1754 - aft 1834
Maryland - Virginia - Indiana
John Conner (b 1793), whose full name appears to be John Russell Conner, is said to be the son of Abner Conner (1754 Maryland) and Ann Russell. Abner may have been the son of James Conner and Ann Unknown. His siblings may have been James, Richard, Daniel, Zadock and Ann Nancy.
The Conners of Conner’s Prairie and Connersville were brothers William and John. They were the sons of Richard Conner, born 1718 in Maryland, and Margaret Boyer [Margaret was a white woman who had been captured by the Shawnees; Richard ransomed her for $200 and the promise to give up their first born son]. Richard and Margaret ’s oldest son was James, b. 1771; then John (1775) , then William (1777), Henry (1780) and Susannah (1783). Richard and Margaret lived with the Shawnees for a while, then (after ransoming son James) moved along with the Moravian missionaries for another while. They were supposedly neutral, but were suspected, probably correctly, of supplying the Americans with information, so they were forcibly removed to Michigan by the British and their batch of Indian allies. When the Moravians and their group of Indians were finally allowed to leave, Richard decided to stay and settled down in what is now Macomb County. William and John roamed around, trading with the Indians near Saginaw Bay, then in 1800 moved down into Indiana and set up a trading post at what would become known as Conner’s Prairie. (This was a few miles north of what would become Indianapolis, on the White River; I'm not sure if it is in Marion or Hamilton County.) John moved closer to settlement, and in 1803 platted the town of Connersville. (This is toward the eastern side of the state on the Whitewater River, in what is now Fayette County, but was at one time Franklin County.) Both of them married Delaware women. Their story is available at the Conner Prairie site. (I should perhaps mention that many people consider these two, especially William, to be despicable characters. As a go-between, William helped broker the treaty that removed the Delaware - including his wife and children - from Indiana; he then married the only available white woman in the area and fathered another 10 children.)
What I am trying to do here is establish a time line.
Richard 1718 Maryland James
James b 1771 Abner b 1754 Maryland - m. 1790 Shenandoah Co, VA
John Ann Nancy m 1791 Shenandoah
William Richard m 1792 Shenandoah
Henry Daniel / Zadock / James
Susannah
It is possible that Richard 1718 was the brother of James and thus the uncle of Abner - and so the Connersville Conners could have been Abner’s cousins. If so, they would have been John Russell ’s first cousins once removed, but because they were about 20 years older than him, they might have been called uncles.
And that is all I have to say about the Connersville connection.
This is what I have about Abner. It comes from a posting by Shirley Starkes on the Conner GenForum (message 2903, Aug 23, 2002). Shirley got it from someone else.
Abner Conner 1754 MD - d. Shelby Co
1754 - born, Maryland - possible parents James and Ann
1774 - to Virginia
1789 Shenandoah Co Personal Property tax
1790 Shenandoah Co Personal Property tax
1790 Mar 1 m Ann Russell b ~1755 d/o John & Isabel (error on clerk’s part says she was d/o David; David was her brother) - Shenandoah Co, Va
1791 Ann Nancy Conner m John Lehew
1792 Richard Conner m Elizabeth Lehew
1793 Shenandoah Co Personal Property tax
1794 Shenandoah Co Personal Property tax
1794 - David Russell deeds 70a to Abner C
1795 Shenandoah Co Personal Property tax
1796 Shenandoah Co Personal Property tax
1796 deed from Abner Conner and Anne, his wife, to Charles Baggerly, dated 22 September, 1796, for a 100 acre tract of land lyin on the manour line on Broad Run and drains of Gooney corner to John Russell, corner to John Cooksey. Although no derivation was given, this was evidently the tract which Conner had from David Russell.(DB K, p.355, dated 27 Sept 1796 recorded 11 Oct 1796. Recorded 11 Oct 1796) no Witnesses. (Rebecca Good, 1979)
1799 an Abner Conner on the 1799 Tax list in. Grainger Co, IN.
1803 Recorded as being in Jefferson Co, TN in 1803.
1807 Indiana Territory Census: Dearborn Co (Which includes modern Franklin, Union, Fayette, Dearborn), IN. Abner Conner Sr. listed. (Also John Conner, Lewis Coner, Richard Conner.)
1810 An Abner & a John b. bef 1810 in Connersville, IN. Connersville is now in Fayette County which was formed in 1819 but in 1810 it was in Franklin County, IN.
1820 Indiana, Franklin, Posey Township:
Abner Conner
1 Male 45 + (Abner Conner, Sr.)
1 Male 10-16 (Abner Conner, Jr)
1 Female 16-26 (Eleanor Conner?)
1 Female 45+ (Ann Russel Conner)
1821 Abner Conner Sr family, including Abner Jr. Move to Shelby County according to Abner Jr's obituary. Kay White correspondent of Elvalee Swift, has him moving in 1823 to Shelby County. [Shelby County formed 31 Dec 1831 from Indian Lands]
1830 Indiana Shelby Jackson 798 (400)
1 Male 70-80 (Abner Conner Sr)
1 Male 20-30 (Abner Conner Jr)
1 Female 60-70 (Ann Russel Conner)
1834 Feb 5; Shelby Co, IN
Abner Conner Sr. pa 13, Feb 5, 1834 -- Abner Sr. owns land for the first time
1840 Indiana Shelby
- Abner 553 / Daniel, Wm 644 / George, Wm R 564 / James 562 / James J 525
1860 Indiana Shelby
- Nancy - Noble Twp
The children of Abner Conner and Ann Russell
Masterton (Massa)
William
Eleanor
Sandra
Abner jr - d Shelby Co
John Russell C - to Spencer Co - m Rebecca Le Hew (French)
Bradford?
From an old letter I have, the information says that John R. had two brothers: Abner & another whose name the writer did not remember. The aunt who wrote the letter also said that the Conner brothers had settled in various areas of Indiana: Abner in Connersville, the unnamed brother in Vincennes and John Russell in Spencer County. (Bert Sellers - Conner GenForum Message #1627 22 Aug 2000)
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Page last updated 14 Dec 2007