to the History of
The Midkiff Family
POSSIBLE ORIGINS OF THE MIDKIFF NAME:
"Midkiff" is most likely a corruption of
has a possible origin in an Old English term "mete-cealf". A
mete-cealf was a calf fattened up for eating. In medieval times, the term would probably have
been used as a (somewhat insulting) nickname to describe someone who was as fat
as a prize calf, or who was a cattle herder. This last description is very
appropriate, since there are Midkiff descendants who continue to cattle ranch to
My husband's nephew, David Midkiff, is studying
Scottish Gaelic. He has looked into some other possible meanings of our
surname: "'Midkiff’ was probably derived from ‘Metcalf’,
but it could also have old Celtic roots transliterated over the years. The Celtic languages are divided into
Goedelic (Gaelic - Irish, Scots, and Manx) and Brythonic (Welsh, Cornish, and Breton).
The root ‘mid’ in Goedelic denotes a negative aspect of physical, social, emotional, or natural
expressions. Some examples are 'wrongdoer', 'careless', or 'unfriendly', depending on the root word it precedes.
If you transliterate ‘kiff’ into modern Gaelic, it becomes ‘cath’ which
means 'battle', 'fight', 'wrath', or 'drift like snow (aimlessness)'. In both Celtic
branches, the roots ‘mid’ and ‘cath’ denote negativity and conflict.
Although ‘midcath’ has no literal meaning in either Goedelic or Brythonic branches of the Celtic languages, the roots
combined could imply several meanings: 'foul battle', 'rough fight',
'vulgar wrath', or 'unfriendly drifter (wanderer)'."
Yet another Midkiff researcher, Doug Midkiff,
states, "It is speculated that the name 'Midkiff' is
either English or Welsh, and is derived from the word 'midden' meaning 'meadow'
and 'kiffen' meaning 'ridge', so Midkiffs were people who lived in a meadow near
HISTORY OF THE MIDKIFF FAMILY, c. 1800 -
My husband's primary Midkiff ancestor is Franklin
Preston Midkiff, of whom we have very little information. He was born
around 1800, possibly in Kentucky, although there is supporting evidence that
shows he may have been born in western Virginia (now West Virginia).
Franklin owned land in Lincoln County, Tennessee that adjoined property owned by several other Midkiff
families who hailed from Virginia. It is thus likely that he was related,
but how is not clear, since vital records were not kept at that time and place.
Around the year 1825, Franklin married Ellender
"Nellie" Oliver in Lincoln County, Tennessee (that area is now Moore County,
Tennessee). Nellie was a transplant from
Rockingham County, North Carolina. Together they had at least seven
children, as shown on the 1840 Federal Census: Sarah "Ann"
Midkiff (1826 - 1912); a girl born c. 1825 - 1830; Elizabeth "Betsey"
Carrie Midkiff (1830 - 1912); William "Willie" Franklin Midkiff (1833 - 1920);
John Rufus "J.R." Midkiff (1835 - 1909); another girl born c. 1836 -
1830; and Charles "Charlie" Anderson Midkiff, Sr. (1839 - 1919).
The unnamed girls probably died young, as there is no mention of them in
published biographies of their siblings. It is believed that Franklin died
around 1839, and Nellie about ten years later. Ann was married to John
Monroe Hamilton and remained in Lincoln County for the rest of her days.
Around 1854, Betsey and her husband James B. Slavin, Willie and his wife Frances
Elizabeth Cole, and their respective children, emigrated to Grayson
County, Texas, perhaps to seek their fortunes in the young state. J.R.
and his wife Louisa Maria Cole (sister to Frances) arrived in Grayson County in
1856 - 1857; brother Charlie was definitely there in 1859, when he married Mary
Emeline Wilbourn. Grayson County later divided and the western half of it
became Cooke County;
the Midkiffs lived in both counties at various times.
Willie, J.R. and Charlie all served in the
Confederate Army during the War Between the States (a.k.a. the Civil War, north
of the Mason-Dixon line). Unlike his siblings, Charlie did not remain in
Texas after the war. He apparently had an itchy foot, and continued west with
his wife to Butte County, California, by way of Cleveland County,
Oklahoma Territory, and Delta County, Colorado. His grandchildren settled
in Western Colorado, Central Idaho and Northeastern Washington...all states
where most of his descendants continue to live to this day. One of
Charlie's grandsons took the surname Christian (his mother's
maiden name); so there is a large group of Christian family members living in
Colorado, who might otherwise have the surname Midkiff.
MIDKIFF, TEXAS and MIDKIFF, WEST VIRGINIA
After spending some time growing up in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), J.R.'s youngest
son, Thomas Oscar Midkiff, I, came to Midland County
in West Texas in 1895, where he worked on various ranches and cattle drives
before finally becoming a rancher himself. In 1897, J.R.
also came to Midland County. In 1902 he converted one room of his home
into a general merchandise store and post office. He received an
official permit from the Post Office Department in 1904. The tiny
community, which also included a schoolhouse located
about half a mile away, appeared on Texas maps at that
time as "Midkiff, Texas". In 1906, J.R. sold this home, store
and post office, which continued in operation for another four or five years.
In the 1950s, a fourth-class post office was
reestablished in the community. The name Hadacol was suggested (after the
famous tonic). Because a post office named Midkiff had been previously approved
for the same area, the townspeople were told they could re-establish that old
post office with a lot less paperwork and red tape. The townspeople
agreed, and the Midkiff, Texas post office was re-opened.
Although the new building was located in Upton County rather than Midland County, it
was in the same general area as the original post office established by J.R. Midkiff
some fifty years earlier.
There is also a
Midkiff, West Virginia (Lincoln County), originally settled, no doubt, by a distant branch of the
December 2004: Mary Lou Midkiff has written a book about the West Texas
Midkiff family, titled Midkiff: A Family, Town and Way of Life.
This hardback book traces the history of the Midkiff family and its influence on
the Midland, Texas area, along with the history behind the community of Midkiff,
Texas. It contains 100 photos, and is available for pre-publication order here.
MIDKIFF FAMILY DNA PROJECT:
The Midkiff Family DNA Project is an attempt to scientifically determine whether
(and how) all the Midkiffs in the United States are related. Genealogy by genetics (DNA) is being used by many family
organizations to determine kinship. It is now possible to determine how far
back you have to go in order to find your most recent common ancestor. Armed with this knowledge, we have established
our Midkiff Family DNA Project with Family Tree DNA, a company that specializes in the use of
DNA for genealogical research. The purpose of this project is to break through the brick walls and
establish the connection between the various branches of the Midkiff family.
The test is simple and painless. Your genetic test kit consists of a
cheek scraper and a collection tube. In about five minutes, you will be able to read the instructions and perform a painless cheek scraping.
The effect of using the scraper is about the same as brushing your cheek with a soft bristle toothbrush.
A backup scraper and tube is included to insure that a good sample is obtained by the lab.
They intend that you use them both!
There are two requirements to participate in the DNA project: (1) you
have to be male (because only men carry and pass along the Y-Chromosome); and (2)
you have to have the Midkiff last name from your father, not your mother.
Only one male needs to be tested from each Midkiff line. In order to save money, you
may wish to check with your kin to make sure that two men from the same line are
not being tested.
August 2004: Three Midkiff men who--to our knowledge--have no known
relationship, participated in the Midkiff DNA study. Their DNA proves that
they have a recent common ancestor (apparently
someone who lived in the time frame of 1700-1800). The
problem is right now we do not know who this common ancestor is. Hopefully
soon, we will have more Midkiffs joining the project so that we can better
determine where the ancestry merges.
The earliest known ancestors of each
of the three men who participated were David Midkiff
(c. 1769 - c. 1840s), John Midkiff (b. c. 1740)--both born in Pittsylvania
County, Virginia--and my husband's ancestor, Franklin Preston Midkiff (c. 1800 -
c. 1839) of Lincoln County, Tennessee. Click on any of these names to see
their known descendants (persons known or believed to be living are not listed,
in order to protect privacy).
If you are interested in participating in this
DNA project, please click here.
At a later date, I will be adding links to AnceStories of my
husband's Midkiff ancestors, starting with his grandfather, as well as photos and newspaper
links regarding other Midkiff relations.
|John Franklin Midkiff, Jr.
1910 - 1957
|John Franklin Midkiff, Sr.
1870 - 1926
|Charles Anderson Midkiff, Sr.
1839 - 1919
(brief bio and photo)
|Franklin Preston Midkiff
c. 1800 - c. 1839
Some of the following sites have information on individuals with whom
we have not established a genealogical connection (yet). We hope to
encourage those who may visit this site through these links to participate in
Family DNA Project:
Family Roots from Virginia to West Virginia - Terri L. Smith's Genealogy
Site - includes family photos and Midkiff genealogy from Virginia and West
Virginia. To check out Terri's Midkiff ancestry, click on her book at the
top of her home page or her InterneTree at the bottom of the page, and do a
search for her maternal grandmother, Gretchen Norma Midkiff.
Mahar's Home Page - includes history of his Midkiff half-siblings'
ancestors, who emigrated from Pennsylvania to Kentucky.
Midkiff Page - a site for fans of actor Dale Midkiff. If we could
get him to join our Midkiff DNA Project, we could figure out if/how we're
related to him! ;-)
A Family, Town and Way of Life - a book by Mary Lou Midkiff,
published by Oleo Publishing, is now available for pre-publication order
We need your help identifying photos from the album
of Martha Ann "Mattie" Midkiff White (1865 - 1956), daughter of J.R.
Midkiff and Louisa Cole.
This page is dedicated in loving
memory of Melba Charlene Nixon Midkiff (1919 - 1998) and Betty Lou Midkiff
Bryant (1930 - 2000) . . . two ladies who committed a great part of their
lives to the research and preservation of the history of the Midkiff Family.
Clip Art Graphics
(except for gold bars)
Gold Bars and Backgrounds
AnceStories | Norm's
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visitor number to this website since 8 Apr 2004.
© Miriam Midkiff, 2004,