William Batey and Catherine Minton

~ ValarieC

Let’s see…where was I with the Batey’s, right, I left off with Philip Batey while I validated a few things on his parents.

Philip Batey’s death certificate was issued in New Albany, Floyd County, Indiana and named his parents as William Batey and Catherine “Mintin” (sometimes spelled Katherine). Squire was key in identifying the correct family in Kentucky because he is a prominent figure in the Batey oral family stories, and Uncle Squire was known to have lived in New Albany, Indiana. There is only one Squire Batey in Kentucky and New Albany, IN between the years 1850 and 1870. And his Kentucky family members include brother, Philip. Philip’s military pension file connected him to his wife, Mary Duggin, his children, his second wife, Almira Chandler, and his death in New Albany. Genealogy is rarely that simple. Yay pension files.

William is born around 1822.  He and Catherine Minton were issued a marriage license that was recorded on 26 December 1842 in Claiborne County, Tennessee.  Catherine Minton was born around 1818.

Next we find the couple with a young family in the 1850 census. They where living in Lincoln County, Kentucky. At this point the family consisted of William, Catherine, Philip, Squire, and Rebecca.

They backtracked towards Tennessee by 1860 where they are found in Knox County with three additional children; William David, Minerva Jane, and Lucy B.

They jump again all the way to the 6th Ward of New Albany, IN by 1870 and then disappear.

The trickier part now is learning more about William and Catherine. This family moved often and didn’t appear to own property, so they are hard to “find”. I settled for just trying to track their movements with the ultimate goal of pinpointing their dates and location of death. Here is the rest of their story.

Migration pattern for the Batey family starting at Claiborne County, TN until their final residence in Floyd County, Indiana. The smaller black line shows the approximate path of the Wilderness Trail, known as the southern route into Kentucky from Virginia.

Since Philip enlisted in the Union Army in 1863 at Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky , I suspect his parents and siblings were nearby as well. Sometime between 1865 and 1868 William moved his family to New Albany, IN.  I have narrowed it down to these few years working backwards from the 1870 census using available digital copies of the New Albany City Directories. No one named Batey or Beaty/Beatty is listed in the 1865 city directory and the next available year is 1868 where William Batey is recorded living on the east side of lower Green Street south of Market and working at Rolling Mill. The next directory is for 1871-72 and Wm. Batey is still listed, but now living on the east side of lower 9th Street between Main and Market and employed as a laborer.

  • 1865 – no Batey’s or Beatty’s listed
  • 1868 – Batey, William, wks Rolling Mill, res e s low Green, 3 s Market (translation: works Rolling Mill, resides east side lower Green, 3rd building south of Market)
  • 1871/72 – Batey, Squire, res Wm. Batey’s
  • 1871/72 – Batey, Wm. laborer, h e s L. 9th b Main and Market (translation: laborer house east side lower 9th between Main and Market)
  • 1873/74 – Beatty, David, lab, bds es Green bet Main and Market (translation: laborer, boards east side Green between Main and Market)
  • 1873/74 – Beatty, Philip, driver, r es Green bet Main and Market (translation: resides east side Green between Main and Market)
  • 1873/74 – Beatty, Squire, driver, r es Green bet Main and Market
  • 1877/78 – Batey, Jennie Miss, cook, bds 10 Market (translation: boards 10 Market)
  • 1877/78 – Batey, Squire, lab, r 10 Market (translation rooms, rents, or resides 10 Market)
  • NOTE: According to maps of the time, Green Street and Lower 9th Street were the same.
1876 map of New Albany showing the 6th ward (the Batey residence on the 1870 Census). The red dot on the left side of the map was lower Green St. (aka lower 9th) between Market and Main (aka High). In the 1868 city directory, William was a worker for the Rolling Mill, which was also in the 6th Ward (large red squares). The full map can be found at DavidRumsey.com.

By 1873/74 William is not listed in the city directory, and neither is Catherine. The only “Beatty” listed are Squire, Philip, and David (William David), all living at the same location as always. It seems Philip came to New Albany at the death or illness of his parents, perhaps to help Squire and his siblings get situated, and then returned to Danville before the next directory publication in 1877. William and Catherine’s record of death or a burial has not yet been found; however, the directories imply they both died in 1872 or 1873.

While they were last recorded in city directories, they were last mentioned in an expose written about Squire in 1905 which simply state, “By the illness and death of his father and mother within a few months of each other…” They lived on the poorer side of town so illness would have been common due to the poor quality of infrastructure for fresh water and sewage disposal. Squire himself was sick with typhoid in 1877 (ironically, sister Jennie, was a cook in 1877 – could you imagine if her name had been Mary!?) This was Squire’s second bout with the disease, the first time was when he was a young child in Kentucky and it left his leg under-developed as he grew to manhood.

Census records for William and Catherine have their states of birth in either Virginia, Tennessee, or Kentucky. There was a family of Batey’s headed by William and Martha nee Westmoreland in Claiborne County TN around the time of William and Catherine’s marriage. If this is the same family, then at least William was possibly born in Tennessee. Another family of Batey’s are found in Cumberland County, Kentucky, though it is possible they are the same group of Batey’s.

William Batey and Catherine Minton had the following children:

  1. Phillip M. Batey b. 16 or 17 March 1845 probably in Lincoln County, Kentucky and d. 22 April 1900 in New Albany, Floyd County, Indiana. First marriage was on 21 November 1867 in Danville, Kentucky to Mary Francis Duggans who died in Danville on 6 July 1890. Second marriage to Elmira A. Chandler on 20 February 1892 in Jeffersonville County, Indiana.
  2. Squire Batey b. abt. 1846 probably in Lincoln County, Kentucky and died 8 March 1912 in New Albany, Floyd County, Indiana. He married Nannie Merity on 10 December 1891. He and Nannie did not have any known natural children. They adopted or raised their niece and grand-niece.
  3. Rebecca Beaty b. abt. 1847 probably in Lincoln County, Kentucky. She is last recorded with the family in 1870 as a single woman working as a seamstress.
  4. William David Baty b. 21 August 1852 in Lincoln County, Kentucky and d. 12 March 1931 in Arlington, Virginia. He married Mary Elizabeth Watkins on 10 February 1875 in Indiana. She was b. 12 September 1858 in Kankakee County, Illinois and d. 11 June 1927 in Washington D.C. They had four children; Mabel, Gertrude, Bela L., and Ray William.
  5. Minerva Jane Batey (may have been Jennie) b. 7 May 1855 in Lincoln County, Kentucky. She has not been found in records, however a “Miss Batey, sister of Squire” died 4 August 1891 and is buried in the same plot as Squire and Nannie with a headstone that names her “Jennie”. I believe this to be Minerva. If I am right, she is the mother of Nettie Batey who was raised by Squire and Nannie and was the informant on Squires death certificate.
  6. Lucy B. Beaty b. abt. 1858 in Kentucky. She married James Montgomery on 3 April 1873 in New Albany, Indiana. He died 3 April 1873 in Indiana.

Published by ValarieC