Private in Co. H or K, 63rd Virginia Infantry, C.S.A. Reported by his granddaughter Bess Cox to be a Fife Major and moved to Elliott County after the Civil War.

Listed in the 1869 tax records for Elliott Co., Kentucky, in an area formerly in Carter County.

His death certificate records Eli Lambert, age 89 years 6 months 4 days, born 16 Oct 1836 in With (Wythe) Co. Va, died 20 March 1926 in Wagner, Rowan Co., Ky, married, father Henry Lambert, mother’s maiden name Emla Leedy, both born in Virginia, cause of death influenza, informant Dock Lambert, Crix, Ky, burial in Cox Cemetery.

1870 census of Elliott Co., Ky, Martinsburg precinct, lists as family #125:
Lambert, Eli, 33, farmer; Elvina, 28; William, 9; James, 7; Ephraim, 5; Frances, 2; Sarah, 2/12, born April. All born in Virginia.

1880 census of Elliott Co., Ky, Mocassin precinct, enumerated 4 June, lists on p. 6 as family #33:
Lambert, Ely, 43, farmer, Va Va Va; Manervey, 37, wife, Ky Va Va; Stuart, 14, son, Va Va Va; Frances, 12, dau, Va Va Va; Elizabeth, 10, dau, Ky Va Va; John, 6, son, Ky Va Va; Franklin, 19, son, Va Va Va; James, 17, son, Va Va Va; Margaret, 11, dau, Ky Va Va; Brown, Sylvester, 13, step-son, Ky Ky Ky; Frances, 11, step-dau, Ky Ky Ky; Roda, 6, step-dau, Ky Ky Ky; Lambert, Toby, 1 month, relationship blank, Ky Ky Ky.

1900 censusof Elliott Co., Ky, Mocassin preinct, enumerated 13 June, lists on p. 6B as family #93/95:
Lambert, Eli, 63, b. Sep 1836, Va; Minerva, 58, b. Aug 1842, Ky, married 21 years, mother of 8 children, 7 living; Tobias, 20, b. Apr 1879, Ky; Lydia J., 18, b. Oct 1881, Ky; Doctor D., 15, b. May 1885, Ky.

1910 census of Rowan Co., Ky, Hogtown prec., page 15B, records as family #259:
Lambert, Eli, 75, farmer, Va Va Va; Manervy, 65, Ky Ky Ky; married 32 years, 2nd marriage for both, Manervy mother of 8 children, all living; son John, 35, Ky Va Ky.

In 1920 Eli and Manerva are living with their son Dock, at ages 83 and 78.

The Rowan County News of Feb. 4, 1937 printed this obituary under the heading County’s Oldest Citizen Is Dead:

“Rowan County lost its oldest known citizen on Saturday of last week when Mrs. Minerva Lambert passed away at the home of her son, Dock Lambert, after an illness of several weeks. Funeral services were held at the Cox Cemetery, in charge of Rev. Wesley Cox. Burial was made in the Cox cemetery. Memorial services will be held at a later date.

Mrs. Minerva Lambert was, at the time of her death, aged 95 years. She was making her home with her son Dock Lambert. She was taken ill in December with an attack of flu and her advanced age was a serious handicap to her recovery.

Minerva Cox Lambert was born in Wise County, Virginia. Her parents came to this section early in the last century and located in Elliott County, where she grew up to womanhood and where she was first married in 1865. Following the death of her first husband, Steve Brown, she was united in marriage to Eli Lambert and moved to Rowan County.

It has been her fortune to see all of the great inventions and improvements of the past century developed. She was one of the brightest old ladies in the community, her health remaining good to the very last.

Mrs. Lambert received two checks from the Division of Old Age Assistance, that for December and one for January. A <...line obscured on microfilm...> know that the oldest citizen of Rowan County so far as is known was given the priviledge of knowing her government cared enough to do something for her in her old age.”

(Sounds like the author of the article was a fan of Roosevelt’s New Deal.)

According to Morgan County marriage and census records, the name of Manerva’s first husband was Thomas Brown, not Steve Brown. He might have been known to family as Steve, but I think it more likely that whoever supplied the information for the obituary was confusing Thomas with his father. She was also born in Morgan Co., Ky, not Wise Co., Va, her parents moving from Grayson Co., Va to Morgan Co. about two years before her birth. For some reason almost everyone in Elliott County says they came from Wise or Scott County, even though land records prove that more of them came from farther east in Grayson, Tazewell, Montgomery, or Patrick counties. They had to go through Wise County to get to Kentucky, but most of them never settled there long enough to buy land.

Her death certificate records Manerva Lambert, age 96, born in Morgan Co., Ky, died 30 Jan 1937 in Rowan Co., widowed, father Tobias Cox, born in Va, mother’s maiden name Fanny Stegall, born in N.C., cause of death gangrene of left foot and influenza, informant Dock Lambert, Morehead, Ky, burial in Cox Cemetery. The birthdate field is blank, but the age at death implies a date of birth around 1840/1841. This age is consistent with the 1850 census, which lists Manerva Cock as 9. It is probably more accurate than the later censuses, which show Manerva Brown as 27 in 1870, and Manerva Lambert as 37 in 1880. Her gravestone lists her birthdate as 19 Aug 1840, but it might really be 1841.

Note that of Manerva’s eight children, four of them (Frances Brown, Rhoda Brown, Tobias Lambert, and Lydia Lambert) have the same name as either a parent or sister of Manerva Cock/Cox.