Jan 222019
 

This is a theoretical approach to Robert Wallis, who came to York County, Virginia around 1642. It strongly revolves around the name Valentine Wallis. It follows the clue that Valentine Wallis, a unique name, is one of three sons of Robert Wallis. Parish records in Kent, England suggest further linkages.

There are very few Valentine Wallis’ born in England in the 100 years between 1540 and 1640.

A Valentine Wallis is buried in Roxwell, Essex in 1590 and a Valentine Wallis is baptized by Robert Wallis in 1623 (and buried in 1624) by Robert and Anne (Hill) Wallis in Sturry, Kent. Finally a Valentine Wallis is listed as an apprentice in 1658 in London.

Another Valentine Wallis is in Jamestown, Virginia in 1610 according to a land record. This may be an earlier uncle or event the grandfather of Robert Wallis, whose first appearance is in York County, Virginia in 1642.

That MAY be enough to construct a theory – or may not be, but here is an attempt to weave them together.

I am supposing that Valentine Wallis, who dies in 1590 is the father of Valentine Wallis in Jamestown, Virginia in 1610. No record bears this out in one way or the other. If this is true, he could have a brother Robert or something else, say John (John of Scotland is assigned by many as the father of Robert Wallis…I have not been able to find evidence for this) and thus be a great uncle or uncle of Robert Wallis in York County. I think a brother William is the more likely path as there is a William buried in Sturry/Fordwich in 1616 and a Robert Wallis in Sturry (Fordwich and Dover) who marries Ann Hill in 1618 and has children John and Valentine Wallis. Ann dies in 1624 and Robert Wallis appears to remarry to Tomesin Tallis. There is no further record of Tomesin. (Note these are the only Wallis records in Sturry/Fordwich)

If this Robert Wallis is the same Robert Wallis who appears in York County, it is possible that between 1624 and 1641, Tomesin passes away. Robert may return to England and marry a Rebecca. Interestingly there is a Rebecca Johnson in Fordwich, born 1625, for whom I do not find a corresponding marriage record. She could be the Rebecca who is named as an imported wife in 1642. She would be much younger than Robert Wallis, of course.

But it is also interesting that a Ralph Watson marries a Rebecca Johnson in Bromely (a suburb of London and near to all these places mentioned) in 1642. This Rebecca appears to have been born in Bromely in 1612. This may or may not be related to the Rev. Ralph Watson of York for whom Robert Wallis is listed as a debtor in probate.

Furthermore, several William Irelands (who is found with Robert Wallis in Virginia in 1642) can be found in the Canterbury area (of which Sturry and Fordwich are part) in the right time period to have been the associate of Robert Wallis in York County.

The 1658 London apprenticeship of a Valentine Wallis is also interesting because it suggests that one son of Robert Wallis could have returned to the area for the time (or that there is a missing baptism in the parish records I can access).

There is no smoking gun here but I think this might construct a path for three generations of the Robert Wallis family

GENERATION 1

Valentine Wallis b c1540, d1590 Roxwell, Essex

GENERATION 2

Valentine Wallis b c1570 d after 1610, Jamestown, Virginia

William ??? Wallis b c1571 father of Robert. bur Fordwich 1616

GENERATION 3

Robert Wallis b c 1598 m 1618 Anne Hill m 1625 Tomesin Tallis m c1640 Rebecca Johnson father of John (1619), Valentine (1620) and William, Valentine and Robert all born after 1640.

Here are the relevant records:

1610 Jamestown
Providence: seen at the end of Route 633. The property was first owned by VALENTINE WALLIS who came to Jamestown in 1610 as a member of the London Company. It is believed the present house was built around 1760.

1642 York County
William Ireland & ROBERT WALLIS – 700- Examined.
To all to &c. Whereas &c. Now Know yee that I the said Sir William Berkeley Knight &c. doe with the consent of the Councell of State accordingly give and graunt unto William Ireland and ROBERT WALLIS their heires and assignes for ever Seaven hundred acres of land in the Countie of Yorke and lying at the head of St. Andrews Creeke bounded from a poplar North East one hundred seaventie five chaines upon the land of Joseph Croshaw and Richard Maior and thence East by South one hundred and sixtie chaines to a tree where it begann The said Seaven hundred acres being due unto them by and for the transportacon of fowerteene persons into this Colony whose names are in the records menconed under this pattent To have and to hold &c. To bee held &c. Yeilding and paying unto our said Soveraigne Lord the King his heires and Successors for ever yearely at the feast of St. Michaell the Archangell the fee rent of one shilling for every fiftie acres of Land herein by these presents given and graunted which payment is to bee made seaven yeares after the date of these presents and not before according &c. Given &c. dated the thirteenth of July 1642. REBECCA wife of ROBERT WALLIS,, Emanuell a Negroe, Thomas Acone, James Newsam, John Hopkins, ffrancis Stee, Robert James, Nicho: Offley, Thomas Kithley, Richard Robinson, Thomas Dyos, Barbara Miles, Robert Miles Junr. Transcribed from image: Virginia Land Patents Book 1, page 812.

1645 Inventory
[Virginia Colonial Abstracts, Volume III, York County, 1633-1646, [by Beverley Fleet, Virginia Colonial Abstracts, (The Original 34 Volumes Reprinted in 3 Volume I Genealogical Publishing Co., In. Baltimore 1988), Volume III, York County, No. 2, p. 87] List of Debts due the estate of Rev. Ralph Watson, mentions John utye, Thomas Gibson, John Spencer, Richard Wells, ROBERT WALLIS, John Perrin, Robt Bouth to name a few.

1658 London
In 1658 Valentine Wallis is listed as a London Apprentice (not sure for what).

1678 Middlesex, Virginia
1678-1680 Middlesex Co Va Order Book; Antient Press: (Page 183a) Court 26th May 1679 – KNOW ALL MEN by these presents that I John Man of ye County of Middx. and Dorothy my Wife doe assigne & sett over all our Right Title & Interest of ye within men cond. Patent unto Mr. Thomas Roby his heires & Assignes for ever as Witness or: hands this fifth day of April 1679 Witness Patrick Miller. John Man VALENTINE WALLIS Dorothy Man

1722 Pasquotank, North Carolina
Peet, Willlilm
February 8, 1722-1723. March 12, 1722. Late of Long Islan in the province of New York. Sole legatee: James Bullin of Chester, in Penselvany. Executor: James Newbi. Witnesses: Valentine Wallis, Ann Wallis. Proven before Wm. Reed

There seems to be a committed group of researchers who have Robert Wallis with Scottish origins, although some have him from London, and even suggest the maiden name of his wife is a Menough by birth. But the records may point to some Kentish origin.

BROMLEY, KENT
Robert Wallis
C 1573 Robert Wallis (parents not given)
C1575 John Wallis
C 1576 William Wallis
C 1604 Ralph Watson s of Ralph m Rebecca Johnson 1642 (C 1612, bur 1681)
* C 1642 Elizabeth
* C 1644 Ralph
* C 1649 John

FORDWICH and STURRY KENT (Dover)
BUR 1616 William Wallys
Robert Wallis m Anne Hill (bur 1624) m 1618
C 1621 John Wallis
C 1623 Valentine Wallis (bur 1623 in Fordwich)
Robert Wallis m Tomesin Tallis in 1625 (Dover)

Also, Rebecca Johnson, b 1625, Fordwich to William. Also Sprecklin 1615,

A William Ireland is from Chislet and Canterbury about 12 miles away from Sturry

Jun 242017
 

One of my Baltimore German families maps interconnections between the Mullers, Hipchens, Gerstners and Ruffers.

A quick recap.  In the baptismal registers of Holy Cross and St Michael’s Catholic churches in Baltimore godparents for the children in the families above tend to be in a relatively closed circle.  Witnesses on marriage records are also in this circle.  It turns out that George Hipchen married Margaret Gerstner and Joseph Ruffer married Mary Gerstner. They are likely sisters. Both are from Oberschwarzach.

Joseph Muller’s connection is somewhat more difficult.  He is also from Oberschwarzach. He married Annie Hildl (from Kasl) in 1889.  Witnesses where Joseph Ruffer and John Gerstner (Garsten).  His parents are given as Michael Muller and Anna Maria.   In her marriage record, Mary Gestner’s folks are listed as George Gerstner and Anna Maria.  Furthermore, if it is correct, Josef Muller immigrated on the Cimbria in 1882 with Christian and Margaret Gerstner (but they entered in New York, not Baltimore).  I think the simplest explanation is that Anna Maria is the same woman who married first Michael Muller and second George Gerstner.  This can explain the closeness of the Gerstner and Muller families.

The Gerstner/Muller family from Oberschwarzach, Bavaria

Anna Maria & Michael Muller

b 1853 – Joseph Muller

Anna Maria & George Gerstner

b 1861 Margaret Gerstner (m George Hipchen)

b 1865 Christian Gerstner (lives in NYC)

b 1867 Mary Gerstner (m Joseph Ruffer)

b 1870 John Gerstner (m Barbara Scheussler)

see Anna Maria of Oberschwarzach

In this way all would be siblings or half siblings.

The city directories of Baltimore also show the families together at different addresses throughout the 1890s and 1900.  Furthermore, the orphaned children of Joseph Muller are later to show up at these addresses, presumably taken in by their (half) aunts.

Here is a map to give a sense of the complexity of the interrelations.

1901 - Valentine Reitz..Joseph Miller--1923 Mary Miller

1892 Joseph Ruffer

1906 George Hipchen - 1939 Joseph and Mary Ruffer

1892 George Hipchen-Joseph Miller. Joseph Ruffer-1890 George Hipchen

1890 John H Miller - 1898 Joseph Miller

1883 Joseph Miller--1890 George Hipchen

 

May 232017
 
Haviland Wilmot

The Standard Diary

H.G. Wilmot
Thetford, Vermont

*** The Journal was kept by Haviland Wilmot and records daily events on the family’s move from Vermont to Colorado.  After his death in 1912 it was probably kept by his wife, Florence, and then by his granddaughter Eleanor. Records of births, deaths and marriages are kept on pages with no connection to the dates.  I have consolidated these at the end. More anecdotal notes I have moved to an appropriate date to make it easier to follow the 1883 narrative.

1-31-83

Description of my timber claim in Nebraska

SoWest quarter, section 84 in township 25 of range 31

Receipt in Spencer *** Sloan, IA

3-27-83

Helped Charlie draw wood we *** very good luck had to break a road the snow was very deep Went to school meeting this evening was a moderator hope the next time I am moderator it will be in a better or worse crazed, ramming tonight.

3-28-83

HP Cummings settled our business for us to day Priced the stock as follows:

1 Cow                         $40
1”                                $30
1”                                $30
1 “                               $30
1 ***                           $28
2 Steers                       $115
2 1 year olds                $30
9 sheep                        $136
3 Shoats                      $30
——-
469

234
1 Horse                       $100
334
Farm                            650
$984

3-29-83

Went to Thetford Centre to mill got a shot set on the horse had the sleigh shoes fixed Bauchs bottle of chamfirated oil and a bottle of seat oil to take west with me, said goodbye to all the friends I saw I trust I shall see them all again, Charlie chaired wood with Sa. Fletchers oxen.

3-30-83

Tagged 39 sheep and helped Charlie saw the wood he has got the wood all up to the door a handsome pile of 9 cords and a good year’s stock.  Went up to the depot and got a letter from Florence.  I probably should go to the depot again before I go west Went down to Kings this evening.

3-31-83

I went down to Hartland Charlie carried me down 1 1/2 miles below Pampa  I went a foot the rest of the way to the J- had my hair cut there payed the barber 20 bought 2 lbs of new maple sugar payed 18 cents pound When I go to H – took Berts Tram and went to Windsor after Florence sleighing poor signed the deeds tonight Bought this diary tonight payed 80 cents.

4-1-83

Spent the day at Berts Weather cold and pleasant.  F and I went to church, Bert preached on the journey of the children of Israel, first rate discourse Florence and Jule have gone to bed the children.  Berts children are making making noise enough to distract a saint.  Bert has gone to *** to preach this evening I shall go home tomorrow and Flossie will go back to Windsor.

4-2-83

Clear and pleasant a good day *** sap the first one we have had this year Left Berts for home 1 pm Flossie went to Windsor at the same hour.  Met fields at H and fixed business all night Bought my ticket of EM Lewis paid 30,50 first class to Sioux City Iowa Walked up on Pampa took supper at Kinneys.

4-3-83

Bright and pleasant left HR for the west 2:10 pm.  Arrived at Montreal 8:50 pm Left there at 10:10 pm on the Ed Enright  & MB Hart  were my *** I did not take a sleeper and consequently did not rest any I have not been homesick yet. Canada is a pretty rough country but I liked it very much I mailed a postal to Charlie and Florence at Montreal.

4-4-83

Clear and pleasant.  I did not get much rest last night feel pretty well today Wer are going down through C.  at good speed.  Have seen Coke, Ontario it is as large as the whole state of Vermont I am not homesick but all am ***.  I took a sleeping car there payed 15 cents are expecting to *** Michigan.

4-5-83

Had a good nights rest last night and the weather is rainy but warm.  We are crossing the NOWest corner of Indiana Arrived in Chicago 1 pm ***west until 9:30 pm I have looked the city over some saw the Palmer House which is the nicest in the country Mailed a postal to Florence and Charlie.  I am tired but not homesick.

4-6-83

Cloudy took a sleeper last night, had a good rest.  Paid *** a piece.  Arrived to the V*** 5:30 pm the sky is clear and in my pleaant took supper at the *** and have arrived at Sloan 11:30 tonight.  Put up at the hotel.  Did not see Mr. Clough ** I have got the ***

4-7-83

Mr. Clough took us out to a Asise this morning We had a splendid time.  The weather is warmer and pleasant every one is very friendly to me.  I am well pleased with Sloan.

4-8-83

Clear but very windy Fires are burning on the prairie.  Clough took us to a drive. Went out on the prairie. Had a good time. I wrote Charlie and Flossie a letter to day.  Homesick tonight.  We went to the organizing meeting I don’t like such preaching as we heard.

4-9-83

Clear and windy.  I have been to work for Clough today and dreadful homesick.  Want to see little girl and mother and Charlie.  I am not sorry I came here.  I *** dreadfully Charlie and Flossie’s letters and on their way Chas gone to Chicago.

4-18-83

Commenced work for HH Clough this day am to work 4 or 5 yearly months $2300 per month and board.

7-22-83

Thursday noon July 23 Went to walk from JL. Oakes and here I am with nothing but my health and ambition.  My dear wife and boy are looking at me for a home and I pray god that I may be able to get them one soon I find them the best anyone one can ***.

7-21-1891

Tuesday, July 21/91 Left *** for Pueblo, Colorado

Wednesday 22 arrived at Denver walked down to Oakes 7 miles South.

10-3-1891

Denver Colorado Monday Oct. 3, 1891 went to work for the Summit Fuel and Feed Co.

10-7-1891

Wednesday, Oct 7, 1891 Florence and Carl came to Denver.

2-28-1897

WK McCole came to Denver the 28th day of February 1897

Died in Denver Oct 15 before 9 + 10 am 1898

11-1900

Thanksgiving 1900 evening 6pm.  We are well and happy have much to be thankful for.  Florence sewing in fancy needle.  Carl sending.  May we always be as well and happy on future Thanksgiving eves.

HG Wilmot, Florence Wilmot, Carlos A. Wilmot.

This has been a perfect day no snow on the ground.

8-19-1902

Tuesday August 19, 1902 bought 7 room modern house lots 50 x 125 feet se corner 4201 Forest Street Denver Colorado of Patrick Rudgers consideration 3000.00 paid 1800.00 Rudgers holds note 200 payable June 1 1903 benman Boston Building Note $1000 due in three years interest payable semiannually of 6 percent Insured for 1500. Van Camp add lots 18 and 19 blk 2.

8-25-1902

Monday August 25, 1902 moved in our new home.

2-7-1903

Florence left for Vermont Feb’y 7, 1903 her Father died March 5th.  She came home May 16th.

9-1904

Carl A. Wilmot married September 1904

Carl A. Wilmot commenced May 6 for FC Ayers Mer Co as Mgr 6 months June to Sept 6th 1909.

 12-6-1910

Sunday June 12, 1910 Left on Rock Island for Vermont.

5-21-1913

I left Denver May 21, 1913 on 11:30 Rock Island train for Chicago.  Left Chicago May 27 reached Kinneys 4:30 May 29

11-1914

Came back to Denver Nov. 1914

Marriages and Births (interspersed throughout)

Don Carlos Wilmot,  Born July 12, 1816, Died March 18, 1875 – Haviland’s father

Lucy A. Graham, Born August 29, 1821, Died Sept 3 1892 – Haviland’s mother

Herbert, Born July 21, 1854, Sept 17, 1855 – Haviland’s brother

Annabel K. Wilmot, Died Dec. 15 1873, Lowell Mass – Haviland’s sister

Grandpa Joseph Wilmot, Died March 25 1862, Aged 76 Years 4 months

His Wife Mary D. Freeman, Died May 31 1861, Aged 77 years 1 month

Laura L, Died April 28 1879, In the 60th year of age – Haviland’s paternal aunt

Uncle Joe Died Monday August 24th 10 pm, 1896 Born Dec 7, 1826 – Haviland’s paternal uncle

Aunt Siri, Died April 20 1900 – Haviland’s aunt Lucina Graham Wilmot

Sunday, July 8th AM 1903, Jude, rest in peace, You was faithful and we loved you

Carl Haviland Wilmot born April 3rd 1906,  Married September 20, 1929 Ruth Ditter (Oct 8) – grandson

Clifford Graham Wilmot, Born May 30, 1907, Married Bernice Warner Nov 28, 1937 – grandson

Kenneth V. Wilmot, Born July 14, 1909, Married June 6, 1919 Betty Poshir

*** Born Wednesday, am Nov 23, 1910, Married Wilma Lawson Nov 25, 1933 – refers to grandson Norman Wilmot

Haviland G. Wilmot Died Mar 4, 1912 2:45 AM – Haviland’s death entered probably by his wife

Genevieve Carol Wilmot, Born Dec 15, 1915 – granddaughter

Eleanor May Wilmot Mar 23, 1920 – granddaughter

Baby girl born March 9, 1928 – granddaughter Luella Wilmot

Carl Haviland Wilmot Jr, Born Apr 20, 1930 8:45am – great grandson

Albert John Aug 11, 1937, Ralph born mar 11, 1934 – great grandson

Kenneth Eugene, born Nov 19, 1930 – great grandson

Dorothy born April 2, 1934

Norman jr July 23, 1937

Married Chester A. Ryerearsib June 9, 1934

Married Kenneth Burn Sept 18, 1938 Apr 14

Genevieve C. Wilmot was married to Chester A. Ryerearson June 9, 1934 on her graduation day from North High.

Chester A. Ryerearson died June 13, 1936 was buried at Corwn Hill June 16 would have been 27 years old on July 2, 1936.

A very fine young man.

Florence Cecelia Wilmot, Died June 7th 1942 1:45 am, Born Oct 16, 1858, Sunday 1:45 am June 7th 1942 at rest.

Sep 152016
 

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/b3/27/72/b3277221fc743653812a367d45ea07e0.jpg

Georgian Period Huguenot Spitalfields made silk shoes

JEAN DUPRE & ELIZABETH MANE – THEORETICAL PARENTS
OF JEAN, THOMAS & LOUIS DUPREE OV VIRGINIA (1701)

I suppose the line of inquiry  will unsettle some who think it is settled fact that Josias and Mynetta Dupre are the parents of Thomas, Jean and Loys Dupre of Henrico and Brunswick Counties, Virginia. I am still–somewhat in the dark–trying to piece together the origin of this story. It is a not a claim made in the dupre trail. The “myth” of Josias seems to link with Josias Dupree b 1640 d 1712 in Berkeley County, South Carolina (see – http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10608522). This Josias is certainly of the right age to be a father of the three Dupre boys. And then there are claims that the Dupre Bible names the parents of the boys.

The devout French Huguenot family of dupree were honest and ??? in their religion, giving each Sunday to their churches.

At the REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES, this church-going and worship had to be done in privacy or be persecuted. JOSEPH (JOSIAS) DUPRE and his wife MARY took refuge in or near LONDON. Life was hard. They had opportunity to send their sons JEAN (John), THOMAS, and LOYS (Lewis) to Virginia with one of the ministers on the ship ‘Mary Ann’ to Manakintown where other Huguenots were located and they could worship.

Jean and Thomas went to Henrico, then Thomas to Goochland. Loys who carried the Huguenot bible went to James and Elizabeth City and the Isle of Wight. Loys married Larence Ellerbee in Elizabeth City, Va; then moved to Henrico County in 1730s where his brother Jean left him land and a slave. He moved to Brunswick Co. Va where he an Larance reared quite a family of at least 5 sons–Thomas, John, Lewis, James, and Haley–and possibly daughters.

Son Lewis bought from his father the 90 acres of Thomas Ellerby Land. It is surmised that Lewis inherited the great Huguenot Bible at this time in 1748, Brunswick County, VA….

But there is precious little to recommend the story of Josias and Mary/Mynetta:

  1. There is a Josias (b 1640 d 1712) in Berkeley County, South Carolina.  But there is little to connect him to the Henrico Dupre’s
  2. There is a family in Geneva (a stopping point for refugees at the time) but there is no evidence that he went on to Virginia.
  3. None of the boys name a child Josias – seems unlikely they would not honor their father.

I won’t even touch on the pedigrees that have been shared, as I have found little evidence of them one way or the other.

This particular theoretical voyage began by considering the tithing list of Henrico of 1713.  Placement of names may be important, so here are how the top three fall out:

  • Jean Dupre
  • Moise Leurau
  • Thomas Dupre

Moses Leurau is important.  He goes on to marry the widow Janne Forqueran who will herself later marry the widower Jean Dupre.  All told the families seem tight from beginning to end.  Now one record appears for Mosses Leurau… It is for Mosses Lura born 1659 in Spitalfields, London, England.  Spitalfields, itself is one of the centers of lower class French protestants and of English silk clothing production as these French silk weavers brought their trade with them.  On closer inspection, Spitalfields is even more important.  While Andre Aubry (listed in the tithe) can not be found there, a family of Aubry’s can be found and Judicq Aubrey married Jacques Dupre there in the 1690s.  Other names from the tithes, Dupuys and Abraham Soblet also show up Spitalfields

Taking this as a starting point and wading through the Spitalfields (and Threadneedle Street) registers… I believe the trail takes us five generations back to the town of Sedan, Ardennes, France.  And this town (by the way), is known for its silk weaving.  I realize this is the barest of sketches.  But I welcome comments!

The family origin, I find in early baptismal records for Sedan, and then some in a movement to Valenciennes.

Whether the Du Pre family of Valenciennes is, in fact, the same as that in Sedan is hard to tell. However in 1572:

“Tensions were further raised when in May 1572 the news reached Paris that a French Huguenot army under Louis of Nassau had crossed from France to the Netherlandish province of Hainault and captured the Catholic strongholds of Mons and VALENCIENNES (now in Belgium and France, respectively). Louis governed the Principality of Orange around Avignon in southern France for his brother William the Silent, who was leading the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish. This intervention threatened to involve France in that war; many Catholics believed that Coligny had again persuaded the king to intervene on the side of the Dutch, as he had managed to do the previous October, before Catherine had got the decision reversed.”

So Valenciennes was for some time a bastion of Protestantism, but:

“…in 1580, Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma took Valenciennes and Protestantism was eradicated there. Hereafter, Valenciennes remained under Spanish protection, no longer directly involved in later fighting of the ‘Eighty Years’ War. With its manufacturers of wool and fine linens, the city was able to become economically independent.”

Some year before 1633, the family of a Jean  Dupre baptized his 1st child at the Threadneedle Street church. This region of London is known for the Huguenot, bringing with them their silk weaving and tailoring traditions. Jean was a weaver in fact. He also, I think, is the grandfather of the three Dupree brothers who settle in Henrico, Virginia after 1701. It seems likely they spoke English already and had the opportunity to board these ships. In addition, many, but not all, of their Huguenot neighbors can also be traced to this same region as discussed above.

Here is my reconstruction of the family:

1  Dupre [1] – Family of Sedan, Ardennes, France

Oct 252015
 

Peter Buchanan, according to the History of Barnet, Vermont was from the Hern of Cashlea in Stirling, Scotland.  This is fascinating because Cashlie is a small estate not far from the town of Buchlyvie.  The estate itself is mentioned in the Buchanan genealogical treatises.  The family around it is relatively well documented up to a point…  As a matter of intuition and some sleuth work we can connect Peter, albeit much is theoretical.  First, it is undoubtedly important to note that the surname Buchanan as associated with the clan in the area is widespread. And second, that Buchanan names seem to find themselves in almost every family, repeated and reused.

Starting from what we know with relative certainty, Peter Buchanan of Barnet, Vermont was married to Annable Millar.  His marriage record reports that he was from Gartchiol and his wife Annable was the daughter of Henry Miller of Belwill.  We know the names of their children, most of whom are in the records of Barnet and in the records of Drymen parish, clearly linked to both parents.  The first baptismal record gives the parents home as Craigilock–a place that could be related to Craighead, next to Gowston–but all the others give the family home as Gowston or over Gowston.

cashleyPlace is important here.  To review, we have the Hern of Cashlea, Cashlie/Cashley (right, center), Belwill (left bottom), Gartchiol (not on this map but a short distance to the west), Gartinstarry (upper left) and Gowstown (low center).  These places define a small nexus of estates.  Starting with Gowstown, we find that it is sometimes equated with Cashlie.  In this way Over Gowstown might be the same place as Upper Cashley.  Moving on, “Hern,” is a gaelic expression that refers to a corner or a turn in the road.  The Hern of Cashlie, therefore, would seem to refer to a part of the Cashley estate.  Finally, Gartchiol is not part of the Cashlie estate.  It is not far, but seems to be much closer to Gartinstarry – an important link to the Gartinstarry Buchanans.

Now the parentage for Peter Buchanan given in a number of places notwithstanding, I think I have found a reasonable path, which is, albeit, still highly theoretical and should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

 

 Peter might be the son of Alexander Buchanan and Jean Logan.

According to parish records Alexander Buchanan married Jean Logan in Drymen Parish.  I have not found the marriage record, but she is listed as the mother of William, an unnamed boy, and Thomas baptized from 1740 to 1744. The residence is listed as Easter Ballat (or Ballale – not on this map but a short distance to the west).

It appears that her husband Alexander Buchanan might have died at 1744 because we find Jean married to James Buchanan in time to baptized a daughter Jean in 1749.  The residence for this baptism is listed as Easter Ballat (or Ballale).  Easter Ballat is a little to the west of Gowstown.

Now Jean may have been the second wife of Alexander Buchanan because we find parish records for the birth of four children John, Margaret, Andrew and William.  For John the place of residence is listed as Gartinstarry.

Lets look at James Buchanan, the second husband of Jean Logan.  He is possibly married four times – to Margaret Harvey, Agnes Buchanan, Agnes Logan and, finally, Jean Logan.  His residence for the baptism of his first son, James, with Margaret Harvey is Gartinstarry.  His residence for most of his later children is given as Ballat or Wester Ballat.  I think it is likely that Jean Logan and Agnes Logan are sisters.  It is also possible that James Buchanan and Alexander Buchanan were brothers – but it doesn’t seem to fit the record.  James’ first son was James and Alexander’s first son was John.  I believe they were possibly cousins and I will come back to that.

Now Peter Buchanan of Barnet, Vermont had children in this order – James, William, Janet, Henry, Alexander, Jean, Margaret, George and Peter.  Let’s address them one by one:

  • James Buchanan son of Peter, is possibly named after Peter’s stepfather James Buchanan.  Since Peter would not have known is father except as a young child and was presumably raised by his stepfather, he could have named his firstborn son after him.
  • William Buchanan son of Peter, is possibly named after Peter’s brother, William, son of Alexander.  This William may have married the daughter of James Buchanan, Janet Buchanan, another link strengthener (their daughters, by the way, are Jean and Agnes–both reflecting the Logans.
  • Janet Buchanan dau of Peter, is possibly named after Janet Buchanan Millar, her mother Annable’s mother.
  • Henry Buchanan son of Peter, is possibly named after Henry Miller, his mother Annable’s father
  • Alexander Buchanan son of Peter, is possibly named after Peter Buchanan’s father, Alexander -who, as we have said, he didn’t really know.
  • Jean Buchanan dau of Peter, is possibly named after Peter’s mother, Jean Logan Buchanan.
  • Margaret Buchanan dau of Peter, is possibly named after his mother Annable Millar Buchanan’s sister Margaret
  • George Buchanan son of Peter, MIGHT be named after Peter’s uncle George a possible brother of Alexander.  This is a weak link.
  • Peter Buchanan son of Peter, is possibly named after his father Peter.

Now, of course, Peter Buchanan COULD also be the son of James Buchanan and Agnes Logan.  But he names none of his daughters Agnes and none of his sons after the known sons of James Buchanan (James, John, Thomas and Andrew).  In fact, I have for years had him placed in this family – but it just doesn’t look right.  The explanation that James Buchanan is his stepfather and not his father seems to make everything fall into place. Both James Buchanan and Alexander Buchanan lived on the estates at Ballat and at Gartinstarry.  They both married Logans and they both married Jean Logan.

If we have, at least a good theory here, then it is finally time to go to the pedigrees and see what they can tell us.

According to An Historical and Genealogical Essay Upon the Family and Surname of Buchanan by William Auld written in 1775.  The Gartinstarry Buchanans are descended from Duncan Buchanan, a cadet of the Arnprior family (and I will leave this alone at the moment!).  Duncan’s descent goes like this:

  1. John Buchanan 1st of Arnprior & Dorothea Livingston
  2. Duncan Buchanan of Brachern and Buchanan
  3. Duncan Buchanan of Cashlie and Gartinstarry
  4. Margaret Buchanan m John Buchanan, fiar of Cashlie
  5. John Buchanan of Cashlie m Isobel Leckie, Janet Buchanan, Helen Forgie
  6. Duncan Buchanan of Cashlie and Gartinstarry m Katherine Napier
  7. John Buchanan of Gartinstarry
  8. John Buchanan of Gartinstarry

Now, I am not sure there were two last generations of Johns, but going with it, the last John Buchanan had two sons John and James.  John was said to have been a maltman in Glasgow, interesting as they were not the only Buchanan maltman in Glasgow (George, Duncan and another family, I won’t pursue here). I am now on THIN ice.  But since Alexander’s firstborn son was named John, I tentatively assign Alexander to John and since James’ firstborn son was named James, I tentatively assign him to James. This, nicely, makes Alexander and James, first cousins, both connected by records to Gartinstarry. It looks like James’ father could be the James who marries Sophie Lyle in Balfron – but this connection is worth doubting since the name Sophie never appears again… so, following the children of John Buchanan (#8 above)….

John Buchanan of Gartinstarry m ???

1 John Buchanan of Glasgow and Gartinstarry – children Alexander and George (and probably, at least an eldest, undiscovered son named John)

  • 2 Alexander Buchanan m Janet/Margaret Mitchell and Jean Logan (ch: John, Margaret, Andrew, William, Peter?, a boy, Thomas)

1 James Buchanan of Gartinstarry and (ch possibly: James, and Thomas (who marries Agnes Logan first)

  • 2 James Buchanan of Gartinstarry and Ballat m (4 times, last Jean Logan) (1st son is James and daughter marries William son of Alexander)

The 30 Nov 1743 baptism for a child of Alexander Buchanan and Jean Logan is also interesting.  The unnamed boy is born at Easter Ballat.  But the name is torn off.  We know that Peter Buchanan was born 1 Jan 1740/1741 from the History of Barnet.  But this date is on no other record.  I suspect that the baptism was either late or that the oft-repeated date from the History of Barnet might be incorrect.  The name Peter, itself is interesting, as it has not appeared in any of this line of Buchanans.  I do not know who Jean and possibly her sister Agnes’ father was, but I suspect it was a John (and there are no Peter Logans who appear anywhere close).  Since Alexander already had a son John, the name could not have been used.  There are a few Peter Buchanans who could represent another link worth following…I haven’t located one.

I welcome comments!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aug 022015
 

After some decades of making enormous leaps, mis-connections and enjoying the occasional eureka moment, I thought I would share some of the tools that have held up for me both to be self-critical of the family-tree, tale-telling process and because others might find something of use here.

In a general way, I think of four tools that are available in analyzing the family story.  I’ll label them proximity mapping, family reporting, digging rabbit holes and DNA testing.

Proximity mapping

By far the most useful tool, proximity mapping tells a lot.  It is the process of getting to know the “map,” that is who lives with and near whom in both time and space. For centuries, family tended to live together until science, custom, exploration, repression and opportunity cut into the equation that village life was about the same as family life.  Ethnicity and local flavor emerged out of the continuity of family life.  And to find someone in the same village almost screams of a multifold of  genealogically interesting connections.

As this breaks down in the 19th century, so does a sense of surety over the correctness of the linkages.  Yet, it is still useful even now.  Looking at the phone book in my large city, I see family in the common surnames and I know for a fact that many of them are related to me even though we have never met.  Home still means a connection to place.

In terms of determining proximity, these are the general sources that are useful:

  • Censuses
  • Directories
  • Tax records
  • Court and official records (petitions are great)
  • Land records
  • Church records
  • Newspapers

Starting with the surnames of interest, it is useful to construct lists.  The closer you can get to the target the better – a landmark the family lives near, a village rather than a county and even being next to each other in a list (try to look for records that have not been alphabetized).  The closer you get, the more likely that you have a match.  The danger of proximity, of course, is that the closeness tells you that there is possibly a link but not what the link means.  Just because two people with the same surname and general age are close together doesn’t mean they are siblings.  They could be cousins, for example, a very likely scenario in the times when nuclear families were not so closed.  The nightmare scenario, of course, is that they could be random occurrences of the same name in which you will waste years investigating before finally determining that the connection just doesn’t hold up – see rabbit holes below.

Finally,  these lists tell you not only what to expect from the families with the same surnames but they help to predict and verify how the neighbors might be related.  The extended families often stayed together and moved together when they needed to.  At the very least, you know that they likely knew or knew of each other – which then can explain why they are called together in court cases or both take a job with a company in a far away place.  In the grand scheme, where people are mobile, the occurrence of a Sophie Smith with a John Coombs in the records of Pittsylvania, Virginia and then her occurrence again five years later in the records of Cheyenne, Wyoming, means something.  It does not prove she is the same person but it increases the probability of a family relationship enough to make it worth looking.  When you find that five or more people are tracking together, it becomes likely that they trekked together.  That is the beauty of making sure that you are not so focused on a record that you filter out the names that mean nothing to you.  These names will come back to haunt you.

Of course, proximity is also dangerous.  If it is all you have, then, well, its all you have.  Children are born out of wedlock, families raise cousins, heck, I even have a case of an adopted great grandmother who was raised by a family with the very same surname – but unrelated.  So part of the challenge is to go beyond these proximity lists, even when they make strong correlations.  A slight exception is when the proximity records explicitly tell you the relationships as the church records and later censuses do and even, once in a while, the tax, court and newspaper articles.  For this, one delves into family reporting.

 

Family Reporting

A bit of advice when I first started was to interview every elder member of the family and only start to hunt after you have mined every bit of available knowledge.  Honestly, that advice holds up.  That is where the knowledge is and it makes absolutely no sense to start asking records what the actual family can tell you.  In fact, it would be a waste of time.  But, as you go on, you will find that the family remembers what they want to remember.  Life is so full of twists and turns, jealousies and embarrassments, that history gets sanitized.  And as we get closer to the current date, memories are as much an issue.  People lose touch.  They remember what they will and fill in the blanks to avoid living with the unknown.  The point is that firsthand reports are always hiding something or even imagined.  The story just gets socially written by the family and then it becomes gospel (and don’t expect any thanks for challenging this bedrock!).

Here are the sources for family reporting I know in descending order of believability:

  • First hand reports told to you
  • Wills and court cases
  • Church records
  • Newspapers
  • Land records
  • Census

I suspect that it may be surprising to some that the census record might be rated on the absolute bottom of reliability.  The problem, I have seen, is three-fold: first, the linkages are often made by a tired third party record taker who fills in the blanks to finish the day before stopping in for a mug of the favorite brew; second, families tell the most respectable story (for example, nobody says, oh yeah and that is my bastard child) and; third, the family reporter is often whoever is home that day and he or she may or may not know all of the facts (or any of them at all).  An example of the last problem is the super useful category in the 1880 US census that asks for the parent’s place of birth.  Many kids simply never asked or didn’t care where their parents were born, they assumed that it was some place they remember them mentioning living in and that’s that.  There are no repercussions for making it up.  Census records are a great first source.  They must, however, be verified or they are meaningless.

Wills give, on the other hand, enormously important information.  In general, they leave nobody out, because they can be challenged for doing so.  They can span three and even four generations, give important particulars such as land and they are often witnessed or administered by more distant family members because they require as much trust as possible.  That doesn’t mean every name in a will is going to go somewhere on your tree.  Neighbors, friends and colleagues (especially if they fought with a veteran who is writing the will) are often included and this will help you to expand and verify your proximity lists.  And the biggest caveat is that there are often names of clerks, folks who write the wills for the illiterate and just plain people who seem to make a living out of witnessing wills and they can send you way down the wrong path fast.  What do you do with these rabbit holes?

 

Digging Rabbit Holes

My sense is that we all want to avoid ending up like Alice in a wonderland of nonsense by jumping down a rabbit hole that is going to take us nowhere.  But if you are doing your job, you will do it.  Not just once but over and over again.  I have learned that these rabbit holes are actually an important tool in verifying and expanding your family tree.  First of all, it is not only your rabbit holes that are important.  As you read the published genealogies and the endless pixels devoted to the recitation of facts gleaned from other online genealogies, you will find yourself beginning to question and trying to understand what to do with things that just don’t seem right. Trust yourself.  The most promising thing in genealogy is that there are more folks than ever to catch mistakes and question the baloney.  Crowd sourcing will eventually question this stodgy corner of an uptight world.  And we get there by going voluntarily down the rabbit holes.

A rabbit hole then is an elaborate story that has all the right stuff to be believable.  This is the stuff of Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me or the Liar’s Club.  It catches you because you WANT to believe it.  The point isn’t that you have been fooled but that the story had enough truth to capture you.  Two big clues to a rabbit holes are a beloved family story that is passed down through the years and the existence of an aristocratic ancestor (unless you happen to be Shaka Zulu’s granddaughter or Prince Henry).

The beloved family story rabbit hole – Early on I found the story of my ancestor who was supposedly a bengali prince captured while bathing and taken to live in Cornwall.  I love the story.  The image is breath taking and the break from the mundane is refreshing.  Not to mention, it has made my visits to Bengal a little bit of a pilgrimage.  Rabbit holes, besides being about stories like this will consume an enormous amount of time.  In my case, I have read everything I can find about the period of Bengali history covering the lifespan of this fellow.  Only to come up empty handed.  What is astounding, however, is that this story has been repeated across the descending families in Cornwall, the US and Australia.  About a decade ago, someone in Cornwall even wrote an article declaring that my ancestor, who was baptized with the note “a black” in the Truro parish register, was most likely from Africa as Cornwall hosted a number of freed slaves.  And thinking about that assertion even consumed energy.

Fast forward, and here is the positive side of the rabbit hole. I have found enough information to make me believe that Peter Truro (that’s his English name) was quite possibly from Bengal and that he was certainly, at the very least, shanghaied for sailor service,  since he continued a career as a mariner.  Furthermore, he married into a distinctly middle class family and lived in a small port town, I think that he would have had a hard time convincing people he was from Bengal if he wasn’t.  And since the people he knew where not paupers themselves, he would have needed to construct some status (and have good enough manners to defend it).  So what if he stretched the truth from being the son of a not so wealthy merchant or a clerk from the British office?  Maybe he didn’t actually even make this construction but his grandchildren did in order to make it palatable in a world that seems to have been increasingly divided over race and economic status.  The point is not to avoid the beloved family stories but to embrace them.  At the very least they add three dimensions to the two dimensional world contained in the records.  I would even say these rabbit holes are the point in the end.

The aristocratic pretensions rabbit hole – so many of us are hell bent on connecting to an aristocratic line.  As my grandfather once said to me, “why are you doing this?  Do you think there is money there?”  Personally, I find the challenge in uncovering the untold stories, not in retelling the tales (embellished as they are) of the aristocratic class.  So I find it infinitely more satisfying to prove that some poor sod had ten kids in a backwater village, then I do to start regurgitating lineages from the Domesday Book.  But, I do know the thrill of suddenly getting back to William the Conqueror and before.  And that is hard with my pauper families.  The link to an aristocrat opens up a locked historical record and is about the only way to take a family back before the year 1600.

Once, I walked into the Cornish Family History Center and two elderly gentlemen came to assist me.  “Can we help you they said?”  I responded, that I had an interesting story I wanted to verify…and they almost threw me out on the spot.  They later apologized and told me that every American and Australian that came in had an interesting story to verify and it was always about their link to some petty aristocrat with a manor and title.  They hated fueling the fantasies of folks who wouldn’t know a manor house from a gated community.  But I defend the momentum towards the aristocrats nonetheless. Without the link to an aristocrat, you are stuck. Really, it won’t make you feel any more important to discover that your 15th great grandfather held title to Bideford – no, it won’t.  There is no inheritance, nobody will ask you to join the house of lords and most of the British (Keeping up Appearances, aside) may actually think you are a rube.  Do it though. Look for those links and embrace the aristocratic rabbit holes.  Because, once you really find it, your inheritance will be a deep connection with history and the challenge of finding out how your family fell so far and so fast.  The Queen of Hearts will be proud of you.

There is one other type of rabbit hole.  The one that you will dig yourself by starting broad and taking enormous leaps to push yourself further and further back into history.  I have personally dug more rabbit holes than I would like to remember.  I have been exhilarated to “have the story” only to find out days or years down the line that it doesn’t work.  DON’T avoid these either.  Ninety percent of proof is disproof.  All the constructions you make are hostage to this logic.  Genealogy doesn’t get you to the truth…it gets you to the best possibility.  I read about a study that was done after World War II, that suggested about 30 percent of the population of the United States was not related to the father on their birth certificate.  I don’t say this to be shocking.  Humans are not as monogamous or above the table as we like to think of ourselves.  The point is that if you think you are establishing the absolute truth here, you are sadly deluding yourself.  If you learn to love all your family tree as rabbit hole of proportions, you will not be quite so willing to defend its wrong turns and more open to the logic of disproof that will actually contribute to the eventual depth and brilliance of the the whole thing.  At least until Science brings it down again…. Which brings me to DNA.

 

DNA Testing

I actually don’t use this as a tool myself.  I stand on the outside as a curious observer as my cousins in arms have joined the human DNA project with the idea of getting to the truth.  And I am impressed that a test can often tell you, you are barking up the wrong tree.  It can also direct you towards the one that is more genetically correct (and thus worthy of your time).  So as I say it, DNA is a great tool for disproving rabbit holes.  It also presents a new and wonderful set of tools for sending you off  closer to the right direction.  But it cannot substitute for tale telling enterprise of the family historian.  It cannot give the content.  I think we may think we are heading towards a promise that the human DNA may be imminently knowable, that we will all know the medium term answer to where we come from, that we will type in our names into a database and be told exactly who on the planet we relate to.  Malarkey.  First of all, the progression backwards is exponential.  We do not need a database to tell us that we are so inextricably intermarried — because the number of direct ancestors we have after 500 years begins to surpass the actual population on the planet — that the best way to think of the human race IS as one big family.  DNA can help us to understand that.  It can be a solid tool in moving us closer to understanding family history – but it cannot give the particulars, tell the stories or follow the waves of history that are what we learn from the enterprise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Davis Family Center

 Davis Family Musings  Comments Off on Davis Family Center
May 282015
 

According to House of Names, The Welsh Davis surname is a patronymic, meaning son of David. Ultimately derived from the Hebrew name “David,” meaning “beloved,” the name became a popular given name throughout Medieval Europe due to the biblical king David of Israel. … The name came to be used as a patronymic name by the Brythonic people of Wales.

I have three Davis lines – My main line, with some certainty begin with William Davis born about 1750 in Charles County, Maryland and his family in Pendleton/Abbeville/Anderson, South Carolina. Based on an enormous amount of research compiled by many enthusiastic researchers over the last 100 years, the line tries to incorporate a line of records leading back to Capt. Thomas Davis in the 1600s and connecting through Charles County with Stafford/Prince William County. I have tentatively traced the family back to Brailes, Warwickshire, England to Thomas Davis born about 1530.

The two other Davis lines begin with Dolor Davis born about 1593 in Kent County, England and Mary Davis born about 1590 in Nottinghamshire, England.

May 212015
 

Theoretically speaking, I think that a re-reading of the story of Richard Respess (the revolutionary War veteran and migrant from North Carolina to Georgia) might be productive. Here is what I have provisionally pieced together.

There is some clarity to be gained by asserting that all the Respesses of early Beaufort County are the offspring of Thomas Respess. It seems quite possible that they were born in Virginia and are the children of Esther Harmanson but what is certain is that Thomas Respess is in Beaufort by 1762 (1), when he makes his first appearance as Sheriff. It is also certain that he has a son Chris (Christopher) as Chris is listed with him on the 1764 tax list (2) as son, and in 1770 they are both witnesses to the will of Elizabeth Odeon (3). It is also likely that he has a son Thomas (who follows him as a state representative in 1778) and a son Richard and John who join the 8th regiment. Richard patents his first land in 1778/1779 after, presumably, returning from service. As for the daughters, it is likely that Thomas had daughters Ann (wife of Charles Crawford) (4), Sarah (wife of John Bond) (5) and Mary (possible wife of Henry Lockey) (6). Thomas married again in 1784 to Mary Carryway, widow of William Carraway, and Charles Crawford was one of the witnesses. He left a will in 1799, which I have not been able to see.

In 1800, John Respess’ Hancock County will mentions his brother Richard and his nephew Thomas (7). He also mentions a niece Polly Respess Lockey. The Hancock placement and the names clearly identify him as the brother of Richard Respess, and, thus as the son of Thomas. Interestingly, he is married to Nancy (Ann). This Nancy makes an appearance on the probate case of William Bexley of Craven County, North Carolina (8). I am not sure what her relationship is to William. But what is interesting is that William has a sister named Pheribe (many spellings) and is the son of Simon Bexley and Elizabeth Dawson (9). She is said to have married a John Smaw (a name that appears much with the Dawsons of Craven County. That is certainly not enough to identify her as the Pheribe who marries Richard Respess, but it is certainly a connection.

So we dive into the Dawsons. Also in the 8th regiment is a Lt. Colonel Levi Dawson (10). He is a little older than Richard Respess, born about 1739, which would make him about 10 years older. Not only is he the commander over Richard during the war, but his sister Mary (Dawson) Carraway married Richard’s father in 1784 (11), making him a kind of a step uncle. This Mary had no children and apparently also married a Crawford and a Tilman.

I pause, and realize I am about to make a big jump with very little underneath me. I think that Martha Dawson, the wife of Richard Respess, is the daughter of Levi Dawson.

Levi Dawson has eight known children: Churchy Carraway, Francis Lathrop, Christopher, Levi, Elizabeth (Delamar), Frances (Thomas Carey Fulford), Sally (Outten) and Margaret (Smaw) (12). His wife is often given as Mary Elizabeth Waters or Elizabeth Speight (13). But I suspect he may have married a sister of his wife’s husband William Carraway because that is the line that carries the name Churchy which is embedded in the name of his son. Richard Respess named one of his sons Churchwell. Churche, Churchill and Churchwell are all apparently the same name (14).

OK, so I move on to look at the names of Richard’s children. His first born is Thomas (after his father?), his son Richard (after himself?, his daughter Frances (possibly after Frances, Martha’s sister), Churchwell (after Martha’s brother), Mary (there are many choices) and Nathan (said to be a common Respess name). So where would be Levi (after Martha’s father?). I think that is probably explained by an earlier marriage or by the early death of a child. The score is not perfect, but the names are with us. Also, there has been some question as to whether Martha or Pheribe was the mother of Richard’s offspring. Almost all of Richard’s children name a daughter Martha. Pheribe (or Phoebe) as wonderful a name as it is, never appears.

So Martha Dawson daughter of Levi is inferential but not so far-fetched, I think. A Martha, daughter of Levi, would be a cousin of Pherebe Bexley through Elizabeth Dawson, Levi Dawson’s sister. Because of William Bexley’s probate, we know that he was in Hancock County. In fact, he seems to have left his wife and family behind and a large part of the probate was about a squabble over a slave that had been given to his wife by her father. After a long absence, she presumed that he was dead and remarried to a fellow named Amos Lutterell. Her property went to him and the heirs of William were willing to fight to get the slave back. That was what Nancy Respess’ deposition was about.

Soooo, while I do not claim there is any proof here, I think the two wives of Richard are Martha Dawson daughter of Levi Dawson and possibly a sister of William Carraway and Pheribe Bexley daughter of Simon Bexley and Elizabeth Dawson.

I have constructed this on my website starting from Richard here: https://adupree.com/wp/g/getperson.php?personID=I3438&tree=adupree.

Some sources:
(1) 1762-1764 – Beaufort County, Thomas Respess, Sheriff (Sheriff’s List)
(2)1762 Tho Respess & son Chris w Simon Aldorson (Beaufort County Tax List)
(3) 4/22/1770: will of Elizabeth Odeon, page 142, Beaufort Precinct, NC. Will dated 22 April 1770. There was no probate, but was proved by Wyatt Ormond. Cozen Hannah Smaw – Gold ring, Silver Girdle buckill, silver teaspoons, tongs and skimmer. Brother Antony Whery, Negroes Gin, Dinah, Betty, Sarah and Tom. Sister Mary Mills, 20 pounds. Sister Sarah Flaniken, pray book use of my Negro fellow four years. Sally daughter or Col. Barrow, gold buttons, Nancy Barrow daughter of my friend Sornell Barrow, Herffer and Bible, Kathern Col __, Negro Bess, Jno Smaw, Negro fellow at sisters decrease. Sarah Cording, ring, silver shoe buckills. Executors Brother Antony Whery, John Smaw. Signed by mark. Witnesses: THOMAS RESPESS, CHR. RESPESS.
(4) Charles Crawford is on 1786 Tax List for Beaufort County, In 1787 Charly Crawford is summoned to testify for Richard Respess in a case against Flanakin, in 1789 he is a Justice of the Peace along with Richard Respess, and in 1784 he is a witness to the marriage of Thomas Respess and Mary Callaway.
(5) the 1784 Flanakin Case also features John Bond.
(6) The 1800 will of John Respess names nieces Polley Respess Lockey. In 1795, Richard Respess is summoned in the case of Henry Lockey (it is a murder case), Henry Lockey is also mentioned in the Flanakin case. Henry, from Craven County was married to Susanna Burns. This could be a misidentification.
(7) 1800 – Hancock County, GA: JOHN RESPESS, Decd, LWT dtd 3/1/1800, names nephew, Thomas Respess, brother RICHARD, niece Polley Respess Lockey; Thomas Respess, wife Nancy, Hancock, AAA [Georgia Intestate Records]
(8) “About thirty or forty years ago William Spights the elder being in being ** is in a Lawsuit … (over a slave given to daughter Nancy) Levi Dawson and David Lewis were called into witness…some years later the said Nancy intermarried with one William Bexley who about the year 1791 came to the state of Georgia … about 1795 … the said William Bexley came to the house of the deponent and was much offended because his wife had sometime previously intermarried with Amos Lutrell, the defendent in the case and further this deponent saith not…Sworn in the town of Sparta of state and county afforesaid of NANCY RESPESS 25 Jul 1815”
(9) Christopher Dawson probate Children of Elizabeth Bexley (in slave division) Jas. Bexley, Chris. Bexley, Wm. Bexley, Phoebe Bexley September 21 1762 – the name Pharabee was gleaned from a number of secondary sources and I have not confirmed it.
(10) There are many sources that list the service of Levi Dawson.
(11) Marriage certificate or record. Charles Crawford is a witness. The other witness is Levi Dawson
(12) The most important records are the identification of heirs. Note, this CLEARLY does not include the Respesses, but, as it was filed in 1838, many years after they moved to George, this does not seem like too big a problem to me. The path has to be followed from there, ie : Page 84 & 85: 13th February Term 1838 Sarah Andrews made oath in open court that she was well acquainted with Colonel LEVI DAWSON an officer in the North Carolina Contentinal Line during The War of the Revolution, that he died in the Year 1803 in the State of South Carolina And that Mathew A. Outlaw and Elizabeth Marshall, Ann Sparrow wife of Gidon Sparrow, Margaret Lamarr wife of John D. Lamarr, Thomas Lamarr, John D. Lamarr, Francis Lamarr, Eunice Lamarr, Caroline Lamarr, Eunice Staton, Frances Fulford wife of Abraham Fulford, William Dawson, Fanny
Dawson, and Martha Dawson are the heirs of the said Colonel Levi Dawson that all of aforesaid heirs live in the County of Craven & State of North Carolina except the three last names who live in the County of Pasquotank & State of North Carolina.
(13) A rootsweb posting clearly identifies wife Elizabeth in the will of William Speight. I agree but don’t think that means she was the mother of all the children.
(14) I have so far identified Churchwell Delamar, Churchwell Respess, Churchy Carraway Dawson, Churche Nelson, Churchwell Stewart and a few others that I haven’t positively connected.

Feb 202015
 

19 Feb 2015. As the aforementioned Luke Wiles (Wildes) is my fifth great-grandfather, I thought that I would add to the conversation. At most genealogical website, we normally see Luke associated with Margaret Stovall. I must add that the discussion as to what Margaret’s surname is has been debated for some time. I have come to believe that her surname is Stovall. There is a well written, expertly documented, genealogy of the Stovall family. It is on the net and can be found by searching: “The Family of Bartholomew Stovall [Eight generations of Stovalls in England and America]”. I feel that the author makes a very compelling argument that Margaret was a Stovall.

Luke was presumed to be born on 22 Oct 1699. This is actually the day of his baptism. I am not clear rather the baptism occurred on his birth date or sometime later. He signed his will ( Lunenburg Will Book #1, Page 493-493) on 31 May 1749. His will was introduce in court on 2 Jan 1750. Between those two dates, Luke passes from this life. Again it is presumed, as I have never seen a marriage certificate, that Luke and Margaret were married on 27 Oct 1726.

J. Wyles [on Rootsweb 19 Feb 2015]

Thanks! Yes, the Stovall work is key. I think the theory may still be worth considering.

The Stovall work adds her as a child of Bartholomew because of the brother-in-law mention in 1726 (Luke Wiles and George Stovall are brothers in law). However, George Stovall can also be the brother in law through his wife’s relationship to a potential sister Elizabeth (poss) Lankford. In other words, another explanation is that they were married to sisters.

The work states that her inclusion is drawn from this record. There is no other record of Bartholomew Stovall having a daughter Margaret (that I know of).

But both Tandy Walker and Thomas Dupree were securities to the will of Luke Wiles. Isn’t the simplest explanation that they were his brothers in law? That can make Judith, Susanna and Margaret sisters.

“At the Court held for Lunenburg County the 2nd day of January, 1749* The within written last Will and Testament of Luke Wilds deceased was Exhibited in Court by Margaret Wilds Widow and Executrix therein named who made Oath thereto according to Law and the same was proved by the oaths of two of the Witnesses thereto and Ordered to be Recorded and on the Motion of the said Executrix who having first together with Tandy Walker and Thomas Dupree her securities entered into Bond and Acknowledged the same Certificate was granted her for obtaining a Probate of the said Will in due form. Teste: Clem. Read, CLC “

Clearly anyone can be a security, so this proves nothing, but I suspect that they would be trusted family members at the least. And the family would have chosen a Stovall family member instead if one were available. I still think that the easiest solution is that Margaret was a Lankford not a Stovall, connected because her sister Elizabeth married a Stovall.


The Dupre Trail is the seminal compilation of records related to this family and it has guided all researchers for decades now. I believe it can be supplemented as a basis for some revisions and additions to the story of the Thomas Dupree family. These suggestions follow with the innuendo, inference or more solid evidence that makes them possible. I think it could significantly add to the legacy of this family and, at the same time, challenge some sacred cow linkages that are prevalent in existing research.

The family of Thomas Dupre of Henrico, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg.

First off, I think Thomas’ wife was Susannah LANKFORD, not Stovall or Marsh. The logic for this is contained in the first post in this thread. Susannah may have been first married to James Wood. The Vestry Book of St Paul’s Parish mentions support for the son of Susannah Wood (1732) and later support for James Wood (1735) by name who is cared for by Abel and Eleanor Turner. Please note that outside of date and place, I have no evidence that this Susannah is the same one who married Thomas Dupree. There are earlier records for a James Wood in the Vestry book so it seems possible that Susannah was first married to JAMES WOOD and had a son named JAMES WOOD by him. John, David, Martha and Stephen Wood (Stephen might be a Mood) are mentioned on a 1778 Lunenburg Deed to Lewis Dupree the son of Thomas and Susannah.

So, I would start by considering that the family of Thomas might have looked like this:

Thomas married Susannah Lankford Wood (widow of James with son James)
Their children are Lewis, Elizabeth Whitlock, Joseph, Margaret Stokes and Mary Brizendine (as shown in Thomas will). An analysis of names suggests that Lewis is named for his uncle, Lewis Dupre; Margaret is named for her grandmother, Margaret Easley Dupree; Joseph might be named for his great grandfather Joseph/Josias Dupre; the origins of the names Elizabeth and Mary are not clear. Importantly missing are a son named Thomas, who would have been named for either of his grandfathers and a daughter named Martha, who would have been named for her Lankford grandmother. Since all three of these namesake candidates are dead before 1730, it might explain their absence or there could have been a Thomas and a Martha who died young.

I will not follow the daughters of the family here, except to say that Mary Brisendine had a son named Lankford Brizendine, who could very well have been named after mother’s family. I continue with the families of Joseph and Lewis, starting with Joseph because I have less to say.

Family of Joseph Dupree

Joseph is said to have married Madam Nannie Sullivan. I have not located the origin or proof for this marriage but would suggest that whether or not he married such a person (or indeed that such a person existed), he did marry a woman possibly named Ann Wiles, daughter of Luke Wiles. Luke left a much analyzed will in 1748, discussed above, on which Thomas Dupree and Tandy Walker were securities (I think they were his brothers in law). In this will he mentions two daughters. I think these were unwed daughters because no mention is made is of sons in law. Fast forward to their son Stephen Wiles will in 1761. Thomas Wiles and Joseph Dupree are his executors. Joseph could just be a cousin but, since Thomas Wiles was Stephen’s brother, it seems more likely to me that this was his brother and brother in law. The Dupre trail suggests that Stephen’s daughter could have married Joseph Dupree, but the time frame doesn’t fit as well, and so it seems more apt that Stephen’s sister married Joseph Dupree. Also mentioned in this will is Lewis Dupree, important for the next part. There is also an indenture in 1765 that further reinforces this theory. See the end of this post.

Why would Joseph’ wife be ANN Wiles? There is no record to draw from but the two known children of Joseph Dupree and his wife are William and Nancy. Nancy can be a nickname for Ann. So can Nannie and this might account for the traditional naming of the first wife of Joseph.

Family of Lewis Dupree

It is here (disclosure my direct line) where I find the most suggested revision necessary.

We start with a first wife for Lewis Dupree. The Dupre trail suggests, based on the projected birth dates of his children that Lewis probably had three wives, not two (Amy Willingham and Median Cruse Atkinson). I believe that his first wife might have been a woman named MARTHA WILES, the second unnamed daughter of Luke and Margaret Lankford Wiles. First off, let me suggest four children of Lewis and Martha.

1) Thomas Deupree, Thomas was born about 1757, a good five years before Lewis married Amy Willingham, his second wife. What little I know is that he may have had children Mary, Susannah and Bannister. As he would have been very young when his birth mother died, he may not have named a daughter after his mother, but after his grandmother who he knew well. Nathaniel Dacus is given care of his children when he dies…

2) Martha Deupree, born about 1752. This Martha married Nathaniel Dacus. A 1768 marriage is cited by some. I have not seen this record and a DAR record calls her the WIDOW Dupree, which could point another direction. The Dacus family is closely linked to the Deuprees. Nathaniel Dacus was the administrator of Thomas Deupree’s estate in 1782. He also was the guardian of Thomas’s (purported brother of Martha above) orphans. A simple explanation is that he was their uncle.

3) Susanna Deupree born about 1755. Susannah married John Dacus, brother of Nathaniel above. Unlike with Martha, I have found no suggestions that Susannah was a Deupree (or any suggested maiden name). But there are some reasons to infer it. A 1775 indenture for Lewis Dupree is witnessed by John Dacus and in 1785 in Lunenburg, John, Susannah and William Dacus witness a deed of Lewis Dupree to Edward Robinson. Since Lewis’ mother was named Susannah it seems likely that he would have named a daughter after her.

4) Mary/Polly Deupree born about 1760. Polly married William T Dacus, brother of Nathaniel and John above. She died in 1788. She is mentioned in the 1782 Lunenburg inventory of Thomas Dupree (suggested as her grandfather). William remarries in 1788 to a Nancy. He dies in 1839 in Greenville, South Carolina, where Lewis Deupree moved.

In summary, Lewis Dupree and his first wife may have had Thomas, Martha, Susannah and Mary.

As mentioned above both Joseph and Lewis Dupree feature in the will of Stephen Wiles (their possible brother in law). Stephen Wiles mentions a patent he made in his name and Lewis Dupree’s. In a 1765 indenture of property of Stephen Wiles acknowledged by Thomas Wiles (his brother) and Lewis Dupree, the wife of Lewis is given as “at which time Amy, the wife of said Dupree came in and relinquished Dower.” This suggests both an earlier wife and the possibility that this wife was the relation to Stephen Wiles (I am suggesting, his sister).

I have no record to show the name of this earlier wife. However, it seems possible, if Margaret Wiles is the daughter of Martha West Lankford, that she would name one of her daughters Martha. One of the children of Lewis and his wife is named Martha, potentially after her mother. The absence of a known MARGARET Deupree in the assembled family is problematic. But it seems like the evidence can infer that Lewis’ first wife might have been one of the two daughters of Luke and Margaret Wiles. It should be noted that this path would have Lewis and Joseph marrying first cousins, on their Lankford side.

The second wife of Lewis Dupree was Amy Willingham (as is well proven).

I would suggest the addition of one daughter for Lewis and Amy, JANE DUPREE, born about 1769 who married Alexander Dacus, younger brother of Nathaniel, William and John mentioned above. Some of this is culled from this excellent timeline on the Dacus family – http://psolter.com/GENEALOGY/Timeline/TimeLine.html. But it is also interesting to note that Jane names a son Lewis (after her father?) but has no known daughter named Amy after her mother.

In summary, here is an outline of how I think it might have been (I only elaborate on the suggested revisions/additions):

Susannah Lankford (d of Thomas & Martha West Lankford) m1 James Wood
* Child:
* B c1730 James Wood
m2 Thomas Dupree
* Children:
* (daughters Elizabeth, Mary and Margaret)
* B c 1732 Lewis Deupree m1 Martha(?) Wiles (d of Luke and Margaret Lankford Wiles)
** Children:
** B c1752 Martha Dupree m Nathaniel Dacus
** B c1755 Susanna Dupree m John Dacus
** B c1757 Thomas Dupree m Mary
** B c1760 Mary/Polly Dupree m William T Dacus
* m2 Amy Willingham
** Children:
** B c1769 Jane Dupree m Alexander Dacus
** (Also Ann, Lewis Jarell, Drury, Daniel and Sarah)
* B c1734 Joseph Deupree m Ann Wiles (d of Luke and Margaret Lankford Wiles)
** (Children William and Nancy)

Comments, contradictions and elaborations welcome!

Some original records

1760 – Lunenburg County
Sep 10, 1760 Bk. 34 (1756-1762), p. 703. LEWIS DEAPRESS and STEPHEN WILES – 382 A. in Lunenburg Co., on lower side of Buffalo Creek, down Roanoke River, adj. Luke Wiles. 10 Sept. 1760.

1762 – Lunenburg County, VA
Will Bk 2, p. 10 Will of STEPHEN WILES, dated 5 May 1762; proved 1 June 1762. Wife: Mary Wiles – Bed and furniture; also 1 Bay mare I bought of LEWIS DUPREE; the land where I now live containing 200 a. and my Entire on the Great Branch of Sions’ (?) Creek, with the rest of my Estate (other than that elsewhere bequeathed) to be sold and my debts paid, etc. I will that tract of land at the Mouth of Great B____ Creek … came by Patent to me in my own name and LEWIS DUPREE’s … that my executors…etc. should make them deeds to ROBERT WILES one for the upper Half and JOSEPH DUPREE for the other. To THOMAS WILES all my Right and Title of that Track of land my father left me of the south side of the Roanoke River opposite the Mouth of Bl___ton’s Creek.
I will that THOMAS WILES and JOSEPH DUPREE should be my Executors. Witnesses: Neavill Buchannan ROBERT MILES STEPHEN x WILES (LS) LUKE WILES, ARON x PINSON.

1765
Deed Bk. 1, p. 169 – 14 Oct. 1765, Indenture. THOMAS WILES, Executor to the Estate of STEPHEN WILES, Dec’d and LEWIS DUPREE, Lunenburg Co., to JOSEPH DUPREE of same. Thomas Wiles in behalf of STEPHEN WILES’ Estate, his heirs, etc., and LEWIS DUPREE for himself and his heirs, etc., in consideration of the sum of twenty pounds to be paid by JOSEPH DUPREE, sell, release, etc., the lower end of a certain Tract of Land (the whole containing 382 A.) granted by Patent in 1760 to said LEWIS DUPREE and STEPHEN WILES, said land lying in Mechlenburgh Co., and bound on the South by the bank of Buffalo Creek near the mouth of same, down the Roanoke River to Luke Wiles Corner, said tract containing 191 acres. Witnesses: WILLIAM WILLIS, Wm Fowler Thomas Wiles (Seal) John Roberts LEWIS DUPREE (Seal)
Proved 14 Oct. 1765, being acknowledged by THOMAS WILES and LEWIS DUPREE, at which time AMY, the wife of said Dupree came in and relinquished Dower.

1769 Halifax County
Aug. 15, 1769. LEWIS DEUPREE of Lunenburg County, to ROBERT WILES, 214 acres in Halifax Co. near Hico Creek on Buck Shoal Branch, adj. Wm. Byrd’s old line, then south.
Test: LUKE WILES LEWIS DEUPREE (LS) Drusilla Griffin MARY WILES Prov. 17 Aug. 1769.
[Robert and Luke are brothers, Mary could be the widow of Stephen]

1778
DEEDS, Bk. 13-184. 8 Oct. 1778. LEWIS DUPREE to JOHN WOOD, both of Lunenburg Co., 55 A. for 32 Lbs. 1Os., land in Lunenburg Co., on north side of Middle fork of Snake (?) river — John Colwell–(?) – William’s Branch. Witnesses: James Armstd Stephen Fuqua LEWIS DUPREE (Seal) Temperance Fuqua THOMAS DUPREE David Wood Martha Wood Stephen Mood

DACUS LINKS

1768
Martha Dupree b.abt.1752 d. bef. 1785 married NATHANIEL DACUS in 1768 (ROOTSWEB)

1775
26 Dec. 1775:. Indenture. Thomas Norris of Charlotte Co. to LEWIS DEUPREE of same, 230 acres for 100 Lbs. – in Charlotte Co. on south Fork of Meherrin River, it being patented to Thomas Norris 27 Aug. 1770. Witnesses: James x Owen William Burn Thomas Norris (LS) Richard Amold JOHN x DACUS, Margaret x Owen. Prov. 1 Apr. 1776.

1785
10 Jan. 1785;. Lewis Deupree/to Edward Robinson of Cumberland Co., 527 acres for 263
Lbs. Land in Lunenburg Co. on branches of Meherrin River, adj. Daniel Weatherford, Deupree’s Patent line, John Robinson, Peter Ward (or Wood), and Evans. Witnesses: JOHN DACUS Lewis Deupree (Seal) WM DACUS SUSANNAH DACUS Proved June 10, 1785.

1788
DEEDS, BOOK 15-161. 10 Feb. 1788. DANIEL DUPREE of Lunenburg Co., purchases 130 A. of land for 25 Lbs., from NATHANIEL DACUS of same county, land in Lunenburg Co. on Branch of Juniper Creek and Farmer’s line.

1789 (Dacus/Dupree marriage)
ALEXANDER DACUS, of Lunenburg Co. & JANE DUPREY, 17 Nov. 1789. Drury Duprey sec.

1791
p. 106. 8 Sept. 1791. Nathaniel Dacus, Guardian of the Children of THOMAS DUPREE, dec’d – Account “Same as Last”.

1800
ed Bk. F-533 19 March 1800 – DRURY DEUPREE, Mary Adkinson, and JOHN DACUS, Executors of Henry Adkinson Dec’d of Laurens Co. and State of South Carolina, planters, to Joseph Cox, of same – 103 acres for “Three hundred Dollars and nine Sterling” – land originally granted to David Craddock Deed and conveyed to James McDowel, thence by McDowel to said Henry Adkison Deed. Witnesses: Joseph Cox Mary x Adkinson (LS) Thomas Cox DURY x DEUPREE (LS) Jesse Cox JOHN DACUS (LS)

1802
2 April 1802. Indenture WILLIAM DACUS, by virtue of a Power of Attorney given him by BANISTER DEUPREE Sells 60 acres of land for Banister Deupree for 30 Lbs. to Benjamin Lewis – land in Charlotte Co. on head waters of South Meherrin River, adj Edward Dacus, Edmund Ryon deed & by Weatherford, with all houses, orchards, woods, water courses, etc. Witnesses: Wm Thackston Margaret Thackston William Thackston jr, WILLIAM DACUS (LS) Prov. 7 June 1802, & acknowledged by WM DACUS, Atty in Fact for BANISTER DUPREE

Feb 052015
 

So digging into the origins of Christopher Binns in New Kent, Virginia. I, as many others have, was curious as to the family origins of the name Amadiah. With a little help from an internet search my query took me to the Bone Family by Robert Gehlmann Bone, where I discovered that Henry Bone went to New Kent where George Bone’s granddaughter-in-law was trying to raise her 4 year old daughter Amadiah. See http://www.bone-family.org/bin-pdf/Bone_sec1.pdf Family.doc

I do not know where Bone discovered that fact. However, if true, I believe it to be strong evidence that Christopher Binns was from the Bone family, not knowing how or when the name was transformed from Bone to Binns.

In the St Peter’s Parish, New Kent register, serendipitously adjacent to Amadiah’s birth record is a daughter born to Henry Bone. It is the only Bone record in the book. In the next parish over, however, is a David Bone listed in the vestry book around the 1740s. I am still trying to flush this out but the reconstruction so far is

Robert Bone b c 1600 (Ireland)
son
George Bone b c 1630 (Ireland to Va), brother William is grandfather of Henry above
son
??? Bone b c1650 (Va)
son
Christopher Bone/Binns b c 1670 (New Kent), David Binns b c 1670
daughter
Amadiah b 1695

Adupree.com