Here’s an email message from cousin Donna Jean Glascow:
John Elliott Trial Proceedings Newsletter
Hi all you Solomon Baldwin/Sarah Elliott descendants! I finally got my hands on the court records of John Elliott. I was hoping it would give some details of the circumstances surrounding the murder, but it did not. But nevertheless, it is a helpful document to have in your records. It names friends of John Elliott who helped put up his bail money.
As far as the Maness heritage goes, I have (from the comfort of my own computer, of course) left no stone unturned in looking for a Maness/Baldwin or even Lawson/Baldwin connection, and I have found none.
I am intrigued by the names of John Wesley and Alexander that crop up in both Isham Maness (the one who drowned in the Clinch River) and Solomon Baldwin’s descendants. Of course, lots of people were naming their children John Wesley in those days, particularly if they were Methodists. I would guess that folks in that SE Virginia/Kentucky region did not start naming their children John Wesley until after Francis Asbury arrived in 1771, but the name may have caught on, kind of like the name “Lorenzo Dow” did, to later become commonplace whether the people were Methodists or not. If Solomon Baldwin was Regular Baptist preacher like we think, why name a son John Wesley? Would it make sense for Solomon to name a son (Alexander) after a half-brother by a father who obviously did not raise him?
It seems to me that somehow Isham Maness is the most likely candidate to be Solomon Baldwin’s father. The name Isham (pronounced Isom, with a silent “h” as in graham), is originally an English surname and began in the locality of the River Ise in England (ham as in Birmingham, meaning hamlet or town). The surname Maness in all its spellings could very well be Irish as in McManus, and I have found that to be fairly common in Ireland, but I have yet to find an Isham as a forename in Ireland. That would suggest that if Isham Manes were Irish, that his family were at least not fresh Irish immigrants in the late 1700s.
I have certainly let my imagination run away with me, but have not found any documentation anywhere. I have way more questions than answers, but now I am “stucker” than I was when Solomon was a Baldwin!
I just wanted to let you all know that because I have not written anything on this subject or corresponded lately, I have not let the matter rest. I have spent literally hours poring over every scrap of information I can glean. I just thought I’d shake the tree a little bit!
Have any of you had any luck at all?
Cheers,
Donna Jean Glasgow
Descendant of Matilda Baldwin