Tolliver Family Website

Welcome to the Tolliver Family!

This web site is for all Tollivers whether the name is spelled Toliver or Tolliver.

2009 TOLLIVER REUNION

June 26-27, 2009

Carl D. Perkins Community Center

Route 32/Flemingsburg Road

Morehead, KY

This is for all Toliver/Tolliver families. Most who attend go back to John Toliver b. 1760. We also have persons attend who descend from Joel Toliver b. 1776, Wade Hampton Toliver b. 1815, Jane Toliver b. 1830, Jesse Toliver b. 1756, Charles b. 1789, Zachariah b. 1792, and others. All are welcome. This can be a time of sharing information and pictures and making connections.

Friday, June 26 - 1:00 Registration; set up tables and chairs; display and share family information; visit and renew friendships at the Community Center.

NEW - If you have a veteran in your family, living or deceased, bring a copy of a picture with name and information. There will be poster boards to put these on. We will display them every year. I know of 3 who were killed in action. Moses, Jesse, and John served in the Revolutionary War. Others served in the Civil War and later.

5:30 Dinner at Ponderosa (near Quality Inn)

7:00 Family Talent Show and getting acquainted time at the Community Center.

Saturday, June 27 - 9:00 Registration begins at the Community Center; informal sharing of information and visiting; display veteran's information (see above)
11:00 Welcome, introductions, news. Divide into family groups to share information and meet cousins.
12:00 Potluck lunch
1:15 We have asked the Evans brothers to give us some music. They are descendants of Jacob Finley Tolliver and played for us a couple of years ago.

Fred Brown, co-author of Days of Anger, will share the involvement of Jacob Finley's family in the Feud. He and all of his sons were killed over several years. A descendant of Jacob Finley Tolliver, Joyce Evans Black, will share her mother''s memories written back in the 1950's. Her mother was the daughter of Cate and the granddaughter of Jacob Finley. Cate was shot on the Courthouse steps in 1921.

A representative from each family group (see 11:00 above) will share interesting tidbits learned in the small group. If you have an old relic, bring it and tell us about it.
3:00 Announce winning bids from the Silent Auction. Tour cemeteries and feud sites on your own.
6:00 Dinner at Ponderosa

Housing: The Quality Inn is holding 50 rooms until June 1st. Call 1-606-784-2220 to make your reservation. Tell them you are a part of the Tolliver Reunion. Cost: $62.96. plus tax per night. They also own Days Inn. There is an indoor pool, hi-speed wireless internet, and a continental breakfast.
Campers: Twin Knobs Campground, 5195 KY Hwy 801S; exit #133 from I64. Reservations: 877-444-6777 (10 miles or less).
Talent Show: In the past we have enjoyed hearing some bluegrass and gospel music from Tolliver family members. We hope to do that again this year. This is open to all ages. Bring your specialty and join in. Please let us know if you can participate so we can make plans. We will not have a professional singer this year.
Potluck Lunch on Saturday: For out-of-towners, a near-by Kroger has a bakery and deli; Kentucky Fried Chicken is always good.

Willa Levisa Tolliver Lyons, James and Carolin Tolliver, Rodney and Susan Hall

Happy 100th Birthday!

Willa Levisa Tolliver Lyons, daughter of George Tolliver, granddaughter of Stephen Allen Tolliver, great granddaughter of Hiram Tolliver, and great great granddaughter of Jesse Toliver b. 1756 celebrated her 100th birthday on March 31st. Several members of this family have attended the Reunion.

Country Music Duo "Halfway to Hazard"

David Tolliver and Chad Warrix

Credit: www.HalfwaytoHazard.com

David and Chad have toured with

Country superstar Tim McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill.

David is the great great great great great grandson of John Toliver b. 1760 and Tabitha Howell.

He is the son of Jackie Tolliver from Knott Co., KY.

The Tollivers are very proud of David. Check their website for their music and tour dates.

Dedication of Monument

October 27, 2007

Morehead, KY

The Tolliver Family Association dedicated a monument, featuring the names of those killed during the Rowan County War, also known as the Tolliver-Martin Feud, at the old passenger depot (Chamber of Commerce Office) on Railroad Street. Taking place from 1884-1887, the bloody conflict earned Rowan County a reputation for violence that was international in its scope. Beginning with an election day riot on the Courthouse lawn, the Feud claimed a steady stream of victims for nearly three years, ending at last in a two hour shootout on Railroad Street involving at least sixty gunman, that added four names to the dead list. Remarkably, only one murder resulted in a successful prosecution. County officials, themselves partisan, made only a token effort to staunch the bloodshed. The Feud's most lasting legacy was a school so small it opened its doors on its first day to only one student, then doubled its enrollment the second day. Over the years it grew in scope and influence, until today it literally reaches out to the stars. Yes, Morehead State University traces its roots directly back to those dark and violent times, when it was founded in an effort to educate and civilize a people mired in conflict. If any of your ancestors were surnamed Day, Stewart, Young, Hargis, Alderson,Goodan, Bowling, Keeton, Wilson, McKenzie, Nickel, Trumbo, Humphrey, Martin, Tolliver or Logan or any of a host of others, they may have found themselves in the thick of this conflict. The idea for the monument originated with Tolliver family descendant and feud researcher J. D. Reeder. Its placement near an official Kentucky Historical Society Highway Marker commemorating events in the Rowan County War will provide a permanent record of the names of those who died and serve to educate future generations about this important event in local history.

Names on the monument are: 1884 Solomon Bradley, John G. Hughes, Floyd Tolliver, John P. Martin; 1885 Ben Rayburn, John Marlow, Stewart Bumgardner, Stewart Caudill; 1886 Whit Pelfrey, John C. Day, William O. Logan; 1887 H. M. (Mason) Keeton, John B. Logan, William H. Logan, Hiram Cooper, Craig Tolliver, Jacob F. (Jay) Tolliver, Jr., John R. (Budd) Tolliver, Wylie V. Tolliver, John N. Witcher.

Family members from the families of Bradley, Martin, Tolliver, Logan, and Cooper attended the dedication.

If you would like to help us pay for the monument, please send a check to Dr. J. D. Reeder, 230 Lyons Ave., Morehead, KY 40351.

Byron Crawford wrote a nice article in the Courier-Journal about the dedication Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007.

Janie Strunk, great-great granddaughter of John Martin stands between Jim and Harry Tolliver, great grandsons of Craig Tolliver. It was John Martin who killed Craig's brother, Floyd, and Craig and his friends who killed John Martin. After the dedication, time was spent sharing stories. Janie was quoted as saying, "Everybody was just sharing hugs." It was an emotional time, a time for healing.

Days of Anger, Days of Tears

by Fred Brown and Juanita Blair

The History of the Rowan County War, available for the first time in hardcover, was released at a book signing Saturday, October 27, at the Pine Grove Gallery on Bridge Street in Morehead, Kentucky.

To order the book by mail, send a check for $27.32 to Fred Brown, 211 Rogers Ave., Mt. Sterling, KY 40353. Cost includes postage.

The cover of the book is by Chris Barker. A copy of the print can be ordered at www.pinegroveart.com. She has a gallery in Morehead, KY.

Some of you will remember Speedy Tolliver from the Reunion a couple of years ago. There is a wonderful video of Speedy and his band on the Kennedy Center website.

Speedy Tolliver

Click on Speedy Tolliver to go to the website at

http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium

Then click on Archives on the right hand side; search for Speedy. Enjoy!

You must have Real Player installed on your computer to see this.

Tolliver researchers have long talked about 5 Tolliver/Toliver brothers from North Carolina. In 1916 Florence Wilson Houston wrote a book titled Maxwell History and Genealogy, in which she stated that "Charles Toliver lived in Ashe Co., North Carolina and about the year 1816 he moved to Lawrence County, Indiana, where he entered land in 1817. He had four brothers and two sisters: John; Moses (who) lived in North Carolina and died on the way to Indiana; Jesse; William; Lucy, (who) married William Maxwell;...(and) Sarah, (who) lived in North Carolina; Charles Toliver married Susan Edwards." From this book, we can talk about the five Tolliver bothers from North Carolina in the 1700s. Moses was born before 1755 and died after 1812 on the way to Indiana. Jesse was born in 1756 in Fauquier County, Virginia and died in Ashe County, North Carolina. John was born in 1760 and died in 1863 in Alleghany County, North Carolina. Charles was born in 1765 and died in Lawrence County, Indiana. Sarah was born in 1766 and died in 1836 in Coffee County, Tennessee. Lucy was born in 1770 and died between 1844 and 1850 in Lawrence County Indiana.

Information found in military pension files indicates that about 1770, or five or six years before the Revolutionary War began, John, Jesse, and Moses (and probably Charles and William) moved from Virginia to Surry (later named Wilkes) County, North Carolina, east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The father was still living and was involved in this move, but he is not named in any of the pension records of Jesse or John.

According to Revolutionary War Pension Records transcribed by John C. Tolliver, Jr. at the National Archives, John's family was in Prince William Co., VA (named Fauquier Co. in 1759) in 1756. Frankey, the widow of his brother, Jesse, stated that her husband had been born in 1756 on the Rappahannock River in Fauquier Co., VA and that the family moved shortly thereafter to the James River, 30 miles above Richmond, VA, and that they came to Wilkes Co., NC about 5 or 6 years before the Rev. War which started in 1776 and ended in 1783. The Tolivers bought and were granted many acres of land in what is now Wilkes Co. along Roaring River, Mulberry Creek and the Yadkin River. Eventually they moved over the Blue Ridge to what is now Alleghany Co., NC. Here they acquired vast acreage along the New River and its tributaries. In the above record John states that some time after the Battle of King's Mountain (1780) he moved with his mother to the west side of the Blue Ridge. This raises the question of what happened to his father. To add to the confusion in the late 1770's Dr. John and Mary Hardin Taliferro moved from VA into Surry Co., NC and settled on Stewart's Creek.

If you are interesting in participating in the Tolliver/Toliver/Taliaferro DNA Project, click on the following link. DNA Test

Click here for restoration work on the Old Toliver cemetery in NC .

TOLLIVER REUNION

Carl D. Perkins Community Center

Route 32/Flemingsburg Road

Morehead, KY

June 26-27, 2009

Questions: Please contact:

Emma Lee and Bill Tolliver Dr. J. D. Reeder

472 E. Torrence Rd. Columbus, OH 43214 121 Blackberry, Morehead, KY 40351

ELT1000@aol.com jdreeder2003@yahoo.com

Home 614-267-6556; Cell 614-620-6556 606-784-5669