The letter following I copied from the files of the Kentucky Historical Society. Written 28 Aug 1875 by Mr. Harrison Blanton, then aged 85, of Frankfort, Ky. to his grandson, Harvey Blanton, of Indianapolis, Ind. The grandparents of Harrison Blanton were Richard Blanton & Joanna/Ann/Nancy Sneed Blanton, her name found all three ways on deeds. She was a sister of Catherine (Sneed)Redd (after death of husband John moved to Person Co., NC with various Sneed cousins & some of her children) married John Redd bc 1733 K&Q& d 1789 King William Co., Va. -parents of: Susanna Redd bc 1768 d aft 1815 NC m John Sneed; John Redd 1771-1844K&Q m Rachel Bagby; Elizabeth d aft 1815 NC m Lemuel Sneed; Catherine Redd; Nancy Redd d 1856 K&Q m cousin James Redd; and as mentioned below Samuel Redd (1779-1859 Fayette Co., Ky m Dorothy Bullock & Sarah Rhodes) & Thomas Redd m Sarah as mentioned in this letter. Data on this Redd family from a deposition in 1815 in the Kentucky Court of Appeals re: as heirs to land grant to their father John Redd. Another brother was Israel Sneed who died in Essex Co & wife Mary Crutcher were the parents of: William, Fielding (m Elizabeth Crutcher), Sally (m Thomas Sneed & Edmund Bartlett), Landon b 1770 (m Nancy Edison & Elizabeth Gibson), Achilles b 1772 (m Sally Stewart), John [m 1st cousin, Elizabeth Crutcher d/o of Thomas Crutcher & Martha Foster of Caroline] & Elizabeth Sneed (?m Thomas Lewis).- names of the children of Israel Sneed from lawsuit in the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Bk D, pg. 205 and differ somewhat from the list in the book "Forks of Elkhorn". The children of Mary (Crutcher) Sneed were entitled to 1/8 of the estate of her dec'd brother Leonard Crutcher of Caroline Co. Another brother was Benjamin Sneed d 1781 in Caroline leaving a widow Mary who m 2nd Thomas Ayres - Sep 1801 & Apr 1803 (Ky Court of Appeals) - Carter Blanton & Susanna h/w of Franklin Co., Ky; John Scott & Jane h/w of Woodford Co., Ky; Samuel Coleman Sneed & Thomas Daniel & Mary h/w of Gallatin Co., Ky, Samuel Sale & Elizabeth h/w of Mercer Co., Ky & Thomas Ellison (another part lists him as John Ellison) & Nancy h/w of Mercer Co., Ky. heirs of Benjamin Sneed dec'd..Susannah, Jane, Mary, Elizabeth, Nancy & Samuel Coleman Sneed were children of Benjmain Sneed dec'd of Caroline Co...sell 72 acres in Caroline Co., Va. adj the lands of Henry Motley, Richard Sale & Christopher Blackburn (as per the will of Benjamin Sneed). William Sneed, the son of Israel Sneed, deposed on 15 Aug 1801 in Franklin Co., Ky. that about the last of March 1783, Mr. Thomas Ayres of Essex Co widower, married Mary Sneed of Caroline late wife of Benjmin Sneed dec'd in 1781 & came to live on the plantation of Benjamin Sneed in Caroline. Benjamin Sneed was the brother of the father of William Sneed this deponent. Caroline Co., Va. Order Books = Mar 1744 - John Sneed ack his deed to HIS SON Benjamin Sneed. Aug 1756 - John Sneed ack his deed to Ann Blanton. 1762..Benjamin Sneed constable in the district of Daniel's Mill. 1773 - John Sneed dec'd - Benjamin Sneed, John Sneed, Richard Blanton his exors. 1781 - Benjamin Sneed dec'd - Mary Sneed exor. All of the above would be some of the children of John Sneed who died in 1773 & owned Sneed's Ordinary - LETTER OF HARRISON BLANTON Frankfort, Ky. 28 Aug. 1875 For L. H. Blanton: You have requested me to make a short history of our family. My grandfather Richard Blanton was born in Virginia, his ancestors were from England. My Grandmother was a Sneed. Their children were John Blanton, Charles Blanton, Richard Blanton (my father), Carter Blanton, William Blanton, James Blanton, Mrs. Vaughn, Mrs. Daniel and Mrs. Isaac Crutcher the mother of Richard Crutcher and Louis Crutcher & Mrs. Bailey of Woodford County. All the children except my uncle Charles Blanton and Mrs. Vaughn moved to Kentucky and raised large families. My grandmother was the aunt of Achilles Sneed, Landon Sneed and William Sneed who died in this county, and of Thomas Redd of this county and Samuel Redd of Lexington. The sons of my grandmother, the three Sneeds and the two Redds were remarkable for their similarity of mind, habits and dispositions. They were unsurpassed as men of integrity and uprightness. There were no great men and few office holders among them, all discharged their duties as good citizens. The second class have done very much like their ancestors, no great men, and few wanted public office. Dr. James F. Blanton, the son of my uncle John Blanton, settled in Owen County, and for many years was the leading politician of that county and for several sessions in which he was a member of our Legislature. In one of the sessions in which he was a member, I recollect a conversation I had with the clerk of the House in which he observed that he was more uniform in voting wrong than any member of the House. He was then a true Owen County Democrat. Such voter now would be considered the true loyal voter of the State. Among the incidents in the life of my grandfather may be the one connected with the Rev. Jos. Craig, whose name has been mentioned at a meeting of the Baptists in this State in the present month. Before the Revolution it was not lawful in Virginia for other denominations except what was called the Church of England to be public preachers of the Gospel. An excitement however was created by the old Baptist denomination of whom Reverend Craig was among the leaders of the party. His zeal was so great that he was apprehended, convicted and sent to the Frederick jail, and through the gates of that jail he continued to preach until it was necessary to release him as he was "doing more mischief in than out of jail". Now the connection of my grandfather Richard Blanton, with this Craig imprisonment was that he was the sheriff of the county and he always told us that the first of his official acts was the apprehend and to confine the jail the Rev. Jo. Craig. Our grandfather lived to a great age, between 90 and 100 years and died near Grassy Springs Meeting house, between Frankfort & Versailles. My mother was the daughter of John Combs and Setha Combs of Stafford County, Virginia, who had six sons and two daughters that lived to old age. No recollection that either of them ever held a public office. Of the grandchildren, Gen. Leslie Combs, now of Lexington has bee the only politician and office holder. Another of the grandsons who was prominent in society was Dr. Ennis Combs, late of Montgomery County. He had a good reputation as a physician and good man and probably did more good than any one of the connection. My grandmother Combs was the daughter of one of the Bullitts of lived at The Forest, Virginia, and was the aunt of Alex Scott Bullitt of Jefferson County, formerly Lieut. Governor of Kentucky. She was in her 50th year when my mother was born and lost her husband when my mother was about 11 years old. She continued for many years afterwards to manage her farm, always making more than supported her, which she divided liberally with her children. There was nothing more remarkable in the life of my grandmother than the large fortune she left at her death which was divided among her children. After the birth of her first three children, two sons and one daughter, her father deeded to her one negro boy and two girls to be held by her during her life and at her death to equally divided between these three children and their heirs, but made no provision for subsequent issue. My father and mother were married in 1790 and lived in Frederick County, Virginia, near a small town called Milwood until the spring of 1799 when they moved to Kentucky and settled in Fayette County where the family was raised. They had eight children, myself the oldest and only boy. Five of us were born in Virginia and three in Kentucky. The two last that were born in Virginia died when infants, the others lived to be married women. My father died in 1809. I was born on the 13th of August 1791 and my sister Nancy Clay now living, was born on the 13th of August 1806. My mother was born on the 6th of June 1774 and died the 3rd of April 1840. [signed] H. Blanton P.S. Reverend Jo Craig came to Kentucky, settled in Woodford County and was among the leading Baptist preachers of his day in establishing churches and organizing societies. He was a grandfather of our Newton Craig. My father was in the Revolution, he went as a substitute of his brother John Blanton, was very young, not old enough to be drafted, was at Gate's defeat, and I frequently heard him tell what a great race he made at that time, ran sixty miles to his home without stopping. - ---------------------------------------- This site has data on Samuel Sneed & wife Jane Dudley - she of Caroline Co., Va. - they went to Person Co., NC - Catherine (Sneed) Redd dtr of John who owned the ordinary in Caroline also moved to Person Co with some of her children & two daughters married sons of Samuel Sneed - http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9126/sneed.html