John married Mahala McDaniel on February 20, 1832, when he was 22 years old, in Monroe County, Virginia.  There is a possibly of one child from this union but no confirmation.

He then married Susan Harvey, no record found,  but likely it was in Mercer County, Virginia about 1850.  They had eight children together, in order by age:  Mary Adaline, George, Caroline, Allen, Elizabeth, Albert, Henry, and Burk.

John’s granddaughter Betty once told me that “John kept a path worn over the mountain to his mistresses house”.  When I asked how Susie felt about her husband cheating, she said that Susie was glad to have him out of the way.

Later it was shared with me that there was a rumor that Burk, their youngest daughter, married her half brother, Robert Lee Snider – that Robert was John’s illegitimate child.  Robert was the son of Dimotha Christian Snider.  I have a dna match through Malinda Jane Snider who is also the daughter of Dymotha Christian.  It can be deduced that John’s mistress was Dymotha Christian and that he fathered more than one of her children. It is worthy of consideration when there are dna connections that can’t be explained that John may have spread his seed further.

John was a farmer and it seems he purchased property when he could manage it.  He acquired a nice farm that he was able to pass along to his children.  He was clearly more of a farmer and lover than a fighter because there is no record that he participated in the Civil War.

He died on March 7, 1893, in Mercer County, West Virginia, having lived a long life of 83 years, and was buried in the Keatley Cemetery in Speedway.