1850 US Census Breathitt County Kentucky leads us to yet another family connection.

The layers of generations to digest makes one in need to diet from sources to cite however the joy received from exploration of our American story is worth each citation, each branch to journey down. A day started to research a direct line of Danyle's turned into an adventure of locating yet another family connection. In today's brief but yet amazing weave of families stems from looking at the 1850 US Census record for Stephen James Fields. Stephen is Danyle's 2nd great grandfather on her mother's line. Stephen was a mere nine months old at the time of this Census and I went to look at who his parents resided by in old Kentucky. The county is Breathitt, just north of Clay County, Kentucky where my Davidson, Combs, & Callahan's homesteaded after the American Revolution. Danyle and I would discuss how our families must have known each other or at least almost passed each other as both took a similar but yet unique trip to the west.

Stephen's parents were Henry Ephraim Fields (1818-1910) and Lydia Noble (1815-1902.). Without getting into specifics of this couple I will give you an overview of their travels. Both were born in Kentucky. In 1850 Ephraim & Lydia resided in Breathitt County Kentucky and by the 1860 Census traveled to Prairie Township, Washington County, Arkansas. From there we find them in both 1870 & 1880 living in Nodaway Township, Holt County, Missouri. Ephraim operated a ferry across the Nodaway River. After Lydia dies, Ephraim moves in with a son who is living in Oklahoma, That son is Stephen.

So we've got Henry Ephraim and his wife Lydia Noble Fields living in Breathitt County, Kentucky in 1850, four children all under the age of seven residing with them. Ephraim owns his farm & next door to this family is a man named Alfred Combs, his wife Peggy and their 11 children. What got my attention was the surname Combs. The Combs family homesteaded in the county just south of this location with my Davidson family. I wondered, now could he be related to that Combs family? With the time frame of our young nation & the proximity to their original homestead I knew there had to be a connection. One also has the knowledge of how families traveled together so maybe there was a connection.....and why yes there sure is!

I started my search with Alfred Combs. Alfred Alton Combs, born 9th October 1813 in Breathitt County, Kentucky to Matthew Moses Combs Sr. (1791-1866) & Frances Brown (1789-1872.). Following his father's line we find his great grandfather, John Combs Sr (1733-1819) & great grandmother Nancy Harding (1740-1819.) from their son Henry Harrison Combs Sr. OK - now to see if this lines up with the Combs family in my family tree. My Combs connection is with Dorcas Combs (1815-1843) who married into my Davidson family, marrying Wayne Davidson who is the son of Samuel Daniel Davidson (1780-1866) and Elizabeth Callahan (1783-1822.). Keep this couple in mind as Samuel and Elizabeth will show up again in our family connections!

Back to Dorcas. Our first connection to this Combs family is that she also is a great grandchild of John Combs Sr. and Nancy Harding, from their son Nicholas. So my first finding of the day is the fact that distant family relations of mine resided next door to Danyle's direct family line in 1850 in Kentucky. But it gets better......

A small nugget of connection back to my family with Alfred is his son, Shaderick Harrison Combs marries a woman named Nancy Davidson who is the grand daughter to Samuel Daniel Davidson and Elizabeth Callahan. This shows how families even with migration stay in contact with each other and married back into family lines at times.

The other small nugget of family weaving near or into each other stems from the wife's of both Henry Ephraim Fields and Alfred Alton Combs. Alfred's wife, Margaret Peggy Noble was a sister to Henry Ephraim's wife, Lydia Noble. Our families homesteaded the rugged Kentucky mountains in the early 1800's together, with the main connection being their wife's were sisters. Further research into the history of this area & their roles in the development of the country continues. And yes....the families are strong Scottish men & women but that is a story for another day! The taisteal continues!!!