Jonathan Kiher Hedges
1819 - 1912 (93 years)
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Name Jonathan Kiher Hedges Born 31 Jul 1819 Fleming County, Kentucky 
[1, 2, 3] Gender Male Occupation minister and farmer Census 1860 Greenbrier County, West Virginia Census 1870 Clay Township, Braxton County, West Virginia Census 1880 Greenbrier County, West Virginia Census 1900 Meadow Bluff, Greenbrier County, West Virginia Died 15 Nov 1912 Smoot, Greenbrier County, West Virginia [1, 3, 4] Buried Andrew Chapel Cemetery, Williamsburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia [3] Person ID I662 Hedges Last Modified 27 Apr 2023
Father Levi Hedges, b. 24 Nov 1775, Frederick County, Maryland , d. 1 Apr 1847, Fleming County, Kentucky (Age 71 years) Mother Rosannah Ribelin, b. 2 Sep 1780, Yadkin Valley, North Carolina , d. 29 Sep 1848, Fleming County, Kentucky (Age 68 years) Married 1795 Kentucky [1] Family ID F2 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 1 Sallie Anderson, b. 7 December 1831, Albemarle County, Virginia , d. February 1852, West Milford, Harrison County, West Virginia (Age 20 years) Married 8 Jul 1851 [1] Last Modified 18 Feb 2018 Family ID F412 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 2 Margaret Jane McClung, b. 28 May 1832, Williamsburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia , d. 16 Nov 1912, Smoot, Greenbrier County, West Virginia (Age 80 years) Married 29 Dec 1853 Greenbrier County, [West] Virginia [1, 5] Children 1. James William Hedges, b. 26 Sep 1855, Greenbrier County, [West] Virginia , d. 7 Dec 1940, Greenbrier County, West Virginia (Age 85 years)2. Joseph Brilhart Hedges, b. 19 Oct 1857, Trout, Greenbrier County, West Virginia , d. 23 Nov 1932, Ronceverte, Greenbrier County, West Virginia (Age 75 years)3. Sallie A. J. Hedges, b. 4 Apr 1861, Greenbrier County, West Virginia , d. 24 May 1901, Sutton, Braxton County, West Virginia (Age 40 years)4. Martha Rosannah E. Hedges, b. 18 Mar 1864, Monroe County, [West] Virginia , d. 26 Aug 1936, Williamsburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia (Age 72 years)5. Mary Margaret Hedges, b. 3 Aug 1866, Clay Township, Braxton County, West Virginia , d. 15 Oct 1950, Summersville, Nicholas County, West Virginia (Age 84 years)6. Lovinia Alice Hedges, b. 14 Mar 1870, Braxton County, West Virginia , d. 6 Dec 1910, Hominy Falls, Nicholas County, West Virginia (Age 40 years)7. Juliana Lee Hedges, b. 9 Aug 1875, Braxton County, West Virginia , d. 16 Oct 1963, Summersville, Nicholas County, West Virginia (Age 88 years)Last Modified 18 Feb 2018 Family ID F413 Group Sheet | Family Chart
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Event Map 
Born - 31 Jul 1819 - Fleming County, Kentucky 
Married - 29 Dec 1853 - Greenbrier County, [West] Virginia 
Census - 1860 - Greenbrier County, West Virginia 
Census - 1870 - Clay Township, Braxton County, West Virginia Census - 1880 - Greenbrier County, West Virginia 
Census - 1900 - Meadow Bluff, Greenbrier County, West Virginia 
Died - 15 Nov 1912 - Smoot, Greenbrier County, West Virginia 
Buried - - Andrew Chapel Cemetery, Williamsburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia = Link to Google Earth Pin Legend 
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Photos 
Hedges, Jonathan Kiher and Margaret Jane McClung Hedges, Jonathan Kiher
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Notes - MHR note: Information from Lawrence Sherwood in 1958, great grandson of Jonathan. At age 20 he went to Mason County to attend school. He attended Moran's school one term and taught three months in Bracken County, Kentucky. In fall of 1840 he attended camp meeting and became a probationer, September 12. During the next four or five years he attended camp meetings at Shannon, Germantown, Dover, and Cabin Creek (the last named is in Lewis County, Kentucky), where Pascal Vawter bought a mill after the Civil War, said Thaddeus Hedges, who visited there in 1870.
Jonathan K. Hedges became a circuit rider for M. E. Church, South. His first appointment was Little Kanawha circuit. Then came Spring Creek circuit. He walked more than 1,000 miles. He swam a horse over West Fork, getting wet. He was assigned Lewisburg Circuit, 1852 and got $100 per year and had to move to the Virginia and Tennessee rail road when appointed to Monroe Circuit in 1862.
He was assigned to the Braxton circuit, 1865. The last of the articles written by J. K. Hedges was 6 April 1898 in "Methodist Episcopal Advocate", Sutton, West Virginia.
[1] - Two Die, Aged 93 and 82.
Only Thirteen Hours Between Passing of Preacher and His Wife.
Cumberland Md., Nov. 24. – The Rev. Jonathan Kieher Hedges, 93 years old, and his wife, Margaret McClung Hedges, age 92, died within thirteen hours of each other at Smoot, W.Va., yesterday.
The Rev. Mr. Hedges, a native of Kentucky, first joined the Kentucky conference and later the West Virginia conference, this being in the early days of Methodism. His circuit at time included several counties and some years his salary did not amount to over $60.
One son and three daughters survive.
The Washington Post, Washington, District of Columbia. Monday, 25 November 1912, page 3.
[4, 6] - The news of Rev. Jonathan Hedges and his wife Margaret McClung Hedges was covered in multiple newspapers across the nation, including Washington, DC, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and as far away as Honolulu, Hawaii; and undoubtedly many more. Along the way the story was sensationalized to report that Margaret died within ten minutes of hearing of her husband’s death. One version in The Sun of New York went so far as to report “His wife, age 92, ill by his side, said when she heard he was dead, “Well, I’ll go too.” She died within ten minutes.”
In any case, the fact that Rev. Jonathan Hedges was a well-known circuit preacher in West Virginia and the story of the aged husband and wife dying within a few hours of each other made for a touching human interest story.
[7]
- MHR note: Information from Lawrence Sherwood in 1958, great grandson of Jonathan. At age 20 he went to Mason County to attend school. He attended Moran's school one term and taught three months in Bracken County, Kentucky. In fall of 1840 he attended camp meeting and became a probationer, September 12. During the next four or five years he attended camp meetings at Shannon, Germantown, Dover, and Cabin Creek (the last named is in Lewis County, Kentucky), where Pascal Vawter bought a mill after the Civil War, said Thaddeus Hedges, who visited there in 1870.
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