Family Tracks and Tales

Starting points:

The Sallee family information included in A Century of Wayne County, presents Moses Sallee as a prominent, prosperous citizen who died in 1840. There is no indication of anything remarkable about his death. Wayne County probate records include no will, consistent with the possibility that he died suddenly. The estate inventory includes not only livestock, farm equipment and furniture but also books related to his service in the Kentucky legislature.

Further discoveries:

A 1966 letter from one of his Kentucky great grandchildren mentions a visit from an unnamed cousin from Texas who said that Moses Sallee drowned in a mill pond. The letter goes on to say that this cousin provided a picture of the unidentified mill (presumably in Wayne County KY), since lost.

Jack Dalton Bailey’s book states that Moses Sallee was “clubbed to death” by Jeff Pemberton. No source is cited.

More recent digitization of newspapers has led to the discovery of an 1852 article describing the belated discovery of the accused killer in living in Iowa under an assumed name. It states that he was returned to Kentucky through the efforts of Judge J.L.Sallee (“Arrest of a Fugitive”, The Tennessean, Nashville TN, 14 June 1852, page 2. Reprinted from the Somerset KY Gazette.)

Next steps:

• Contact the Wayne County Court to see if there are any relevant records available indicating the fate of the accused after his return to Kentucky.
• Try to find any information about the possible location of the mill (and pond) in question.