JOHN BELSHA was most likely born about 1818 in Jefferson County, Kentucky, the fourth child and third son of ​​Jeremiah Belsha and Hester McCasland. John's father, Jeremiah, was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, possibly in 1784 or 1785. We do not definitively know the name of either of Jeremiah's parents, although there is some documentation to support that his father's name was Elisha Belsha. John's mother, Hester McCasland, was the daughter of James McCasland of Jefferson County, Kentucky. Her mother's name is currently unknown. 

The Belsha family left Jefferson County, Kentucky sometime between 1820, the birth of their son William, and 1823, the birth of their son, Henry, who was born in Perry County, Missouri. John's father, Jeremiah, was listed on the 1810 census for Jefferson County, Kentucky and on the 1830 census for Perry County, Missouri. Unfortunately, there is no available census for 1820 in Perry County. 

John's family consisted of his parents, Jeremiah and Hester, six brothers and three sisters. For detailed information on each of his siblings, see the Belsha Siblings Biography page.

John Belsha's siblings (including himself) consisted of the following:

Unfortunately, John Belsha is not represented by name in any census documents. In early pre-1850 census documents, only the head of the household was listed by name. By 1850, when the census in Missouri began listing all members of a household, John was already deceased. The information that we have available to learn of his life is limited to marriage documents and probate documents.

We can assume, based on the lives of his sisters and brothers, that John was also a farmer and that he lived in the Bois Brule Township, fertile bottomland adjacent to the Mississippi River in the eastern portion of Perry County, Missouri. We have no records, however, if, as an adult, he farmed his own property or worked as a laborer on the family farm.

Harriet Finch Kinnison was the daughter of Thomas Finch and Nancy (maiden name unknown). Many public family trees have conflicting information on the identity of Harriet Finch Kinnison, most stating that she was from Virginia, but with no information regarding who her parents were or if she had any siblings. Census records of one of her children, Hiram, stated that both of his parents were from Kentucky, while other census records state Virginia and even Missouri.

However, after years of searching, a document was recently discovered in records from Sainte Genevieve County from 1821 that finally shed some light on the identity of Harriet Finch Kinnison Belsha. The Last Will and Testament of her father, Thomas Finch, confirmed long held suspicions that he was, indeed, the father of Harriet Finch. In addition, it gave us information about Harriet's siblings and their family financial status.

It is important to note that, as early as 1820, Thomas Finch was providing for the eventual freedom of his slaves, forty-one years before the beginning of the Civil War. It appeared to be his desire that, when they had obtained the age of thirty-five, they would be granted their freedom.

We also learn through Thomas Finch's will that Harriet's mother's name was Nancy, although her maiden name remains a mystery. She was originally from Virginia and was born in approximately 1770. On July 20, 1821, after her husband's death, Nancy, as principal administrator of the will, appeared with Tunis Quick and John W. Quick as sureties. Nancy eventually married Tunis Quick. The 1850 census lists "Ann" Quick (Nancy Finch), living in the house of her son, John P. Finch in Cape Cinque Hommes Township. She was listed as 80 years old and being from Virginia. This places her birth year at approximately 1770.

Thomas Finch, Sr. died between May 20, 1820 and July 16, 1821. His age at the time of his death is unknown. 

On July 20, 1821, after her husband's death, Nancy, as principal administrator of the will, appeared with Tunis Quick and John W. Quick as sureties. Nancy eventually married Tunis Quick. The 1850 census listed "Ann" Quick (Nancy Finch), living in the house of her son, John P. Finch in Cape Cinque Hommes Township. She was listed as 80 years old and being from Virginia. This places her birth year at approximately 1770.

In 1860 she was still listed as living with her son, John, but the family had moved to Greensburg, in Knox County, Missouri. Nancy died on February 2, 1862 at the age of 91-92 years. She is buried in Saint Joseph Old Cemetery in Edina, Knox County, Missouri.

Harriet's first husband, Joel Price Kinnison, Sr., was the son of Absalom Kinnison, who had been one of the first early settlers in the Sainte Genevieve area of the Louisiana/Missouri Territory. Joel Price Kinnison, Sr. had several siblings, including: John, Presley, Hiram, Absalom, Matilda, Abner, Nancy (married to Brice Young) and a sister whose name is unknown who was married to George Cochran. John Kinnison was the executor to his father's estate and all of the above siblings are mentioned in his father's probate. However, there may have been other siblings not included here.

On the 1828 tax list, the first document on which we find Joel P. Kinnison, Sr. in Perry County, Missouri, he paid taxes on 235 acres and owned one slave.

In the 1830 census, he was found in Perry County. Those listed in the household included:

      • one male, 40 - 49 years old, assumed to be Joel P. Kinnison, Sr. (born 1781 - 1790)

      • one female, 20 - 29,  (born 1801 - 1810) assumed to be Harriet Finch Kinnison

      • one male, 15-19, (born 1811 - 1815), assumed to be Thomas McCabe Kinnison

     • one female, 5-9 (born 1821 - 1825), assumed to be Matilda Kinnison (Wimsatt) (records show she was born on January 25, 1825)

      • two males, under 5 years old (born 1826 - 1830) assumed to be John F. Kinnison and Unknown Kinnison

     • one female slave, 10 - 23 years old

Joel Price Kinnison, Sr. died in approximately 1839. In the 1840 census, Harriet Kinnison wasd listed as the head of the household in Perry County, Missouri. The household included the following:​

      • one female, 30 - 39, (born 1801 - 1810, assumed to be Harriet Finch Kinnison

     • one male, 20 - 29,  (born 1811 - 1820), assumed to be Thomas McCabe Kinnison

      • one female, 15 - 19, (born 1821 - 1825), assumed to be Matilda (married Stephen Wimsatt and died in 1860)

     • one male, 10 - 14, (born 1825 - 1830, assumed to be John F. Kinnison

      • one female 5 - 9 (born 1831- 1835, assumed to be Emily Ann - (lived with her sister in 1850 in Bois Brule)

     • two males under 5 (1836 - 1840), assumed to be Joel (b. 1838) and assumed to be Hiram (b. abt 1840)

     • two slaves, one male under 10 and one female under 10

It is unclear if the children listed above, with the exception of Joel Jr. and Hiram, were actually children of Harriet Finch Kinnison because we don't know when she married Joel Price Kinnison. It is doubtful that the eldest child, Thomas McCabe Kinnison, was Harriet's child because she would have been, at the most, 14 years old at his birth. There are public family trees suggesting that Joel Price Kinnison had a previous wife, Zilaph Dickson, that they had married in 1813 and that she had died in 1835, implying that only Joel and Hiram were children of Harriet.

However, both the 1830 and 1840 census suggest that the oldest woman in the household at the time of each census were the same woman, being between 20 and 29 in 1830 and between 30 - 39 in 1840. It is possible that Harriet and Joel's first wife were approximately the same age and the numbers do, indeed, refer to different women. However, if the woman in the 1830 census is, indeed, Harriet, then it is not likely that Joel's first wife died as late as 1835, as several public ancestry trees claim.

Another issue arises when examining guardianship papers of the children. Thomas J. Finch, brother of Harriet Finch Kinnison, is named guardian of several of the children after Harriet's death. If they were children of his sister's husband and that husband's previous wife, it seems unlikely that Thomas would be named their guardian. However, if he, as Harriet's brother, were their uncle, then the guardianship seems more plausible.

The guardianship papers also name most of the children above as "brothers and sisters." Yet they name Harriet's later children (John Logan Belsha and Sarah Caroline Belsha, children of John Belsha) as "half-brother" and "half-sister" to the children listed above. This strongly implies that all of the children were from Joel and Harriet, otherwise Joel Jr. and Hiram would also have been named "half-brothers" to the earlier children.

Unless and until more documentation is found to support the speculation that the other children (Thomas McCabe, Matilda, John F, and Emily Ann) were Harriet's biological children, only the children about which we have reasonable certainty were her biological children are listed here.​

EDIT: Baptism Records from the Assumption Church in Perryville from 1822 - 1856 (FS image 255) were discovered that state that Malthilda Jane Wimsett, who was born on the 25th of January, 1825, was the daughter of Joel Kinnesson and Hariett Finch. She was baptized as an adult on February 26, 1850. This evidence indicated that Mathilda was most likely the daughter of Harriet Finch and, therefore, Joel Jr., and Hiram's full sister.

EDIT: Additional documentation from Perry County Probate Estate Settlement Records 1847 - 1853 for Thomas McCabe Kinnison indicate that Joel Price Kinnison, Jr. and Harriet Finch were the parents of the following children: Thomas McCabe Kinnison, John F. Kinnison, Joel P. Kinnison, Emily Ann Kinnison, and Hiram Kinnison. Additionally, Harriet was the mother of John Logan Belsha and Sarah Caroline Belsha from her second marriage to John Belsha.

On August 17, 1841, when he was approximately 23 years old, John Belsha married Harriet Finch Kinnison in Perry County, Missouri. The couple were married by A. Hogard, Minister of the Gospel in the Baptist Church. A. Hogard could refer to either Austin or Andrew Hogard, both Baptist ministers. However, neither John nor Harriet were listed as members of the Bois Brule Baptist Church at that time. 

At the time of their marriage, Harriet was already a widow from her first husband, Joel Price Kinnison, Sr. She was listed in the marriage registration as "Mrs. Harriet Kinnison."

Unfortunately, John and Harriet's marriage was short lived. Sometime between February, 1844 (nine months before John Logan Belsha was born on December 21, 1844) and February 1, 1845, John Belsha died. The reason for his death in unknown, as is the location of his burial. John died intestate and his brother, Ferdinand Belsha, (not his wife, Harriet), was appointed the Administrator of the estate. Ferdinand was allowed to make an inventory of that estate on February 1st, 1845.

John Belsha had a fairly extensive probate packet, including several people (including his own brothers) to whom he had owed money. Ferdinand was authorized to sell John's property to pay for his brother's debts. The final settlement of the estate was three years after his death in 1848.

In 1838, John had purchased approximately 60 acres of land in the Bois Brule area (original claimant - William Hickman) from his brother-in-law, John P. Finch. At the time of his death, 50 acres of this land still remained in the estate of John Belsha. His brother, Ferdinand, petitioned the county court to be allowed to pay John's debts by the sale of his other property and retain this particular piece of land. He was apparently successful in his request, because the tract of land was later included in the inventory of the estates of John's children,  John Logan Belsha and Sarah Caroline Belsha.

Shortly after her husband's death and possibly before the birth of her son, John Logan, Harriet Belsha married Robert Wimsatt. Robert, originally from Kentucky, was a widower. His first wife was Susanna Louisa Howard, with whom he had had two children, Catherine and Susan. Susanna died on November 1844 and was buried in the Vincentian Community Cemetery in Perry County, Missouri.

Conflicting records have been recovered regarding the date of Robert Wimsatt and Harriet Belsha's wedding. One, written by the Reverand James Rolando, the priest who married the couple, recorded their marraige as having occurred on July 8, 1844, although the entry was recorded among other, later entries from 1845. On his entry, Reverend Rolando makes a specific notation, within parenthesis, which reads ​​​"cum dispensatione disparitate cultus" which, translated, means "disparity of cult." This phrase indicates that one of the two partners was not of the Catholic faith. As Harriet and her second husband, John, had been married by a Baptist minister, one could assume that the non-Catholic was Harriet.​

A second document, recorded after the fact by Reverend J.B. Escoffier (the priest who later baptized Harriet's children) places Robert and Harriet's wedding on July 8, 1845. His wording, however, casts doubt on which date, 1844 or 1845, is accurate. The death date of Robert's first wife, Susanna Howard, of November 30, 1844, seems to point to the 1845 wedding date being the accurate one.

On April 1, 1846, in the home of Robert and Harriet Wimsatt, Father J. B. Escoffier baptized Harriet's children, Sarah Caroline and John Logan, in the Catholic faith. Father Escoffier noted that John Logan had been born on December 21, 1844. This conflicts with other birth dates recorded for John Logan. Both his gravestone and obituary state that he was born on October 21, 1844. John Logan had two death certificates, both signed on the same day and both with his wife, Mary Elizabeth Belsha, as the informant. The first death certificate was missing the birth date, although the years/month/days recorded indicated a birth date of October 25, 1844. The second death certificate contained a birth date of September 25, 1844.

As obituaries and death certificates are often inaccurate, we choose to accept Father Escoffier's date of December 21, 1844, as John Logan's birth date. The record was created contemporaneously with the baptism, with information likely obtained from the child's mother, who was present at the time, unlike the other documents which occurred 80 years later.​

On August 1, 1847, Robert married Drucilla Phillips. This gives us a death date for Harriet between that date and April 1, 1846, the baptism of her children into the Catholic church, the last known record for her in which we have a date.s The location of her burial has not, as yet, been located.

In the 1850 census, Robert Wimsatt was listed as being married to Drucilla (possibly nee Phillips) Robinson. Their house was a blend of children from his previous marriage to Susanna Howard, the children of his third wife, Drucilla, and a child, (Nancy) Ann (born in 1849), that they appear to have had together. Harriet's children by her marriage with John Belsha (Sarah Caroline and John Logan) were found living with the Belsha aunts and uncles in Bois Brule Township, Perry County, Missouri.d

Robert Wimsatt died in 1854. In his will, he provided for his children from his first marriage with Susanna Howard, as well as his daughter with Drucilla. However, he made no provisions for Drucilla's children from her previous marriage nor Harriet's children. It is quite possible that they were sent to live with their relatives immediately following their mother's death, even though their step-father, with whom they had lived for approximately two years, was still alive.