Discover Your Roots with Witcher Family Genealogy
Lacy Witcher, son of Ephraim and Betsey (Fipps) Witcher
Lacy Witcher -b- 1800, and wife Elizabeth Lyons
According to the Sebastian Historical Society, the little community of Witcherville, Arkansas, was established in 1850 upon farmland once owned by William J Witcher. Records reveal William was born in Surry County, North Carolina, in 1829, and he was the son of Lacy and Elizabeth (Lyon) Witcher.
The story is told that William J Witcher’s father died while William and his twin sister were infants. Then, after a period of time, William’s mother Elizabeth married a certain Edward Crossen, and around 1835 the couple migrated to Johnson County, a hilly, rugged region in the remote frontier of western Arkansas.
There is little reason to doubt William J Witcher’s father was Lacy Witcher, and that Lacy was the son of Ephraim and Betsey Witcher.
The Sebastian County Historical Society obtained its family history of William J Witcher from a book written in 1889 by the Goodspeed Publishing Company. This book, called, “The History of Sebastian County, Arkansas,” was a published account of Sebastian County family backgrounds, told by those who had first-hand knowledge of who their parents and grandparents were. Since the book was written in 1889, most of what was written can be considered as accurate, valuable genealogical history.
When this book was written, William J Witcher was alive (having died later, in 1905) and he probably gave a first-hand account of who his mother and grandfathers were. What is in doubt, however, is the validity of the story told about the death of his father, Lacy Witcher.
William J Witcher’s father was Lacy Witcher of Surry County, North Carolina. We know this is certain from the “History of Sebastian County, Arkansas” publication, but we can also validate this information from a will left by a certain James Roberts, which was probated in 1833. Mr. Roberts was apparently very close to the Lyon family, and that apparent affection for Elizabeth (Lyon) Witcher was seen in the bequeathment of $95.00, “to defray the expenses of schooling the two children of Elizabeth Lyons [who] intermarried with Lacy Witcher, that is William & Sarah.”
So, from the last will and testament of James Roberts, we know Lacy Witcher had intermarried with Elizabeth Lyon, and Lacy seemed to no longer around as of 1833.
We also know from Surry County, North Carolina, records that Lacy Witcher and Elizabeth Lyons were married on March 4, 1829. There are indications the wedding was a forced arrangement, due to an out of wedlock pregnancy. If that was not the case, the twins were conceived immediately after the wedding vows were exchanged.
The time period between the wedding and the money bequeathed to Elizabeth to school her twins (William and Sarah) was around four years. We can therefore conclude William’s father was absent by the time William was around three years of age, or earlier.
But, is the story about William J Witcher’s father’s death accurate? Did Lacy Witcher die when William J Witcher was an infant?
In order to answer these questions, it is first necessary to verify that this Lacy Witcher was the son of Ephraim and Betsey Witcher, of Surry County, North Carolina. Doing this will be easy enough; all one needs to do is review extant court records which irrefutably connects this Lacy Witcher to his father’s estate.
We do know for a fact Lacy Witcher received an inheritance from his father’s estate. In Ephraim Witcher’s will, proved in February Court, 1820, Lacy is listed as a son who received 83 acres called “Lacefields Place.” This land was on the banks of the Mitchell River in Surry County, North Carolina. The 1820 Federal Census indicates Lacy was living on this estate, on banks of the Mitchell River, in Surry County, North Carolina.
Click here to read the details of Ephraim and Betsey Witcher’s life, as well as whom the whole of their children were, including Lacy Witcher.
On a side note, Ephraim’s son, Lacy Witcher, later migrated from Surry County, North Carolina, to Grainger County, Tennessee, as found in the 1840 Federal Census. Grainger County is next door to Hawkins County, a place (as we will soon discover) which became home to Lacy Witcher by at least 1845. There was also another Lacy Witcher in Tennessee at the same time, Lacy Witcher, son of Daniel Witcher. Evidence for Lacy, the son of Daniel, is found in Jackson County, Tennessee, records. However, he must not be confused with Lacy, son of Ephraim Witcher, who had married Elizabeth Lyon, and would be found in Hawkins County records as early as 1844.
It should also be noted there are two different Lacy Witchers mentioned in Ephraim Witcher’s will. One was the obvious son of Ephraim and Betsey. The other Lacy was described as a “good friend.” Overwhelming evidence proves the executor Lacy Witcher was not the son of Ephraim, but was a close family member. Click here to read about Lacy Witcher, the good friend of Ephraim, who later migrated to Georgia and became an Indian agent for the government.
Lacy’s mother, Betsey Witcher, had inherited the bulk of her husband Ephraim’s plantation holdings. Five children (including Lacy) were listed in the last will of Ephraim, and for many years many concluded these five children were the sum of Ephraim and Betsey’s children.
However, due to the discovery of Ephraim’s estate records, we now know for certain Ephraim Witcher had at least twelve children, possibly thirteen if one believes the Ephraim Jr. in 1813-1816 Surry County tax records was Ephraim Sr.’s son, which I do.
In the 1840s a rift developed in the household of widow Betsey Witcher. She had grown old and “ill-able” to control her slaves. It's during this time some of her children began to file briefs with the court, arguing they, as legatees, are due their portion of their father’s estate. Click here to read details of these court actions.
Thanks to surviving court documents, we can be absolutely certain Lacy Witcher had not died while William J Witcher was an infant. In fact, he was very much alive in 1843, years after his supposed death.
On February 20, 1843, under order of the court, several individuals met in Betsey Witcher’s house in order to make a division of slaves, who were then to be awarded to the children of Ephraim Witcher. One of those children was Lacy Witcher. To quote the actual court report, “No. 3 to Lacy Witcher – Crawford [a male slave] with the additional sum of ninety seven dollars and eighty six cents from Lots No. 6 & 7 it making 1/12th lot.”
Another important court document indicates on November 9, 1844, Lacy Witcher agreed to sell his remaining interest in his father’s estate to Daniel C. Roberts. The Roberts and Witcher family was very close; Daniel Roberts having married one of Ephraim's daughters, Elizabeth Witcher.
The court document states Daniel C. Roberts (Lacy's brother-in-law) was from Surry County, North Carolina, while Lacy Witcher was, “Of Hawkins County Tennessee.” From this record we know for certain Lacy Witcher lived in Hawkins County, Tennessee, in 1844, and that Lacy sold his interest in his father’s estate for $350, cash paid in hand by Mr. Roberts.
This is a transcription of a portion of that record. “I Lacy Witcher do relinquish all my right and title to my father’s estate Ephraim Witcher decd. Now in the hands of my mother that is to say all my interest in all her lands on the Michelle River and all my interest in the negros undivided that is in the hands of my mother….”
Again, it is very important to note Lacy Witcher, son of Ephraim and Betsey Witcher, was still very much alive as of November, 1844, and he was then living in Hawkins County, Tennessee.
So, one must wonder why William J Witcher was led to believe his father Lacy had died while he was an infant. I believe his mother Elizabeth, and the Lyon family who was raising him, had told him it was so.
Lacy and Elizabeth (Lyon) Witcher was apparently separated previous to 1833. The fact is obvious Lacy, the son of Ephraim Witcher, was very much alive as of 1835, when Elizabeth by that time had married Edward Crossen. As we all know, divorce in this time period was definitely frowned upon, divorcees even being viewed as social pariahs, so it appears after making a fresh start in Arkansas with her new husband, Lacy’s mother chose to shield William J Witcher from her unpleasant past.
Another fact which must be considered is, at age 50, Lacy Witcher, of Hawkins County, Tennessee, was listed in the 1850 Federal Census as a resident of the Tennessee Penitentiary. The census indicates his crime was “barn burning.” That census record also notes Lacy was born in North Carolina, which is where his parents Ephraim and Betsey Witcher had lived since 1793.
Thanks to the tireless work and generosity of family researcher Jean Hughes, we know when, where, and why this crime of barn burning was committed by Lacy Witcher. Those original documents have been located and transcribed by Ms. Hughes, and she graciously allows her work to be referenced here. For the reader’s sake, I have very sparingly inserted a few punctuation marks, as the original documents had almost none. Also, a few images of the court proceedings, along with other records relating to Lacy Witcher, are located in the photo gallery at the bottom of this page.
Based on grand jury records, we know a barn, located in Hawkins County and owned by Cornelius C. Miller, was burned to the ground late in the night of December 27, 1845. From those grand jury records, we also know Lacy Witcher (occupation noted to be a laborer) had been drinking alcohol with a certain Robert McCoy, and the two were quite drunk the night of December 27, 1845.
Unfortunately for Lacy, the barn he had burned was owned by a state prosecutor, and that prosecutor (Mr. Cornelius C. Miller) wasted no time gathering evidence to prosecute. Testimony was documented the very next day. On the morning of December 28, 1845, John Shields, Samuel L. Henderson, and Francis H. Murchant fully cooperated by giving the following statements:
“John Shields witness for the State after being duly sworn according to the [???] I was in camping with them when the coles and ashes was found along the road I believe they oak coles I was also present when the durt [dirt] was inspecting [?] in the road & compared it with the durt in McCoys fier & believe it to be of the same kind of clay I was in company & we traced the direction of Millers with in fifty yards of the fence”
“Samuel L. Henderson witness for the State after being sworn acarding to law Depose & say, myself & Mr Murchant went this evening to examin whether we could find any coles or not we found where some one had crased the fence, some distance from where he crased the fence we found at a brier patch, some small fier coles, they particles of coles was hard coles, the field was a loose field, the track that crassed the fence went in direction of the barn from the direction of McCoys, the tract was made with a shoo or boot that was made, a mrk with the pegs in the heel of the length of the tract was as, I believe, about nine & a half inches long made with a round toe of shoee or boot”
“Francis H. Murchant witness for the state after being duly sworn acarding to law Depose & say, I went with Mr Henderson this evening & what Mr Henderson has stated to you is gist what I could tell you Francis H. Murchant”
“The foregoing is the testimoney taken before me this 28th December 1845 in the case, the State vs Lacy Witcher Wm Hutchyson JW for Hawkins County”
Satisfied there was enough evidence to convict, the prosecuting attorney (Cornelius C. Miller) pressed for a grand jury proceeding, which did hear the case in the January Term of 1846. Witnesses for the state included: Cornilius C. Miller, Robert McCoy, James R. Forgey, Jacob Miller, George Willhems, John Charles, James M. Sizemore, John Shields, Samuel L. Henderson, Francis H. Merchart.
Witness James Forgey was probably Cornelius's father-in-law, while witness Jacob Miller was either Cornelius's father or son.
The Grand Jury heard the evidence and issued the following indictment on January 27, 1846:
“STATE OF TENNESSEE, Hawkins County. CIRCUIT COURT, January Term 1846
The Grand Jurors for the State being duly summoned, elected, empaneled, sworn and charged to inquire for the body of the County aforesaid, on their oath aforesaid present that a certain Lacy Witcher late of said County laborer, not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil ------ heretofore, to-wit, on the twenty seventh day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty five, with force and arms, at, to-wit, in the County aforesaid, did then and there feloniously, willfully, unlawfully and maliciously set fire to and burn a certain barn of one Cornelius C. Miller [prosector] there situate, the same being a valuable building; contrary to the form of the Statute in such cases made and provided ------------------- to the great damage of the said Cornelius C. Miller -------------------- to the evil example of all others in like cases offending and against the peace and dignity of the State.
And the Jurors aforesaid, on their oath aforesaid, do further present that on the said twenty seventh day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty five, at, to-wit, in the County aforesaid, the said, Lacy Witcher, not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil, with force and arms, did then and there feloniously, willfully, unlawfully and maliciously burned a barn of one Cornelius C. Miller there situate, the said barn being a valuable building then and there containing valuable property therein, the barn and property contained in it, being then and there of the joint value of One thousand dollars; [$1000] contrary to the firm of the Statute in such cases made and provided – to the great damage of the said Cornelius C. Miller ------ to the evil example of all others in like cases offending and against the peace and dignity of the State.
Thos. A.R. Nelson, Attorney General for the First Judicial Circuit”
After the indictment was issued, and after the initial charge was filed, I have little doubt Lacy Witcher was immediately detained in Hawkins County jail. I expect he was probably viewed as a serious flight risk, and was therefore arrested the day after the fire.
It wasn’t until nearly June of 1847, because of court delays, that a jury would finally convict Lacy Witcher of the crime of barn burning and sentence him to three years in the penitentiary.
Records indicate there may have been some pre-trial activity in May of 1846, but the felony trial began in earnest in September of 1846. The following witnesses were summoned: Absalom L. Burures [Burroughs?], Nicholas Haynes, Clinton A. Charles, Saml House, Robert McCoy, John Charles, Jacob Miller, C [Cornelius]C Miller, James Forgy, George Willhelms, and James M. Sizemore.
The testimony which ensued would reveal the real motive for the arson. Lacy Witcher was extremely disgruntled with prosecutor Cornelius C Miller over at least two issues. One was a certain lawsuit with a Mr. Mees. I expect Mr. Mees was probably Meese. Secondly, Lacy was bitter about some previous involvement Cornelius Miller had with Lacy and his wife. That involvement apparently resulted in, or was partly responsible for, the separation from his wife. The grudge would have went back at least twelve years, and, based on the time frame, could have originated in Surry County, North Carolina.
What’s interesting is a certain Phillip Meese owned land adjoining Ephraim Witcher's land. Keep in mind Ephraim was Lacy’s father. Those 1793 land holdings which bordered Phillip Meese were in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Of course, that was almost fifty years previous to this 1846 court date, but family units were known to migrate together into the new frontier. As of the writing of this essay, it is unknown who this Mr. Meese was, with whom Lacy seemed so preoccupied with.
The night Lacy burned Cornelius Miller’s barn was apparently very cold, as further testimony would speak of the coals from Robert McCoy’s fireplace, coals which were allegedly used by Lacy to start the barn fire.
Reading the testimony of Robert McCoy, and the others who later came to Robert’s house looking for Lacy, one is left with the impression that Lacy and Robert were in the habit of slumming around. Testimony doesn’t leave the impression these two were living in the best accommodations.
Robert McCoy (the owner of the cabin where Lacy was sleeping the night of the fire) told the court, “Mr Witcher came to my house about sundown & John Tate came there shortly afterwards. Witcher sent for some licker & we got to drinking & I got drunk & me & Mr Witcher laid down & after a while we got up & drank some more & I went to bed & left Witcher setting up by the fier[fire] I went to sleep & never waked up till about 2 oclock before day when Miller & Forgy & Charles camt to my house & when I waked up I found Witcher in bed with me with all his close[clothes] on except his shooes & big coat his big coat was dropt off on the flore [floor] near the head of the bed.”
Mr. McCoy continued his testimony for the state, pointing out the coals and dirt found on the road to Mr. Millers barn looked just like the coals and dirt in his fireplace. Here is more of Robert McCoy’s testimony, given on September 29, 1846:
“That Evening after Mr Witcher came to my house I knocked the palens off of an old gate, they were oak palens & put them on the fier & I believe the coals that was found along the road towards Millers barn was coals of them palens from my house, I believe the little lump of durt that they found where these coals & ashes was along the road come out of my fier place, I was along with them & found some my self & some the picked up. John Tate left my house to go home before we went to bed There was no one their at my house but Mr Witcher, I believe that he took the fier out of my house I thought that Mr Witcher certainly had went some where that night when I got up & saw the fix his close was in & ast [asked] him if he had bin over at John Tates & he said no he hadent bin out of the house, it was the night Millers Barn was burnt when I come up to Millers in the morning I found it burn to ashes.”
Lacy, apparently speaking in his defense, asked Mr McCoy, “Was there not some one road [rode] down the road that night,” to which McCoy answered, “there was some boddy road along the road that night as a loose horse pas’d by about 9 oclock & them palens that I was speaking about was about 3 or 4 Inches wide.”
John Charles, another witness for the State, after being duly sworn according to law testified that, “After Miller & Forgy come to my house I went wheth them & the testimoney of Mr Forgy is about what mine.”
Then, two additional witnesses for the state struck another damaging blow to Lacy’s innocent plea, as they recalled hearing him speak of getting revenge against Cornelius Miller. In their testimony, the jury heard the motive given for the arson, that motive being revenge!
Here is the transcription of the testimony about Lacy's motive, given by James M. Sizemore and George Willhelms:
“The State vs Lacy Witcher James M. Sizemore witness for the State being Duly Sworn Depos and say, Question by prosecuter [Cornelius C Miller], did you ever witcher speak hard of me [Cornelius C Miller] answer i heard Witcher say that he thought hard of you about a trial that he had with Mr Mees before you & said he Blamed you for parting him & his wife he said “[Cornelius] Miller hadent done him justice in a Suit between him & Mr Mees”
George Willhelms witness for the State being Sworn Depos & say, I was at Sisemor's still house with Mr Witcher & he told me that he blamed a Squire Miller for all the contention between him & Mr. Mees [???] & said he would have revenge, the impression on me is that he would have revenge on Miller”
At this point, apparently a key witness for the state, Mr. Jacob Miller, who had been “regularly summoned,” had not made his appearance. Therefore, Prosecutor Cornelius C. Miller made an oath that the trial could not be continued at the present hour, “With safety to the state of public justice,” till Jacob Miller could be located and compelled to testify.
Therefore, at the request of the prosecutor, a Motion for Continuance was granted by the judge.
The next court date was apparently next year, in May of 1847. I can only assume that Lacy Witcher had remained in county jail until the prosecution was complete.
In May of 1847, the prosecution again paraded witnesses before the jury. One by one, motive was restated and evidence displayed by witnesses, whose lucid memories recalled that night as if it had just happened.
At some point during this trial (perhaps in May of 1847) obviously the defendant Lacy Witcher was allowed to mount his defense. Lacy did admit to going to Robert McCoy’s house, but stated the night Miller’s barn burned, he had not left Robert McCoy’s house. Here is the actual transcript of Lacy’s defense testimony:
“The State vs Lacy Witcher,
In this case the defendant comes before me [presumably the judge] & makes the following statement in relation to the offence with which he is charged, to wit, I am not guilty of the charge. [Then Lacy’s testimony] I went to Robert McCoys about sundown & staid there all night.
Question by Justice Was there anybody else at McCoys that night. Answer: John Tate came their”
The State then seated Cornelius C Miller (who was also the state’s prosecutor), and after being duly sworn, resumed his prosecution by giving his own testimony, saying that, “About a 11 oclock I sent a boy to Doctor Shields he was sent on an arrent [errand] to Sheilds & came back & came to the dore [door] & handed in what he was sent for & turned of & I heard the catch of the gate fall I supposed it was the boy going back to where he slept & as I think it was about five moments afterwards when the alarm of fier was made. I ast Jack [the boy] if he saw anything of the fier as he came from [doctor] Shields he said no but I met a man as I went to [doctor] Shields with a chunk of fier & as I came back I met him hear [here] in this lane a going back down the road. Owing to sickness in my family I could not leave the house & I fourth whith sent for James Forgy & Jacob Miller”[Recall that James Forgey was his father-in-law, and Jacob Miller was either his son or father.]
At this point, James Forgy gives his compelling testimony for the State, “When I went down to Millers I found the barn burning up, the grain was still burning, Jacob Miller & me went down to Mr McCoys & found Mr Witcher therein, found him in bed with his close [clothes] on all except his Shoos & big coat, his big coat was laying opposite the middle of the bed on the floor, we waked him up & told what was done & told him that he was sensuend [soused?] & he said if he was going to be hung he would desist & we left him & went on back to Millers & got our breakfast & after breakfast we started back & found some ashes & coles, I took them to be oak coles, we found some fresh looking ashes in McCoys yard & others out side of the gate & examond on & found coles of the same kind fell with in fifty yards of Millers fence, the fence around the field the barn stood in, I thought the coles looked like they had bin burn of bords or something, of the bord kind Jacob Miller found a nail where there was some ashes & small coles . Some fifty or sixty yards from McCoys gate where we found the largest quantity of coles & ashes together with some dust appearently burn durt out of the chimney, we found a track, Jacob Miller took the measure of the length & breath of the tract, the breadth of the heel agreed with Witchers shoo & the length, I didn’t think did agree but when we brought Witcher their we sett Mr Witchers shoo in the tract & I thought it agreed, we took the Durt found whith the coles & ashes & compared it whith the durt in McCoys chimney and it agreed exactly.
Jacob Miller witness for the State, I was with Mr Forgy & his statement is substancially true, the ground where the tracks was discovered was frosty & opened up”
The collection of records available does not indicate a verdict. However, Tennessee penitentiary records indicate Lacy Witcher was indeed found guilty of barn burning and sentenced to three year confinement in the penitentiary, “From the first of October 1847.”
In a strange twist to this case, an affidavit indicates several of the jury members violated their oath to remain sequestered until the trial was concluded. Here is transcript of that affidavit:
“State of Tennessee vs Lacy Witcher
John L. Connor the officer who had charge of the Jury in this case makes oath, that at a recap of the court, after the trial of this cause had been partially prognessed in, and as he was going from the Court House to the Hotel, two of the jurors, to wit, Clinton A. Manis and Slim Lawson, without the knowledge of affiant, separated themselves from their fellow jurors & were absent for the space of 20 or 30 minutes. So soon as affiant discovered that said jurors had so separated themselves, he went in search of said absent jurors, and after some search found one of them, to wit, Clinton Aline Lawson in conversation with John Hasting [?] another citizen in the court house enclosure – the other juror he found again in the Jury room when affiant returned with the Juror he had found.
Sworn to and I. S. Corning [?] Subscribed in Open Court 28th May 1847 Geog R Powel clk”
A record dated July 18, 1850, notifies that the remaining few months of Lacy Witcher’s sentence should be commuted, because during his confinement, Lacy had been, “Generally exemplary and unexceptional,” in his behavior. This order was executed from Governor William Trousdale’s office.
In a strange twist to this story, in the 1850 Federal Census, dated October 11, 1850, Lacy Witcher was listed with many other prisoners in the Tennessee Penitentiary. We do not know why Lacy was still imprisoned as of October, 1850, months after his release was authorized. All totaled, including time probably spent in county jail and the Tennessee penitentiary, I suspect Lacy was incarcerated for almost five years.
We also cannot say why Lacy Witcher was in Hawkins County, Tennessee, in the first place. Was he in Tennessee because his uncle Daniel Witcher has settled in Smith County, to the west of Hawkins County? Or, could he have settled there because relatives of his mother Betsey were living in Hawkins County, those relatives being of the Phipps family? I suspect the latter.
After the 1850 Federal Census, I have not located another record for Lacy Witcher, son of Ephraim and Betsey Witcher. Did he die before 1860? Or, did a broken Lacy just blend into the wilderness frontier until his death? That answer may never be discovered. At any rate, Lacy Witcher would certainly have been proud of his children William J and Sarah Witcher.
William J Witcher, founder of Witcherville, Arkansas, would later serve honorably in the Civil War, eventually being promoted to captain in the Confederate Army. All I know of Willliam J Witcher’s twin sister, Sarah, is that she was apparently raised by her maternal grandfather, William Lyon, who according to the 1889 publication of, “The History of Sebastian County, Arkansas,” reared and educated both children in Virginia until 1848, when they both rejoined their mother in Johnson County, Ark.
Lacy Witcher, son of Ephraim, who would serve three years in a Tennessee penitentiary, must not be confused with the other Lacy Witcher’s who were alive in that time period.
Lacy Witcher, who was the executor of Ephraim Witcher’s will, moved to Paulding County, Georgia, and was a postmaster, as well as an Indian Agent for the United States government. This Lacy was an honorable man who, as best he could, served the interests of the Cherokee Indians in Georgia. You can read about this Lacy by clicking here. Also, one must keep in mind there was another Lacy Witcher, son of Daniel Witcher, who also lived in Tennessee, but to the west of the Hawkins County region, in both Jackson and Smith County.
There were also more than two William J Witchers alive at the same time during this period. One was the son of Lacy and Elizabeth (Lyons) Witcher, while another was the son of Ephraim and Betsey Witcher. William J Witcher, the son of Ephraim Witcher, was a successful man, who lived his days in Surry County, North Carolina, but can also be found in the records of Grayson County, Virginia. Click here to read about WJ Witcher, son of Ephraim and Betsey.
I would very much appreciate hearing from any descendants of Lacy and Elizabeth Lyon Witcher. It would be wonderful to complete this story. Contact me by clicking here.
Researched and written by Wayne Witcher, a 3X grand-nephew of Lacy Witcher.
4.05.17/3.21.24
