Robert Looney, Jr. Branch
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Moses 5 Looney (Benjamin 4, Benjamin 3) was born 24 January 1801, probably in Certer's Valley, Hawkins County, Tennessee, where his father Benjamin 4 Looney purchased 200 acres from Arthur Galbraith in November 1801. At the 1830 census of Franklin County, Tennessee, Moses Looney and wife are listed in the 20 to 30 age group with one girl 5/10 and one girl 10/15. With them lived a female aged 50/60 who was probably Polly (b. 1 July 1774) widow of Benjamin 4 Looney. (Polly was in Franklin County in 1822 as evidenced by trust deed of her brother-in-law Absalom 4 Looney, mentioned above under Benjamin 4 (Benjamin 3) Looney's record. In 1840 Moses 5 is found listed in Polk County, Missouri, age 30 to 40 with one girl 15/20 and one female 50/60 who it seems probable was his mother Polly (actually 66 at that time). (It is unlikely that his wife, if living, was much over 40 at that time.)

He is probably the Moses who on 18 October 1839 witnessed a deed from Benjamin 5 Looney (John 4 and Mary Garrison Looney 5) and wife Mary to John 5 Looney, next younger brother to the grantor. It is not unlikely that Moses 5 and his mother Polly (Galbraith) Looney had followed Moses' uncle John 4 and his wife Mary (Garrison) Looney and their family to Missouri, and was nearby to serve as a witness when his cousins, sons of uncle John 4, had this land transaction.

No further information on Moses 5 Looney is available although several searches in census records of Polk and other counties of Missouri have been made for 1850 and 1860. Did he return to Arkansas, 1841, and then south to Louisiana, 1842?

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John 5 Looney (assigned to Benjamin 4, Benjamin 3) was born say 1798 or 1799, probably in or near Stanley Valley, Hawkins County, Tennessee. At the 1830 census of Franklin County, Tennessee, John was listed as 30 to 40, with wife in same age group and with two boys and three girls, all under 15 years old. This is the county where at this time his supposed brothers Benjamin 5, Moses 5, Anthony 5, and their widowed mother Polly were living.

Nothing further seems known of this John 5 Looney.

Anthony 5 Looney (Benjamin 4, Benjamin 3) was born say 1804, probably in Certer's Valley, Tennessee. At the 1830 census of Franklin County, Tennessee, Anthony Looney and wife are listed in the 20/30 age group with two boys and six girls. This is the county where his (supposed) brothers Benjamin 5, Moses 5, John 5, and their widowed mother Polly were living at that time. At the 1840 census of Franklin they were all gone unless Sally Looney (of "Crow Mountain"), 30 to 40, with three girls, was the widow of Anthony 5 Looney.

(Benjamin 5 Looney (Benjamin 4) had a son named Anthony S. Looney, born 8 October 1825.)

Benjamin 5 Looney (John 4, Benjamin 3) was born 20 October 1797, probably on land that his father purchased of Alexander Martin on the north side of Clinch River about two or three miles below Blackwater and probably only five or ten miles west of Looney's Gap at the head of Stanley Valley, Hawkins County, Tennessee.

When he was a young man he probably accompanied his father John 4 Looney and others from Hawkins County in migrations to the Indian lands in southern

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Tennessee and northern Alabama, prior to 1818. Benjamin 5 was one of those who, like his father John 4 and his brothers John 5, Jesse 5, Isaac 5, and ABSlum 5 (sic), signed the petition of 1819 for permission to remain on their lands for a few months after the date set for their removal. All of these names except those of John Sr. and John Jr. were contiguous and on the 4th page of the third petition immediately following those of Joseph and James Garrison, perhaps their maternal kinsman. Benjamin 5 was only 21 at this time and Absalom 5 was only 15. It is not unlikely that the third petition was circulated farthest down the Tennessee River in Alabama, largely in pre-Jackson County.

According to the obituary of Benjamin 5 Looney he married in Alabama, in June 1818, Polly Willis. From Alabama he moved to north Missouri and thence to Polk County. His name is found in Ralls County at the 1830 census, and in Polk County 1840, 1850, and 1860. He arrived in Polk County during the early thirties. On 26 June 1836, a Presbytery met at his house and organized a Baptist Church.

On 1 May 1838 John 5 Looney and Elizabeth, his wife, sold 10 acres to his elder brother Benjamin 5. (Polk Deeds A, p. 290.) On 18 October 1839 Benjamin 5 Looney and wife Mary sold to John 5 Looney, both being of Polk County, 10 acres that had been entered by said Benjamin Looney. (Perhaps this was a division of land on a quit claim?) One of the witnesses was Moses Looney. That they, Benjamin and John, were brothers is known because John 5 and wife Samantha sold 10 acres of the same description in 1851. (The Moses were listed in the 1840 census of Polk County as 30/40 with an older female 50/60, perhaps his mother. He could be the man, Moses 5, born ca 1801, a younger son of Benjamin 4 and Mary Galbraith, who had lived in Franklin County, Tennessee, in 1830.)

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On 1 June 1840 Benjamin 5 receipted to Isaac Looney, administrator of estate of John 4 Looney for $391.33. On 14 Jume 1843 he receipted to Sally 4 Looney, administratrix of the estate of Isaac Looney ( who had been administrator of John Looney) for $128.67 as a legatee of John Looney, deceased. the sum of these two receipts is $520 which is 1/12 share of the personal estate of said John 4 Looney, the father of Benjamin 5 Looney. Previous to 15 April 1850, Benjamin Looney and Polly Looney, his wife, conveyed to Jesse Grigsby the 1/12 portion that Benjamin had in the lands of John 4 Looney, deceased.

After the death of his wife Mary about 1863, Benjamin 5 married (2) on 2 Feb. 1865 Mrs. Mary Malisa Reed. The will of Benjamin Looney was proved 30 Jan. 1875. (Polk Wills A, pp 236-240). The inventory was dated 1 Feb. 1875. Final settlement was made 13 Jan. 1876. It is reported that he died 2 Jan. 1875 near Morrisville, Mo.

The children of Benjamin 5 Looney, in as far as the compiler has ascertained, probably included:

	By wife Polly Willits:
		Alzira Looney	m. _____ Ruyle and had Wm. A. Ruyle.
		Matilda Looney	m. 3 Feb. 1836 Benjamin Mitchell and had
				Sarah Mitchell.
		Mary E. Looney	b. ca 1845
		(There was also a granddaughter Mary Cunningham.)
	By wife Mary Malica Reed:
		Benjamin Leonidas Looney
		Jesse Edward Looney of Springfield, Mo.  m. 17 Dec. 1885 Sallie
				L. McGuire and had a daughter, Mrs. W. H. Bailey.

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	William Stanford Looney      m. 9 September 1893 Nettie Utley.
	Lina Looney
	Elizabeth Looney
	Matilda (Mattie) Looney

John 5 Looney (John 4, Benjamin 3) was born 18 January 1799, probably on Clinch River in northwestern Hawkins County, Tennessee. (A headstone placed by his son William Gion Looney reads "born 18 November 1799".) He probably accompanied his father and older brother Benjamin 5 Looney in migrations to the Indian lands in southern Tennessee and northern Alabama. Like his father and some of his brothers he signed the petition of 1819 for permission to remain longer on Indian lands.

The place John was married to Elizabeth Littleton is not known to the writer. According to a Bible record she was born 28 February 1800 and their second child was born in 1819. They were probably married in Alabama about 1817 and not enumerated in 1830. There is no room for them in the family of John 4 Looney in Ralls County, Missouri, in 1830.

A grandson, Dr. O. E. Looney, said in a letter, 1934, that his "grandfather John Looney took his family from west Tennessee to Missouri in 1835 settling near Bolivar", which is in Polk County. In another letter he says this was in 1834. John and family certainly reached Polk County, Missouri, before 1 May 1838, when with wife Elizabeth he sold 10 acres to his older brother Benjamin 5, also of Polk County. On 18 October 1839 John 5 purchased 10 acres from his brother Benjamin (adjacent to the above 10 acre tract). The family, of course, is listed in the 1840 census of Polk County. On 23 December 1840 John 5 and wife Elizabeth sold 80 acres in Greene County to Joseph Weaver.

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