Owen Sanford Sr. Adkins ^94,95

  General Notes:

The 1820 Federal Census, Virginia, Pittsylvania Co. records Owen Atkins (26-45) with wife (26-45), and 3 males (under 10), 1 male (10-16), and 1 male (16-26) with no slaves.

The 1830 Federal Census, Virginia, Pittsylvania Co. records Owen Adkins (40-50) with wife (30-40), 1 daughter and 2 sons (under 5), 1 son and 1 daughter (5-10), 2 sons (10-15), 1 son (20-30).

The 1840 Federal Census, Virginia, Pittsylvania Co., Regiment 107 records Owen Adkins (40-50) with wife (40-50) and 1 daughter (under 5), 3 sons and 1 daughter (5-10), 2 sons (10-15), 1 daughter (15-20), 2 sons (20-30). Living next door is his father William Adkins (70-80) and brother Henry Adkins (50-60). Nearby is son, Jackson Adkins (20-30) and his wife (15-20) and daughter (under 5).

The 1850 U.S. Census for the Northern District, Pittsylvania Co., Virginia, page 237A, dated Oct 25, 1850 records Owen Adkins Sr. (55) with children Permillia (26), Elijah (19), Jesse (18), James (15), Jane (13), Arabella (8), Preston (6), William (5), and Isabella (2). Adkins households around Owen include Henry Sr. (68), Frances (5), Elizabeth (35), William (55), and Henry, Jr. (25).

The 1860 Federal Census for the North District, Pittsylvania Co., VA, Museville P. O., page 189 records Owen Adkins Sr. (67) as a farmer, with real estate valued at $3,000 and personal property at $3,000 including 2 slaves. Living in his household is daughter Permillia Adkins (37) with her children Arbele (18), Ballard (17), William T. (15), Isabella (12), Pompey (9), Virginia (8), Ellen (7), Elvira C. (5), and Keen (1/12). Nearby is Owen's son, Jackson (45) [page 189], and his family as well as Owen's brother, Henry Adkins, Sr. (77) [page 190] and Henry's son, Henry Jr. (36) [page 190]. Interestingly, Owen's wife (former?), Fanney Adkins (67) is living nearby [page 190] with their son, Samuel Adkins (33).

The 1870 Federal Census for Subdivision North of the Dan River, Pittsylvania Co., Va., page 261, dated August 1, 1870 records Owen Adkins Sr. (75) living in the household of Thomas (40) and Nannie (25) Kendrick. Also in this household is Christopher Kendrick (25), son of Louisa Kendrick and Owen Adkins. Next door to Owen is Elizabeth Hoskinds (32) with children William (12), John (10), and Nannie (6). Living in the same residence as Elizabeth Hoskinds are Anderson Adkins (64) [Owen's grandson] and wife Nannie (50). Many of their children are living with them or nearby: Ralph Adkins (30), Bitsy Adkins (28), Jno W. Adkins (18), William N. Adkins (15), Henry G. Adkins (11).

The 1880 Federal Census for Callands, Pittsylvania Co., Va., Dist 164, page 50A, dated June 5, 1880 records Owen Adkins Sr. (90) living next door to his daughter Permillia and her children. Also in the household with Owen is Lizzy Hoskinds (40) and William Hoskinds (22). Lizzy is listed as a servant and perhaps William is one of Owen's many alleged illegitimate children.

One thing is for sure, many of the "Adkins" family members are repeatedly listed through the 1880 census records as "can not read or write" and they often have inconsistent reporting as to their ages in succeeding census reports.

Stories were told that during Owen's lifetime, he had 44 mistresses and was the father of 108 children. He was known as "Owen of All". There is reported to be a written work about Owen's life titled THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF OWEN OF ALL. As of January 2010, there is no reported knowledge of any copies in existence. However, there is an 1878 newspaper article referring to Owen's prowess: The Liberty (Missouri) Tribune of March 29, 1878 wrote this about him:
"Owen Adkins, of Pittsylvania Co., Va. is ninety-six years old. He has sixty-six children living and four dead. His descendants number five hundred and fifty, and they all live in the neighborhood of the old gentleman."
The article can be found on the internet at http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ [Missouri Digital Heritage] and a .pdf copy of the newspaper is included in this family file in the images associated with Owen S. Adkins, Sr. Notice should be given to the article in the Liberty Tribune that states his age as "96 years old". Since the article was published in 1878, that would make Owen's year of birth as 1782. Most references to his year of birth are 1785 or 1786; however, census records (included above) seem to indicate his year of birth to be closer to 1793 +/-3. Thus it seems more likely to this researcher that Owen was more or less in his early 90s at his time of death, a ripe old age for sure, but not the usually accepted age of 99 years.
Upon reaching the Missouri Digital Heritage website descrubed above, clcik on collections, then click on newspapers and select:
Liberty Tribune
Contributed by: William Jewell College
A newspaper from Clay County, Missouri covering the years 1846-1848, 1852-1867, 1869-1878, 1880, 1882, and 1883 ... where you can enter the search criteria, Owen Adkins. Scroll down until you get to the March 29, 1878 edition.

  Research Notes:

Virginia, Deaths and Burials Index, 1853-1917 <http://www.ancestry.com
Name: Owen Adkins
Birth Date: abt 1786
Death Date: 15 May 1885
Death Place: Pitts. County, Virginia
Death Age: 99
Race: White
Gender: Male
Father Name: Wm. Adkins
Mother Name: Mary
FHL Film Number: 33327

  Noted events in his life were:

• Alt. Death. Family Bible records in possession of Desmond Kendrick (Dec 2004) indicate Owen died on May 15, 1885 at age 99 years 6 months, however, census records repeatedly put his birth date to be around 1792 (+/- 3).

• Occupation: Farmer.

Owen married Isabel Harris, daughter of John Harris and Unknown, on 15 Jul 1809 in Pittsylvania Co, VA. (Isabel Harris was born circa 1790 and died in Jan 1825 in Museville, Pittsylavania Co., VA..)

Owen next married Francis (Fannie) Campbell on 19 Sep 1825 in Pittsylvania Co, VA. (Francis (Fannie) Campbell was born circa 1795 in Virginia and died after 1860 in Museville, Pittsylavania Co., VA..)

Owen next married Louisa Kendrick.⁹² (Louisa Kendrick was born on 16 Jun 1820 in Pittsylvania Co., VA. and died on 20 Jun 1882 in Pittsylvania Co., VA.)