’s daughter Ivy Sutton Rogers reporting.^[9] Fair Play is in Polk County. These records seem to place the Sutton family in Polk County by August 1865, indicating that they moved there from Newton County between 1860-5.

As I stated above, the 1870 federal census enumerates the Sutton family in Polk County, where they’re listed in Madison township with Bolivar as their post office.^[10] Fair Play was in now defunct Madison township, on its western border, some nine miles west of Bolivar, which is the county seat. In 1880, the Sutton family continues to appear on the federal census in Madison township in Polk County.^[11] William and Nancy then died at Fair Play on the dates stated above, and are buried across the county line at Bearcreek in Cedar County some five miles west of Fair Play. On 18 July 1884, William and Nancy’s daughter Sarah Elizabeth Sutton was granted administration of her father’s estate in Polk County, and on 6 August, she gave bond for the administration.^[12]

The children of William Bryan Sutton and Nancy H. Bryson are as follows:

1. Huldah Sutton was born 11 March 1844 in Christian County, Kentucky, and died 20 January 1908 at Stanford in Judith Basin County, Montana. On 21 December 1862, Huldah married Henry Montgomery, son of James H. Montgomery and Huldah Roode. Henry was born 14 December 1835 in Butler County, Ohio, and died 23 February 1922 at Stanford, Montana. Huldah and Henry are buried in Philbrook cemetery at Hobson, Judith Basin County, Montana, with tombstones stating their dates of birth and death.^[13]

I have not found Henry and Huldah’s marriage record. I have the marriage date from Rodger Sutton, who generously shared his extensive research on the Bryson-Sutton family with me in October 2002. I suspect that Henry and Huldah married in Newton County, whose courthouse burned in 1862, destroying many county records.

On the 1860 census in her parents’ household in Newton County, Huldah’s name is given as Hannah. This is the only instance I’ve found of a record calling her anything but Huldah. This may be an indication, however, that she was named Huldah Hannah or Hannah Huldah Sutton.

2. Susan Ann Sutton was born 27 October 1847 in Christian County, Kentucky, and died 5 September 1854 in Newton County, Missouri. These dates are from the research of Rodger Sutton cited above.

3. Viannah J. Sutton was born 3 February 1850 in Christian County, Kentucky, and died 23 February 1854 in Newton County, Missouri. This information is also from Rodger Sutton. Note that Susan and Viannah died within months of each other in 1854. 

4. Sarah Elizabeth Sutton was born 22 September 1852 in Johnson County, Missouri, and died 21 January 1930 at Malaga in Eddy County, New Mexico.^[14] On 13 November 1888 at Fair Play in Polk County, Missouri, she married Lindley Nathan Hoag, son of Joseph Jonathan Hoag and Rachel Darlington.^[15]Lindley Nathan Hoag was born 18 October 1852 in Henry County, Iowa, and died 18 March 1936 at Fluvanna in Scurry County, Texas.^[16] Sarah Elizabeth and Lindley are buried together in Carlsbad cemetery at Carlsbad in Eddy County, New Mexico, with a shared tombstone giving their dates of birth and death.^[17]

5. Reuben Riley Sutton was born 5 November 1855 in Newton County, Missouri, though, as noted above, some censuses place his Kentucky and his daughter Sadie reported Kentucky as his birthplace on Reuben’s death certificate.^[18] As I say above, I strongly doubt that Reuben was born in Kentucky and think he was born in Missouri, instead. 

Reuben died 18 October 1937 at Beaverton in Washington County, Oregon. On 6 December 1883 in Polk County, Missouri, he married Mary Viola Jarnigan, daughter of Allison Woodville Barrington Jarnigan and Amanda Hopkins.^[19] Mary Viola was born 5 December 1862 at Fair Play in Polk County, and died 29 April 1927 at Caldwell in Canyon County, Idaho.^[20] Reuben and Mary Viola are buried in Eastside cemetery at Midvale in Washington County, Idaho, with a shared tombstone giving their years of birth and death.^[21]

6. Mary Catherine Sutton was born 21 October 1859 in Newton County, Missouri, and died 26 August 1916 at Springfield in Greene County, Missouri.^[22] On 15 August 1880 at Fair Play in Polk County, Missouri, she married Benjamin Lincoln Holmes, son of Henry Hardin Holmes and Elizabeth Polston (Bateman).^[23] Benjamin was born 5 June 1861 in Dade County, Missouri, and died 13 August 1937 at Springfield. Benjamin and Mary Catherine are buried at Lindley Prairie cemetery, Bearcreek, Cedar County, Missouri.^[24]

7. Nancy Whitlock Sutton was born 27 October 1861 at St. Joseph in Buchanan County, Missouri, and died 4 March 1944 at Fair Play in Polk County, Missouri.^[25] On 17 November 1881 at Fair Play, she married James Oliver Hopkins, son of Hiram Hopkins and Jane Williams.^[26] James was born 10 March 1851 at Fair Play, and died 15 January 1933 at Fair Play. Nancy and James are buried in Lindley Prairie cemetery at Bearcreek in Cedar County, Missouri, with a shared tombstone stating their dates of birth and death.^[27]

8. William Abner Sutton was born 3 August 1865 at Fair Play in Polk County, Missouri, and died 19 May 1937 at Rockvale in Carbon County, Montana.^[28] On 20 December 1891 at Philbrook in Fergus County, Montana, he married Eva Adelia Winter, daughter of John W. Winter and Matilda Allen.^[29] Eva was born 25 January 1873 at Boulder, Jefferson County, Montana, and died 28 December 1927 at Rockvale, Montana. William Abner and Eva are buried in Rockvale cemetery at Rockvale in Carbon County, Montana.^[30]

---

^[1] See Find a Grave memorial page of Nancy H. Bryson Sutton, Lindley Prairie cemetery, Bearcreek, Cedar County, Missouri, created by Sue Sutton with a tombstone photo by Shirley Cooper Moss. The tombstone is a modern one that seems to have been erected some years after William and Nancy died.

^[2] Christian County, Kentucky, Certificates of Marriage, Marriage Bk. 2, p. 46; and Christian County, Kentucky, Loose-Papers Marriage Files 1842.

^[3] William B. Landrum, The Life and Travels of William B. Landrum (Nashville: Methodist Publishing House, 1878), p. 48.

^[4] 1850 federal census, Christian County, Kentucky, p. 458A (dwelling 401/family 445; 4 September); 1860 federal census, Newton County, Missouri, Neosho township and post office, p. 856 (dwelling 324/family 322). In 1850, both James and Nancy Bryson and the Sutton family are in dwelling 401, with James and Nancy marked as family 444. These families are next to Elijah and Irena Cox, whose son John M. Cox married Nancy Frances Mackey, daughter of Elizabeth N. Bryson and Reid Mackey. The Coxes are next to two Lander families.

^[5] “Mrs. L.N. Hoag Had Lived Long in Vale,” Cavern City Chronicle (Carlsbad, New Mexico) (6 February 1930), p. 6, col. 1-2.

^[6] See Patti Lee Hobbs, Migration to Missouri, at the website of St. Louis Genealogical Society.

^[7] Oregon Death Certificates, Washington County, 1939, #246; available digitally at Ancestry in database Oregon, U.S., State Deaths, 1864-1971.

^[8] “Mrs. Mary Catharine [sic] Holmes,” Walnut Grove [Missouri] Tribune (1 September 1915), p. 1, col. 5.

^[9] “Death Claims Rockvale Man,” Billings [Montana] Gazette (20 May 1937, p. 14, col. 4; and Montana Death Certificates, Carbon County, 1937, #1108, available digitally in Ancestry database Montana, U.S., State Deaths, 1907-2018.

^[10] 1870 federal census, Polk County, Missouri, Madison township, Bolivar post office, p. 105B (dwelling 107/family 107; 17 August).

^[11] 1880 federal census, Polk County, Missouri, Madison township, p. 710 (ED 112; dwelling/family 216; 22 June).

^[12] Polk County, Missouri, Letters Testamentary Bk. A, p. 48; and Administration Bond Bk. B, p. 155.

^[13] See Find a Grave memorial page of Huldah Sutton Montgomery, Philbrook cemetery, Hobson, Judith Basin County, Montana, created by Sue Sutton, with a tombstone photo by Caren.

^[14] See her obituary cited supra, n. 33.

^[15] Polk County, Missouri, Marriage Bk. F, p. 312. On the Hoag family, see Gilbert Cope, Genealogy of the Darlington Family: A Record of the Descendants of Abraham Darlington of Birmingham, Chester Co., Penna., and of Some Other Families of the Name(West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1900), p. 229.

^[16] See “Aged Fluvanna Resident Dies,” Abilene Daily Reporter (19 March 1936, p. 14, col. 6; “Rites Here for Pecos Pioneer,” Carlsbad [New Mexico] Current-Argus (19 March 1936), p. 1 col. 6; and “L.N. Hoag Burial to Be in Carlsbad, N.M.,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram (20 March 1936), p. 4, col. 4.

^[17] See Find a Grave memorial page of Sarah Elizabeth Sutton Hoag, Carlsbad cemetery, Carlsbad, Eddy County, New Mexico, created by Sue Sutton with a tombstone photo by Lloyd Robinson.

^[18] See supra, n. 35.

^[19] Polk County, Missouri, Marriage Bk.E, p. 206.

^[20] Mary Viola Jarnigan Sutton’s obituary in Boise’s Idaho Statesman (30 April 1957), p. 13, col. 3, states that she died at Caldwell, Idaho, at the home of daughter Mrs. Bert Carrick. It gives her birth, death, and marriage dates and says that Reuben died in 1939 while the family lived on a farm at Midvale, Idaho. But note that Reuben’s death certificate says that he died at Beaverton, Oregon.

^[21] See Find a Grave memorial page of Reuben Riley Sutton, Eastside cemetery, Midvale, Washington County, Idaho, created by Sue Sutton, with a tombstone photo by Cheryl Hanson.

^[22] The dates of birth and death and place of death appear on her death certificate for which her husband Benjamin L. Holmes was informant. For her birthplace, “Missouri” is stated. See Missouri Death Certificates, Greene County, 1915, #24504, available digitallyin Ancestry database Missouri, U.S., Death Certificates, 1910-1969. As noted previously, Mary Catherine’s obituary in Walnut Grove [Missouri] Tribune gives her dates and places of birth and death: see supra, n. 36.

^[23] Polk County, Missouri Marriage Bk. C, p. 234. The date of marriage is also stated in her obituary: see supra, n. 36.

^[24] See Find a Grave memorial page of Mary Catherine Sutton Holmes, Lindley Prairie cemetery, Bearcreek, Cedar County, Missouri, created by Sue Sutton.

^[25] These dates of birth and death are stated on her death certificate, for which her son Claude Hopkins was informant: see Missouri Death Certificates, Polk County, 1944, #11804, available digitally in Ancestry database Missouri, U.S., Death Certificates, 1910-1969.

^[26] Polk Co. Missouri Marriage Bk. E, p. 30.

^[27] See Find a Grave memorial page of Nancy Whitlock Sutton Hopkins, Lindley Prairie cemetery, Bearcreek, Cedar County, Missouri, created by Sue Sutton, with a tombstone photo by Larry Boyd.

^[28] These dates of birth and death are stated on his death certificate and in his obituary: see supra, n. 37.

^[29] Fergus County, Montana Marriage Bk. 1, p. 152.

^[30] See Find a Grave memorial page of William Abner Sutton, Rockvale cemetery, Rockvale, Carbon County, Montana, created by Sue Sutton, with a tombstone photo by Betty Jo Tindle.