James Cecil
James Timothy Cecil (1805-1871) was the patriarch of Scott County’s Cecil family.
See Also: The Scott County Lineage Project
Biography
Born Sept. 14, 1805, near Monticello, Ky., James T. Cecil was the son of Samuel Cecil (1786-1850) and Catharine Elisabeth Pevehouse (1783-1805).
James Cecil moved to present-day Helenwood, where he married Pharaba Reed (1810-1881), the daughter of Isaac Reed and Phariba Hatfield, in about 1823. Both of Pharaba’s grandfathers were Revolutionary War veterans who moved to present-day Scott County after the war: Joseph Hatfield and John Reed.
James and Pharaba had a large number of children, which may have included: Samuel (1824-1895), Phariba (born 1827), Sarah (1828-1895), William Riley (1828-1903), James Granville (1830-1900), Riley (1831-1862), Isaac (1833-1865), Charity (1837-1921), Catherine (1838-1900), Rebecca (1839-1900), Martin (1840-1900), Nelson (1843-1879), Pheraba Jane (1844-1929), Phoebe (born 1847), Elizabeth (1848-1900), Allen (1851-1925), and Nancy (1854-1880).
Children living in James and Pharaba’s household when the 1850 census was taken included Sarah, Granville, Riley, Isaac, Charity, Catherine, Rebecca, Nelson, Martin, Elizabeth, Malinda, and Pheraba. There were nine children living in the household when the 1840 census was taken, and four when the 1830 census was taken. Allen and Nancy later appeared in the 1860 census.
Some sources list another son, Wilson Cecil, but he does not appear in the census records.
William Riley Cecil married Nancy West (1833-1900), and they were the parents of the Cecils who were involved in the Cecil-West-Smith Feud, along with some of Nancy’s family, in the 1880s. Three of their sons were killed, and William R. Cecil was badly wounded, in that feud. Two of their sons, Reuben and George, were preachers, which started a long line of Cecils in the ministry in Scott County.
A note on the Cecil family: Revolutionary War veteran Timothy Sexton, who moved to present-day Scott County and is the forefather of most Sextons living in Scott County today, was married to Esther Sisel (1761-1850), which is believed to be an alternative spelling for the surname Cecil. However, her parents are unknown, so it’s currently impossible to say whether she was related to James T. Cecil.
Other ties to Scott County
It does not appear that James Cecil’s parents moved to present-day Scott County. Instead, it appears they lived out their lives in Wayne County, Ky. Three of Samuel’s brothers — the sons of Benjamin Cecil (1764-1815) and Priscilla Boydston (1759-1820) — married daughters of John Buttram and Jane Stephenson of New River, though it doesn’t appear that any of them lived in what is now Scott County. John and Jane’s granddaughter — the daughter of Bailey Buttram — married Beaty Cecil, who was a grandson of James Cecil.
Death
James Cecil died on Dec. 5, 1871, and was buried at Old Cecil Cemetery near what is now Tennier Industries in Huntsville. His wife, Pharaba, was buried there when she died on Dec. 23, 1881.