Andrew Jackson Phalen was the only son born to Andrew Phalen & Elisabeth Finkemeijer who lived. A. J. had an older brother William, born in St. Louis, MO in 1843 but William did not survive to be accounted in the 1850 Putnam County Census. I don’t believe he died in St. Louis otherwise there would be a church record. William likely died on the journey from St. Louis, MO to what was then Kanawha County, Virginia where Andrew Jackson Phalen was born about 1845.
That said, if you’re using the article about Andrew Phalen and Elizabeth “Vinkheimer” from Hardesty’s Encyclopedia, you’re creating a brick wall in your family tree. Every individual surnamed Phalen in the Kanawha Valley – unless they immigrated to that part of West Virginia recently – descended from Andrew Jackson Phalen. (Please note: Andrew Jackson Phalen’s father Andrew was born near Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, not Scotland as we’ve been led to believe. To read more about the Phalens of the Kanawha Valley of WV, please read Andrew Phalen: Pushing Into another Generation).
Andrew Jackson Phalen married his first wife, whose name is recorded at the Putnam County Court, as Mary Jane Kimbleton. Whether she was in fact a Kimbleton or was indeed a Foster remains to be seen. A. J. Phalen is recorded in several records in Putnam County, WV. I’ve yet to locate a record on which his father, Andrew Phalen, used the middle initial “J” as part of his official signature. The simplest available evidence is to look at the county census records in which the two men were easily distinguished: Only the son used the middle intial “J.” The two were never distinguished to my knowledge as “Jr” or “Sr.”
Andrew Jackson Phalen and his wife Mary Jane had at least 14 children before she passed. There is no death record for Mary Jane that I’ve been able to lay my hands on but I believe she lived several years beyond the 1900 Census. In the 1900 Putnam Census, you’ll find Mary Jane Phalen living in a household with her unmarried children beginning with my great-grandfather, John Henry Phalen, and ending with two grandchildren: Alfred and Mayme, children of daughter Margaret Phalen (whereabouts unknown in 1900). You’ll note that Mary Jane is listed as “widowed.”
But in the same census, Andrew Jackson Phalen is listed in the household of son-in-law, Henry Caruthers, and his wife, Annie Belle Phalen, Andrew & Mary Jane’s eldest child. Andrew Jackson Phalen is listed as a “boarder.”
The 14 known children born to Andrew Jackson Phalen and Mary Jane Kimbleton/Foster that I have so far been able to document were:
- Annie Belle Phalen, b. abt 1868, Poca, Putnam County, WV; d. 19 Apr 1917, Olcott, Kanawha County, WV; m. Henry L. Caruthers 28 Jan 1886, Putnam County at the home of Andrew Phalen;
- Susannah Elizabeth Isabelle Phalen, b. abt 1870, Poca, Putnam, WV; d. 1 Jan 1887, Plymouth, Putnam, WV; m. Thomas C. Hedrick 25 Mar 1886; Susannah died on the same day as the birth of her firstborn, Thomas Andrew Hedrick;
- Andrew Ellison Phalen, b. 31 Aug 1871, Kanawha River, Putnam, WV; d. 5 Jan 1933, Mammoth, Kanawha, WV; m. Almerta “Myrtle” Mease 14 Feb 1897 at Plymouth;
- Margaret Jane Phalen, b. 19 Dec 1873, Putnam County, WV; d. 13 Oct 1940, Charleston, Kanawha, WV; m. Joseph W. “Willie” Kistner, 23 Jun 1905, Putnam, WV; Margaret Jane was the mother of Alfred (1 Jan 1892 Putnam Co, d. 29 Oct 1918 Putney, Kanawha, WV as a result of “Spanish” Flu. Alfred was the father of Margaret L. Phalen Crouch, raised by her grandmother Margaret Jane) and Mayme M. Phalen Hargraves, b. 24 Feb 1896 Unknown; d. Aug 1974 Bancroft, Putnam, WV;
- Emma Dean Phalen, b. 1 Oct 1875 Poca, Putnam, WV; d. 19 Feb 1956 Cheshire, Gallia County, OH; m. Bradford Wheeler Blankenship 13 Mar 1898 Putnam County, WV;
- Mary Della Phalen, b. 1878 Poca, Putnam, WV; d. Unknown; m1. Marcus Wood Click, 18 June 1895 Putnam County, WV; m2. William Henry Caruthers, 4 Jan 1904 Raymond City, Putnam, WV; m3. Horace Greely Blankenship, 20 Jul 1912 Kanawha County, WV;
- John Henry Phalen, b. 8 Aug 1879, Poca, Putnam, WV; d. 1 May 1948, Sharon, Kanawha, WV; m. Mary Ethel Harmon 12 Jun 1901 Putnam County, WV (*my great-grandfather);
- Minnie M. Phalen, b. 3 Aug 1881, Poca, Putnam County, WV; d. 18 Dec 1881, Poca, Putnam, WV; COD: Whooping cough;
- William Edward Phalen, b. 3 Feb 1883 Poca, Putnam, WV; d. 7 Oct 1951, Reed, Kanawha, WV; m. Ola Williams 25 Feb 1903, Plymouth, Putnam, WV;
- (Twin 1) Elisha Phalen, b. 22 Jan 1885, Raymond City, Putnam, WV; d. 24 Jan 1885, Poca, Putnam, WV;
- (Twin 2) Elijah “Lige” Phalen, b. 22 Jan 1885, Raymond City, Putnam, WV; d. 26 May 1945, Cabin Creek, Kanawha, WV; m. Joyce Jane Williams 25 Dec 1903, Kanawha County, WV;
- Rilla L. Phalen, b. 18 Jan 1887 Putnam County, WV; d. 1 Aug 1963 Kanawha County, WV; m. William Ohley Fields 3 Oct 1909, Charleston, Kanawha, WV;
- Elkanah “Alcaney” Phalen, b. 13 Jan 1889 Poca, Putnam, WV; d. 28 Jun 1890 Poca, Putnam, WV; (shares a tombstone with brother Elisha in the Poca-Varner Cemetery);
- Ebenezer “Ebbie” Benjamin Phalen, b. 24 Sep 1891, Poca, Putnam, WV; d. 17 Feb 1970, Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, WV; m. Anna Clyde Esque, 8 June 1912 at Hotel Winfield, Putnam Co, WV.
I suspect that Andrew’s wife, Mary Jane, passed away around 1904-05 because on 30 Aug 1906, Andrew Jackson married a second wife, known to me via the records as Mary Ann West. The 1910 Census shows Andrew J. Phalen, aged 64, wife Mary A Phalen, aged 57, and her son by a previous marriage, Carrol E. Cox, aged 15. Only Andrew Jackson and Mary Ann are shown in the 1920 Census, living at Poca. He was aged 74.
Andrew Jackson Phalen died 10 June 1924 at Raymond City, Putnam County, WV and is buried in the Poca-Varner Cemetery behind what is now the Poca Elementary School. His widow, Mary Ann West, went on to marry James M. Carter on 19 Dec 1925 in Putnam County. She was 72 years old, the groom aged 66. Mary Ann died 19 January 1932 and is allgedly buried at Liberty, WV.
