Phoebe Ann Kerns

Phoebe Ann Smith Pennington Kerns
BIRTH 1845
Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County, West Virginia, USA
DEATH 17 Feb 1887 (aged 41–42)
Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County, West Virginia, USA
BURIAL Burial Details Unknown, Specifically: Smith Family Homestead

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/110937823/phoebe-ann-pennington...

Phoebe was a daughter of Andrew Charles Smith and Elizabeth White. She met David B. Wyatt before 1864. He was a son of John Wyatt and Elizabeth Raines. David was drafted into the Civil War and they never married. Phoebe had a son by David and named him Robert Lee Smith. When he was born David B Wyatt's sister Mary Ann who at the time was married to Enos Carr had taken Robert in as he was found on an 1870 Census West Virginia Tucker Black Fork living in the home of Enos Carr and Mary Ann Carr.

On 28 Dec 1865 Phoebe married William Hammond Pennington. He was a son of Solomon A. Pennington and Virginia Jane Wyatt. They had three sons, Andrew Jackson, Eli P. and John Wesley and a daughter Eliza Jane.

Phoebe and Eliza J were living beside her brother John in the home of John Long as Keeping House 1870 Dry Fork, Randolph, WV Census.

Her husband William H Pennington was seen in his parents home as single in the 1880 Census. They may have separated or divorced. I have no proof of that, but she was seen as a widow on her marriage license to John S Kerns.

Andrew J and Eli P were seen with her parents in the 1880 Census at Pendleton, WV with Robert Lee Smith in the home of her parents in the 1880 Union, Pendleton, WV Census.

John Wesley took the name Smith and was seen in the 1880 Census with Phoebe's brother Gabriel.

Phoebe married widow John S Kerns on 25 Jul 1886. They had a son French Scott Kerns. Phoebe died in Childbirth in 1887.

John S Kerns remarried after Phoebes' Death on November 20, 1890 to Margaret Montoney.

Phoebes' parents adopted her son French Scott Kerns. This was noted on a 1900 Census Dry Fork district, Randolph County, West Virginia.

It is believed that she was buried on the Smith Family Homestead in an unmarked grave. Today this property is privately owned. The area of the grave has rocks as headstones; the inscriptions are no longer visible. The area is overgrown.

This information was originally given by Robert Lee Smith to his wife Lucretie and daughter Sarah. Sarah had given much of information to her youngest sibling Calora. Included were copies of the family Bible with names written inside however it was very challenging to find proof of this and to create the story she explained to me before her death in 2007. Over time, it all came together just as it was written.

• Updated from Find A Grave Memorial via mother Elizabeth Smith (born White) by SmartCopy: Sep 28 2015, 3:25:28 UTC

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Phoebe Ann Smith Pennington Kerns BIRTH 1845 Tucker County, West Virginia, USA DEATH 17 Feb 1887 (aged 41–42) Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County, West Virginia, USA BURIAL Non-Cemetery Burial, Specifically: Smith Family Homestead

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/110937823/phoebe-ann-pennington...

Children Photo Robert Lee Smith 1864–1925

Photo Andrew Jackson Pennington Smith 1865–1946

Eli P Pennington 1868 – unknown

Photo Eliza J Long Cosner 1870–1952

John Westley Pennington Smith 1872 – unknown

Photo French Scott Kerns 1887–1960

Phoebe Ann Smith Pennington Kerns
BIRTH
1845
Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County, West Virginia, USA
DEATH
17 Feb 1887 (aged 41–42)
Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County, West Virginia, USA
BURIAL
Burial Details Unknown. Specifically: Smith Family Homestead

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/110937823/phoebe-ann-pennington...