Richard Elkins, IV

Biography

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/148896404/richard-elkins

Richard Elkins and his wife, Nancy Leslie (Lesley, Lasley), widow of John McGuire (had 2 children), brought their family of 12 Elkins children, and settled on land rented from the Dingess family, on Island Creek. Richard and his sons had to work hard to clear the land of cane, to cultivate the corn he would plant. The first year, Richard and his sons were able to cultivate 3,000 bushels, or 100 bushels to the acre, hence, the land must have been at least 300 acres.

Later, Richard’s brothers, Zachariah and William Elkins, arrived. Land was purchased and most the family continued to live in the Logan area, as well as the adjoining Boone County, even to the present day.

Richard and Nancy’s family members were:

• 1. Archibald married Margaret Gillespie
• and Hannah Stephenson
• 2. James married Levina Elkins
• 3. Robert married Sally Harvey
• 4. Israel married Miss Browning
• 5. Richard Jr. married Miss May
• 6. Eddie / Edley married Frances Toney
• 7. Harvey married Elizabeth May
• 8. Lucretia married James White
• 9. Martha married Elijah Elkins
• 10. Nancy married William Walls Wife 1 was Mary Trollinger
• 11. Susannah married John White
• 12. Hannah married William Moore

Nancy Leslie McGuire Elkins was the daughter of William Robert Lasley /Leslie and Elizabeth Buchanan. Her father, first generation American, was originally from Scotland. Then Ireland. It seems that William and his brother, John, were the “black sheep” of the family. They set sail for America. When they landed in New York, they promptly got into a fight. They must have done all right. The brothers went into a barber shop to clean up. William, unaware of relationships, got his throat slit by the barber. The barber was reputed to be a friend of the men they had fought with. William’s brother John took off…. Never to be seen again. William survived his wound to later die at the age of 94 in Pike, Kentucky.

Nancy’s first husband was John McGuire. They had 2 children, William and Nancy, together. John, originally from Ireland, was the first McGuire to settle in Montgomery, VA. He received a land grant of 200 acres on the Bluestone River. When he died, his son, William stayed on to work the acreage he inherited. Her daughter Nancy, was said to have stayed on with her father’s relatives.