General Notes

Nancy(Dingess)Chapman, according to the 1850 & '70 Logan Co.WV. censuses, was b.1825. The 1880 Logan census suggests, her birth @@1826, while the 1870 Logan Co. census has her birth abt.1827. Nancy is a sister to Peter C."Coffee Pete" Dingess.
Another of her brothers William Dingess, according to the Logan censuses of 1850,'60, &'70,was b.1811, 1813,or 1814 (respectively) according to those aforementioned censuses. Mr.Scalf of Ky. believes him to be the son of Charles Dingess.
However, extensive interviews which I have done lead me back to him being the probable first born of John & Chloe (Farley)Dingess. I have stories of his Farley cousins coming to live with him, placing him again as the son of Chloe Farley-Dingess. This William was known locally as "Panther Bill". The particular details of the hunting story which earned him that name is now lost in the mist of time. "Panther Bill" Dingess married 2nd.wife, Emmaline "Emma" Stollings, d/o Josiah & Lovey (Estes)Stollings. His first wife Rebecca Butcher was probably a dau.of Joshua Butcher & wf.Sarah "Sallie" Clark(e). Therefore Nancy (Dingess)Chapman and her siblings are the children of John Dingess,Sr. b.abt.1781/82 & wf. Chloe Farley b.abt. 1790. John was s/o Peter Dingess, b.Germany abt.1740, & reportedly died, 1809 Va. Peter was a veteran "Patriot" of the American Revolution, and his wife, Mary Smith, was d/o Thomas & Barbara (Anderson) Smith. Peter Dingess, Sr.
was the son of German Immigrants who died during the Atlantic crossing. Their names were, Michael & Gertrude ( ) Dingess. Peter and Mary's parents have been copied and recopied and promulgated without reference to the origin of these facts. I was with the man Sigfus Olafson of Boone Co. WV, shortly after he received the copy of the Dingess records from a Dingess family Bible which, (this from my memory)had made it's way to (Texas ?)through the descendants of one of Peter's daughters
who had married a Mr. Henderson. This is the only reference that I know of from a primary source declaring the parents of Peter Dingess (of the Revolution)and his wife's parents as well. This document arrived to Mr. Olafson about 1975 or '76.
*Nancy Dingess's husband, William B. Chapman was b.Jan.22,1823. He was s/o Edward Chapman, b.Nov.20,1795 and Mary Ann "Polly" Godby, b.Apr. 06,1799. Edward & Polly's marriage record is found in Cabell Co.Va.(wv) marriage records. They married on Sept. 07, 1814. Edward Chapman died: March 25,1871 in Chapmanville, WV.,Logan Co. Ed's wife Mary Ann "Polly" died: June 12, 1871, same location. The parents of Edward Chapman were, John & Dicy (Napier) Chapman; and John Chapman was s/o John
& Sally (Abbott)Chapman, who are my ancestors as well. Dicy Napier was the d/o Patrick & Judith [Burk(e)]Napier. See "History of the New River Settlements & Contiguous Territories" by David E. Johnston, for confirmation on these last statements. I've also used the Chapman-Conley-Godby manuscript for dates and facts.
* Mary Ann "Polly" Godby was d/o William Godbey,b.June 06,1775 Halifax,Va. & 1st. wife, Nancy Elizabeth Dickenson/Dickerson, b.March 06, 1778. He married Nancy Elizabeth on June 07, 1798. I have two conflicting death dates for Nancy Elizabeth, they are:  Apr.14, 1823 or June 18, 1823. She was the d/o Obediah Dickenson/Dickerson & wf., Patience Terry. The wife shown with William Godby in the 1850 Logan Co. census is his second wife, Nancy Workman whom he married about 1834. She was said to be
the dau. of Nimrod Wokman. William Godby and this second wife are absent from the 1860 Logan co. census. According to the "Chapman-Godby-Conley" manuscript by Edward Russel Chapman,(a grandson of Edward & Polly Godby Chapman) William and his 2nd. wife with children moved to Missouri after the 1850 census.
Apparently Edward R. Chapman, or his son who copied the original manuscript made an error in the birth year of the father of William Godby who lived in Chapmanville and moved to Missouri. He lists Wm. of Chapmanvile as the son of William Godby of Fincastle Co. Va. born Sept. 29,{1756?}and died in 1832; and this William (according to Ed.R.Chapman) married Zannah (Susanah?)Dickerson. Zannah Dickerson was born Nov.10,1751..having her first child, John Godby b.March 30, 1769. Certainly Zannah's husband William Godby was born before 1756, which would have made him a father at age 12 or 13. Probably an error in transposition from primary or secondary sources when copy work was done.
*Obviously, it was the intention of Edward R. Chapman to bring forth a manuscript which would be handed down through the generations. As in most of these works, it was a work of love for his heritage and his family. For those reasons, no doubt his intention was to be correct in the application of names dates and particular stories he repeats. We will therefore not allow the fault of one or two common errors to negate the fruit of his work. From what I have crossed checked, the totality of his work is accurate. The stories which he transmits to his progeny and relatives, are stories which had before his writing, were only kept alive within the oral history of the family. Seeing the need to write them down for future
generations, is a credit to this gentleman, Edward Russell Chapman. J.R."Sammy" Hall Logan,WV. July 27,2000