Frain Family Tree - Illinois Branch

More Coonrod Information

From a FamilyHistory by Jessye Ann High
Coonrods from Joyce Spencer 
Coonrods from Mike Coonrod
Coonrod from Jane Van Gundy
Miscellaneous Coonrod Research Data
From a 'History of Wayne County'
Various Coonrod Research Results

I made inquiries via the Prodigy Genealogy Bulletin Board. It is interesting to note that of all the inquiries I put in which included Frain, Darr, Bird and Cook; Coonrod received the most replies and complete information.

From a FamilyHistory by Jessye Ann High

Richard Davidson from Wylie, Texas answered one of my notes on the genealogy bulletin board on Prodigy which requested information concerning Coonrod's in Greene County, Ill. Richard sent me a copy of his family history written by Jessye Ann High, starting with his ancestor, John Fin(d)ley (1760-1839). A number of Coonrods and Grizzles are represented. Mary (Polly) Finley married Dudley Coonrod in 1836 in Greene County. He was born ca 1819 in Kentucky to John and Elizabeth Coonrod. James Thomas Finley married Mary (Polly) Grizzle in 1841 in Greene County. I confirmed the connections with George D. P. Coonrod. Dudley's father, John, is the same John Coonrod from Wayne County who married his wife Elizabeth Lee in Hardin Co., KY.  Although I know that John and Elizabeth are George D. P.' s parents based on my research, I still need a birth certificate or family group document that confirms it.  Birth certificate is out of the question.  The Wayne County courthouse burned down in the 1880s.

Richard's  genealogy contains a lot on the name Fin(d)ley from Greene County and a couple of them married Coonrods. Sometime during the middle 1800's the Finley's and some of the Coonrods migrated to Texas. One of the Finleys married Mary Grizzle. She is the sister of Frances Grizzle whom George D. P. Coonrod married. Their ages only differed by 10 years. The section on George W. Coonrod shows that he moved to Texas in 1852 and returned in 1855.

Also, a Prodigy note from Richard Davidson indicates some Coonrods moved to Texas with the Finley family prior to 1860. They show up on the 1860 Texas census.

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Coonrods from Joyce Spencer

Joyce Spencer  provided the following in several notes via the internet. It provides some interesting material about Coonrod history.

Joe, I have Coonrods going back to 1743. Mine are from Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia. Is your D. Coonrod a David? Three Coonrod cousins moved from West Virginia into Ohio and Kentucky in 1803. They split up and spread out after that. Your Coonrods could be a branch of mine. I'll copy your note and see if we connect. I have some interesting old letters and wills from the Coonrods. Do you have any Albrights? The names that repeat the most are David, John Oliver, Felix, and Josephus.

Next:

Joe, I have pulled out some more info and have found something that might help you.

John Hillman Coonrod b. 1831 May 15 in Coles County IL, d, 1915 SE 08, Cato Creek, Kansas.

His father, Wollery Coonrod b. 1805 FE.14 OH d. 1888 in Cato Cr. Kansas. John Hillman Coonrod married a Elizabeth Ellen Garrison in Cato Cr. Kansas. She was from the Arkansas Territory.

If your George is connected with the Wollery Coonrods I have a lot of info on them. They end up in California.

Also in a different unconnected vein I have this.

Joseph Coonrod owned 100 acres land on Cryer Creek in Kentucky. Tax records show April 3, 1813 50 acres 1 white male over 21 and 1 horse. 1814 tax records KY same as 1813.

1816 owns 60 acres 2 horses no blacks.

1817 owns 60 acres 4 horses no blacks.

1818 owns 60 acres 3 horses no blacks.

1820 owns 60 acres 4 horses no blacks.

1821 owns 60 acres 4 horses no blacks.

He then moves to Ross County OH. Much of this family ended up in Crawfordsville, IN. Parts of the family were in southern IN but may have moved on to IL. You may want to look into this family in Campbell Co. KY 1809 - 1835. Joseph Coonrod had a 4 year old son named Thompson in 1821. I hope some of this helps.

Next:

I have a very lengthy letter from an Oliver Coonrod (written in 1917) about his family. They lived on the South Bank of the Potomac in Hardy County, West Virginia. They were in Pendleton in 1758 (Fort Siebut). How can I get more information about this settlement?

Next:

OK, since I started this I'll tell you what I have and you can tell me what you know. I have a letter written in May 1917 by Oliver Coonrod in Washington, C.H. Ohio. Here it is -

About the year of 1742, they came to this country from Switzerland or Baden, Germany and settled in the North banks of the Potomac River in the State of Maryland. The family of this history had one son born about the time they arrived in this country. They called him Josephas. After living a short time in Maryland they went to the South bank and from thence they journeyed up to Moorefield on the South bank of the Potomac in what is now Hardy County, West Virginia. They continued to push their way up the South Branch of the Potomac until in 1758 they were in Pendleton at a place now called Fort Siebut. In May 1758, after they had planted their spring crop, the heads of the families joined together and went a long distance to a salt works to lay a supply of salt and other necessities for their families to last the year. Before leaving for the salt works, they built a block house. The house was made by joining one house with another. There were about forty women and children left in the fort while the men went to the salt works. Among those in the house were five Coonrods; mother, two sons and two daughters. After the men had been gone for some time, a band of Shawnee Indians from the West of the Ohio River crossed over the Allegheny Mountains, and attacked the fort. The Indians set a siege of the inmated fort. They sent a flag of truce and said "if you will surrender we will spare you. If not all will be killed". To shorten a long story, when the Indians were let in a massacre ensued. The chief tried to keep his word and protected some of the women and children. The Coonrod women and children were spared but were taken away. The baby boy was killed during the trip to Illinois. Josephus got away. After 2 months he found his way home and found his father. Father and son followed the trail of the Indians and found that the mother had been turned over to the French at St. Genenever, Missouri. The father purchased his wife for $50. Mother, father and son returned to West Virginia. Josephas married and had a son named Felix. Felix's son was Adam Coonrod and Adam's son was Oliver. Oliver is the writer of the letter from which this history is taken. Oliver was from Circleville, Ohio. I know how his family got to Ohio from his letter. My family came to Indiana from Ohio and the name Josephas Coonrod is repeated in my family. My Josephus married a girl from Circleville, Ohio but I have not managed to complete the tie to this Coonrod family from W. Virginia. Does anyone have any information about this Coonrod family in Pickaway County Ohio? I'm almost certain that a part of the family of Adam Coonrod must have traveled on to Indiana. I need that link. Also there is much more on the Josephus and the Indian story. It's a very long letter. If anyone knows anything about the Coonrod family in Ohio I would appreciate the information. The letter states that Oliver did not know anything about his grandfather's brothers. My guess is that my Coonrods are descended from one of those brothers. Adam Coonrod was born in 1782. In 1803 he moved across the mountains and over to Pickaway county. They lived in Walnut Creek about 10 miles northeast of Circleville. They later moved to Hocking County, Ohio. He moved to Ohio in the company of two cousins who are not named in the letter.

End of Joyce Spencer internet  messages.

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Coonrod from Mike Coonrod

The Internet is playing a major role in my collection of information. As with the Prodigy bulletin board, much info is coming in on Coonrod. Mike Coonrod in particular has provided me with a lot on the Coonrod families. He is descended from Stephen Coonrod and Candis Lee through their son Madison Lee Coonrod, his son Thomas Jefferson Coonrod, his son Irvin E. Coonrod, his son, who is Mike's father, Kenneth Lee Coonrod.

Mike is Kenneth Michael Coonrod, a computer software engineer in CA. He married Carole Ann Lee in 1978 and has a son named William Buckley Coonrod and a daughter Elizabeth.  Contact Mike at mike@coonrods.com

Since John and Elizabeth Coonrod are his G(4) grandparents as they are my G(3) grandparents, then we are cousins.

He has a piece of the family tree showing Woolery Coonrod born in Berne, Switzerland in 1725 and moving to KY. He speculates that the George and Rhody Coonrods and the Woolery Coonrods could have split up in KY. (Remember this was really VA, since KY did not become a state until 1792.)

Mike informed me about the periodic reunion of Coonrod's in MO. He passed out a copy of this Coonrod collection and says it was a big hit when he attended in Sept. 1997.

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Coonrod from Jane Van Gundy

Outside of our descendancy, however, much of the info is about the Woollery Coonrod branch of the tree.  Have not been able to make the connection.  As close as it comes is that George Coonrod with his wife Paralee Zumwalt and family lived in Madison County Illinois circa 1820 and my gg(4) grandfather George Coonrod and his 2nd wife Lydia Fendurds lived in lived in Wayne County Illinois circa 1820 and in Greene County circa 1829. It is undetermined if they encountered each other. 

Madison County split about 1822 and formed Greene County. The first George came by way of Pendleton Co., in VA and Ohio and the second George came by way of Woodford and Hardin Counties in KY.  In 1792, the state of KY was formed from part of VA.  Need to research this aspect of dates and places to see the relationship between the two Georges.

Add to previous.  Jane Van Gundy, another Coonrod descendant, sent me an e-mail to provide more information about George Coonrod who was in Madison County circa 1820.

George and Paralee Zumwalt Coonrod and family migrated by waterways to Madison Co. Illinois by 1818, then to Morgan Co. Illinois 1821-1824 and died there in 1826. Daughter Mary Ann married David Van Gundy who had been a neighbor back in Pickaway Co. Ohio.

History says that about 1820 Van Gundy and friend David Denny took a load of pork down the Ohio to New Orleans and never returned.  We know that David Van Gundy migrated back up the Mississippi to Madison Co. Illinois to join the Coonrods and married Mary Ann in May, 1821.

Check out the Van Gundy web site at: http://www.vangundy.net/.  Perhaps you may be researching other names that may be there.
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MISCELLANEOUS COONROD RESEARCH DATA

It is odd that few Coonrods seemed to live in Illinois by 1910, at least according to the census. Perhaps a clue to this may be gleaned from the information on Angeline Coonrod found on the 1900 census. Angeline was born in Illinois in April, 1841. Her parents were from Tennessee and North Carolina (Father and Mother respectively). She was probably a part of an extended family of Coonrods in 1880. She was married in Illinois to a Coonrod who was born in Illinois. However, he is not shown as part of the family in 1900. They had a son, Benjamin F., born Nov. 1861. The family must have moved west because the 1900 household contained her daughter, Effie E., who was born June, 1882 in Indian Territory. The household also contained her grandson Edgar C. who was born Feb. 1889 in Indian Territory. Benjamin was married for 12 years. Janice Coonrod, age 20, born in Indian Territory, worked a short way away for John Williams (a policeman) as a servant. This is probably Angeline's daughter. It appears that something may have happened to Angeline's husband and her daughter-in-law while they were in Indian Territory. Angeline, her son, her 2 daughters and grandson then moved back to Greenfield, Illinois. Perhaps some of the Coonrod clan moved to Indian Territory between 1880 and 1900. They appeared to be a pioneer type family, since they moved to Illinois from the Kentucky area early on and probably moved on again as the Greene County area got more settled.

Another reason the list of Coonrods has gotten smaller, I found at least 1 family that changed their name from Coonrod to Conrad between the 1900 and 1910 census (or perhaps the name was misspelled on the census). There were probably others, as well.

In a conversation with the clerk at the Carrollton, IL courthouse, she alluded to a feud between 2 Coonrod brothers that got so bad one changed his name to Conrad.

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From a 'History of Wayne County':

The earliest organization of the Baptist Church in this county which we have been able to gather, was at what was then and still is known as Hopewell, in the southern part of Barnhill Township. This church was organized August 5, 1820, by Elders William Hanks and Benjamin Keith. The persons entering into this organization at that time were James Bird, Susan Bird, William Wadkins, Polly Wadkins, Stephen Coonrod, John Coonrod, (This is George D. P. Coonrod's father and Stephen's brother) Anna Blissett and Naomi Close, all of whom most likely have long since passed away. (There is more on this concerning the history of the Baptist Church and how the original church United Baptist Church emigrated from Kentucky and Tennessee.)

Also: ...1821; September 2, Samuel Close and Catherine Coonrod...were married in Wayne County.

Also:... Nathan Atteberry came to Wayne county and settled in Turney's Prairie in the fall of 1819. In the party were the two brothers of Atteberry and their families. Their nearest neighbors were Reason Blessitt and his family of four children, George Close, William Watkins, Green Lee, Henry Coonrod, Michael Turney, Isaiah Turney, Thomas Turney and John Turney.

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Various Coonrod Research Results

The 1880 census shows Christofer C. Coonrod, aged 41, living in Assumption with no wife at the time but had 2 sons; James O. aged 12 and Marion B. aged 7. The 1900 census shows him married to Frances and they lived in Champaign county. The 1910 census has him, aged 61, and his wife Frances, aged 50, with son James, aged 32, son Marion B. aged 27, son Lewis G., aged 16, and a daughter Edna J., aged 11. His wife was from Ohio and the rest of the family was born in Illinois. They were living in Philo in Champaign County.

The 1880 census shows Stephen, aged 43, living in Assumption with his wife Betty B., aged 43, who was born in Virginia. A child, Minnie Chilton aged 7, lived with them.

I have searched many fiche and film at the Mormon Family History Center in Ontario, CA looking for information on the Coonrods (also DARR, COOK, BIRD and FRAIN). There were many Coonrods living in Southern IL in the early 1800s. The following is extracted from my handwritten notes of possible family connections. They will be followed up on in order to verify John Coonrod and Elizabeth Lee as the mother and father of George D. P. Coonrod.

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