J1718 George W. Estep
Page 201
[Submitted by Mary Mellichampe, High Point, NC]
J17183 Jesse ESTEPP
Extracted from an obituary in the Paintsville Herald, Paintsville, KY [Johnson Co], 31 Dec 1952, page 1."Well-known man succumbs Tuesday, after a long illness. Rites to be Thursday. Jesse ESTEPP, 72, life-long resident of Johnson County, and a resident of Paintsville for a number of years, succumbed at his home Tuesday following an illness of six months. Born Sept. 6, 1880, he was the son of George and Lydia STAFFORD ESTEPP. He was a member of the Freewill Baptist Church and had spent most of his life as a cabinetmaker here. He is survived by his wife Myrtle MOORE ESTEPP, two sons, George ESTEPP, City, and Jesse ESTEPP, Jr., KansasCity, Missouri; two daughters, Mrs. C.D. EDENS, Burkesville, KY and Mrs. C.H. LENDENDECKER, Versailles, KY.
Other survivors include one half-sister, Mrs. Lucy PATTON, Langley, KY and one half-brother, John R. ESTEPP, Indianapolis, Ind. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 Thursday at the third Street Baptist Church with the Revs. C.H. HOCKENSMITH and Claude PRESTON officiating.Internment will be made in the family cemetery at Middlefork, KY under the direction of the Paintsville Funeral Home."[Note by M.E. Vidal: It has been said by someone connected to the J171 Samuel P. Estep line, father of J1716 James ESTEP and J1718 George W. ESTEP, subjects of the above articles, that Samuel P. ESTEP was not an Estep. Samuel's father was supposedly a RHOTON, but Samuel used his stepfather's surname.
This is not an uncommon occurrence within the Shadrach and John lines. Our position is clear in this matter. We have no intention of abandoning these "Esteps", deny them a place within the ESTEP, Thomas Sr. book. These men and women are in official records as Esteps. To refer to them by another surname at this late juncture would serve only to compound the chaos endemic within these groups. It would thoroughly confuse a reader of the ESTEP book and it would make a genealogist's search of the records an absolute nightmare. It is our policy, as was shown in the ESTEP book, to refer to those individuals in this posiion as a double-named individual, i.e., John Q. Doe-Estep.We would urge those of you who suspect another surname to be more accurate of your lineage to dig into county records and all other kinds and types of records. Establish your suspicions with a reasonable amount of documentation. In nine out of ten cases, hard evidence will not be forthcoming. You will have to rely upon a large amount of circumstantial evidence and family stories. If reasonable proof can be found to support the comment that J171 Samuel P. Estep is a RHOTON, send your findings to us and we will make the information available to Estep researchers.]