More Family Traditions-Fact or Fiction?

Well, I've spent this Sunday consumed with creating an Angry Bird cake with my son for Cub Scouts. When it came time to think about a blog topic I was stumped. All I could think about were Angry Birds! So I walked into my office for inspiration, stood in the middle of the room, looked at the piles of stuff and for some odd reason my 5th great grandfather, Jesse Balieu/Bellew Alderson popped into my head. I guess he wants his story told, so here goes.

As family legend is told Jesse Balieu/Bellew Alderson was born some time around 1790, place unknown (at least for now). He was orphaned as a baby or small child, during an Indian raid in Kentucky. His parents identity remains a mystery, although family legend says they were from Ireland, and arrived in America around 1790. It is thought that the circuit-riding preacher Reverend John Alderson adopted Jesse.

Jesse would grow up (it is said) to be tall, red-haired, and "obstreperous". At some point he married Rachel Wooldridge, although the date and place are unknown. Their son Jesse Woolridge, my fourth great grandfather, would eventually become a preacher (giving a very slight credence to the Reverend theory), and marry Louvina Williams.

Nothing else is known about Jesse Balieu/Bellew, which I think is a little sad. I have focused a lot of time on other lines, but may turn my attention to this line for a while. At the very least I would like to find out what his occupation was, certainly who his parents were, and if there is any surviving report about what happened to his family. Or if the story is even true!

*Please note that this story is a family tradition and that I have NO documentation to support any of it! Therefore, it should not be taken as fact and passed on as such.