Francis (Fanny) Ann Morehead, 1838-1859, Missouri

Fanny Morehead Belles
1838-1859

Fanny Ann Morehead was the daughter of Charles Robert Morehead (1800-1880) and Francis Fannie Warder (1804-1843).  Her father, Charles Robert Morehead was the brother of Caroline Morehead, the wife of Lyman Taft Gunn.  Their daughter Sophia Riley Gunn married John Williamson Moran and that is the family connection to the Morans. Fanny Morehead is also one of the many grandchildren of Turner Morehead.  In addition, Charles Robert Morehead wrote a history of the Morehead family.

Fanny Morehead married Gill E. Belles October 14, 1858 in Lafayette County, Missouri.  She died July 24, 1859, nine months after the wedding.  It's speculation on my part but I think it's very possible she died in childbirth or had complications with a pregnancy and that she and the child did not survive.    

Gill Belles took a second wife in 1862 named Marinda.  They had four children: Hattie, Fannie (a nod to his first wife?), Eudore, and Tarlton.  Gill died in 1902 and Marinda followed him in 1908.

Turner Morehead, Revolutionary War Veteran

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To get back to Turner Morehead you need to start with John Williamson Moran and his wife Sophia Riley Gunn.  Sophia was the daughter of Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn and Caroline M. Morehead.  Caroline was the daughter of Turner Morehead and Polly (Mary) Ann Hewitt Hooe.  The Moreheads and the Hooe's have a rather distinguished history but today I just want to salute Turner Morehead.

Turner Morehead was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, on January 7 or 17, 1757, depending on which record you are looking at.  He comes from a line of Governor's, Attorney's General, and other assorted Moreheads.  Turner married his first wife, Ann Ransdell, on June 14, 1779.   He married his second wife Polly (Mary) Ann Hewitt Hooe on January 14, 1798.  Together he and Polly had eleven children.

Turner Morehead was a farmer for most of his life but he also was a business man and was engaged in the milling business.   He enlisted at an early age in the Revolutionary Army.  He began as a Sergeant in Captain James Scott's Company of Virginia Troops in 1777.  In 1778, he was appointed Captain.  Turner was with Brigadier General Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Stony Point and it has been reported that he was one of the first to climb the parapet.  He received two bayonet wounds during the war.  According to "Adventures of Purse and Person", page 345, Turner was Captain of the Fauquier County Virginia militia during the Revolutionary War.  It has also been reported that he was an "intimate" of General George Washington and that Turner Morehead received a sword from General Washington for his service in the Revolutionary War.

Turner Morehead moved to Barren County, Kentucky in about 1811.  I have seen sources report his death as early as February 23, 1820 and as late as 1824.  So far all sources I've located say that he died in Barren County.  But I'm not so sure about that.  At some point  the Morehead family had connections to Nashville and/or had moved to Nashville through marriages with several of the Morehead daughters.  His wife, Polly, died May 20, 1838, and was buried in the Gunn Plot of the Nashville City Cemetery which is very interesting since her daughter Caroline Morehead did not marry Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn until two years after her mother's death.  Yet her mother is in the Gunn plot indicating an already close connection to the Gunn family.  In addition, the plat maps from 1908 show a "T. Moorehead" buried in the Gunn section.  It might even be possible that if he had been buried in Barren County Kentucky that the family, having removed to Nashville, had his body exhumed and transferred to the Nashville City Cemetery.

"T. Moorehead" in the Gunn Family Plot.  Map dated 1908.

There is much more to discover about the life of Turner Morehead.  I hope to expand upon his story later and to locate definitively his final resting place.

Record of the Morehead Family, 1870, by Charles Robert Morehead

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This gem was found among the papers belonging to Virginia Shumate Moran.  The cover isn't much to look at but the information this book contains is priceless for those of us who are into family history.  The Moran's are connected to the Morehead family via Lyman T. Gunn (one of the first dentist's in Nashville and a very interesting person in his own right) and his first wife, Caroline M. Morehead.  Lyman and Caroline had four sons and one daughter.  It was their daughter, Sophia Riley Gunn, who married John Williamson Moran.  

This history of the Morehead Family was published 1884 in Nashville, TN, and written by Charles  Robert Morehead.  At the time of the writing many of the people I am researching were still alive as was the case with Dr. Lyman T. Gunn.  C.R. Morehead even indicates that  Dr. Gunn's first wife Caroline Morehead had passed away and that he believed Dr. Gunn was living in Nashville with his second wife and they had no children.  There is no mention as to Caroline's cause of death but I believe it was related to the birth of her son Charles M. Gunn.  He was born in 1855 and she died in 1855 and dying in childbirth or because of puerpural (childbed) fever was a common occurrence.

In my research I have found that Caroline Morehead's mother was Mary (sometimes called Polly) Ann Hewitt Hooe.  At least that's the name I've seen on several sites and in other family trees.  However, Mr. Morehead says her name was Polly Ann Hewitt Hove and since the author was her son, I tend to believe that the name is Hove, not Hooe..  Now I just have to prove it. 

I've only skimmed the book and hope to have it scanned into pdf files so that the original document does not deteriorate any more than it already has.  Till that time we don't handle it very often.

Record of the Morehead Family by Charles Robert Morehead,
Leavenworth City, Kansas, 1870.

Preface page from the Morehead Family History.

The Gunn Connection

Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn, a prominent Nashville Dentist, and Caroline M. Morehead were the parents of several children.  One of them was Sophia Riley Gunn who went on to marry John Williamson Moran.  Together they had five children and are responsible for building the lovely Victorian home in Dresden, TN for their family.  

When researching the family history I've noticed that a lot of people don't seem to know, or at least don't bother to mention, that he was staying at the home of his daughter Sophia at the time of his passing.  Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn's obituary can be found at The Nashville City Cemetery website.  The information was originally published in September 7, 1917 in Modern Methods, Article XI entitled "The City Cemetery" by Charles A. Marlin.


Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn - Born at Montague, Mass., April 1, 1810, died in Dresden, Tenn., December 1, 1890, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Sophia Gunn Moran.  He was a descendant of the Montague's of England, his mother being a Montague, and was also connected with the Taft family.  He spent the early years of his life with Mrs. Taft (grandmother of ex-President Taft) after the death of his mother.  Dr. Gunn was educated in Boston, Mass., and attended the Dental Department of the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated in dentistry.  He came to Nashville a few years before the war, and was one of the first dentists of Nashville, being associated with Dr. Morgan and practiced his profession over forty years, in this city.  His office was on what was then known as Spring street, and was one of the leading citizens of Nashville, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church.


For pictures and more detailed information about the Gunn Family and the Nashville City Cemetery check out my other blog post after we visited Nashville in July.