Mariah LEFFEW ¹

  Research Notes:

It's really only by the process of elimination that Mariah Leffew is believed to have perhaps been a daughter of Joseph Leffew. All of Elisha's and Elihu's daughters, at least those evidenced by census records, have been accounted for, and so only the 3 female children in Joseph's 1830 household remain to be identified. Factoring in the added information from the 1833 school list, it appears we are looking for 2 females age 3-10 in 1830 and 1 female age 10-15. Mariah, born about 1816, fits the profile of the older female. Moreover, Sarah Leffew, who married a brother of Thomas Harvey, fits the profile of one of the younger females. Accordingly, it's reasonable to assume that Mariah and Sally were two of the female children in the 1830 census. It then follows that Joseph may have been Mariah's father and Polly Jones may have been her mother. However, there is no evidence of Mariah's involvement in the administration of Joseph's estate, particularly the disposition of his land. Then again, that seems to have been the case with some other children as well, so that fact may not mean much in trying to determine whether Mariah was Joseph's daughter.

Since there is not a lot to support the proposition that Joseph was Mariah's father, I have opted not to delve too deeply into the Thomas and Mariah (Leffew) Harvey family. Besides, that ground has already been ably plowed by Carole Imes, whose research appears on rootsweb.com. Those interested in learning more about their children and their descendants should consult her rootsweb.com records. ⁴

Mariah married Thomas HARVEY on 7 Nov 1834 in Grainger County, Tennessee.¹ (Thomas HARVEY was born about 1806 in North Carolina or Tennessee,² died on 5 May 1878 in Lawrence County, Illinois and was buried in Lawrenceville City Cemetery, Lawrence County, Illinois ⁴.)

  Marriage Notes:

Indexed as Thos Harvy and M Lephew ¹