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MARY MUSGROVE AND HER FATHER, EDWARD MUSGROVE'S FAMILY
This is a study in process that must be read, corrected and re-examined especially in years to come. The author offers his special thanks to the individuals who have made an effort to preserve the memory of this family's earthly pilgrimage.
Cuthbert and Dorothy ? Musgrove were Edward's grandparents. Cuthbert, son of William and Dorothy ?, was a mariner in England and a tobacco farmer in Maryland.
Cuthbert's father was born in 1629, in Brooksdale Close, Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, and died in Broomfield, Somerset, England, in 1664. His mother, Dorothy, was born in 1614, in England, and died there in 1664.
Cuthbert was born in Crooksdale County, Cumberland, England, June 1, 1644. He died in Prince George County, Maryland, in 1687, at age 43.
John I was their oldest child and was born in 1683, in Prince George County, Maryland. He inherited his father's property. He appeared in 1701, on a Militia List in Stafford County, Virginia. He died in 1746, in Fairfax County, Virginia. At least one source states that his wife was a Parendler, born in 1686.
John had sisters: Anne, Mary and Dorothy Musgrove.
Edward Musgrove and his brother-in-law, Donald Moseley, were executors of John's estate in 1746.
CHILDREN OF JOHN MUSGROVE I AND WIFE
(1). Edward Musgrove was the oldest child. Edward Musgrove was born circa 1716, in Fairfax County, Virginia. John I willed his father's property to Edward who sold it.
(2). John Musgrove II, a noted Tory Colonel, lived in Berkley County, South Carolina. It became Ninety Six District in 1769, and Newberry County in 1785.
John Belton O'Neall, in his Annals of Newberry, wrote: "At his place, the Regulators and Scofelites, in 1764, met in battle array; happily however, no actual battle occurred; flags were exchanged, and they agreed to separate, and petition the governor to redress their grievances. This was done, and the result was, that after the great delay of five years the Circuit Court act of 1769 was passed."
John was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, circa 1718. He brought wild horse stock with him from Virginia, when he moved to South Carolina. He was a horse breeder and trader.
His wife's name was Araminta (Minty). She was born circa 1730. Several sources state that she was a Gordon. They lived where the Bush River flows into the Saluda River near the Philemon Waters plantation.
He and his wife had three sons and one daughter. Two of his sons, John and William Trapnel, fought as teenagers with the Ninety Six Brigade of Loyalists. Jane was born circa 1768. She married Charles Lester. Philip, born circa 1777, was too young to fight in the war. The name of Philip's wife is unknown.
John was born circa 1763. He moved to Baker County, Georgia, where he served as a volunteer soldier in the militia in 1791-1792. He was attached to Cpl. Lewis Company in the 1st Regiment and also served under Lt. Col. Darke. He died there circa 1842. The name of his wife is unknown. They had two children: Larkin C. and William W. Musgrove.
William Trapnel was born circa 1765. He married Nancy Tate and first moved to Georgia, then to Tennessee, and finally to Blount County, Alabama, where he died in 1850. They had four sons and three daughters. He was the father of John Tate Musgrove and grandfather of Philip M. Musgrove.
Ann S. Grainger of Huntsville, Alabama, wrote: "In the late 1790's, William T. Musgrove and family moved to Hancock County, Georgia. He is on the Tax Lists, etc. In 1801, he and his brother-in-law, Nathan Tate, had been sentenced to hang in that county for forgery. They managed to escape the jail, and the Sheriff was advertising a reward for their recapture.
His older brother, John Musgrove III, was in Warren & Jefferson County, Georgia, at the time and his younger brother, Phillip Musgrove, was believed to be in Emanuel County, Georgia. They probably helped in the escape. William T. Musgrove and family fled back to South Carolina, and then to Cocke County, Tennessee, where they stayed for a few years."
He was one of Walker County, Alabama's first Court Clerks, and his name is on records issuing liquor licenses, etc.
One of William T. Musgrove's children was born in Georgia, two in Tennessee and the rest in South Carolina.
Col. Philemon Waters once took John Musgrove's plantation at the point of a gun.
John Musgrove II was a refugee to Charleston, S. C., and died there in September 1781. The state legislature confiscated his estate in 1782, but in 1783, his legatees appealed, and the decision was overturned. The land was returned to his wife, Minty.
Araminta had remarried a Wilson by 1784, when she was appointed administrator of her husband's estate. A sale was held June 10, 1784, and she and her sons, John and William, purchased all of the items except one, which was purchased by Thomas Waters.
John Musgrove III sold 150 acres of his father's land to Philemon Waters, Sr. on the north side of the Saluda River on July 2, 1785. John II had received a grant for this acreage on August 26, 1772. John III was heir at law of John Musgrove II, deceased. Waters paid 100 pounds in South Carolina money for the purchase.
Araminta's second husband was deceased before the U. S. Census was taken in 1790. She was living in Newberry County beside her son, William and his family, at this time. She died after the census of 1790, at their farm in Newberry County. The land they owned is now under the waters of Lake Greenwood.
O'Neal wrote: "For many years after the revolution, a large number of horses called 'heretics' were wild in the Stone Hills and were said to be the issue of his (John's) stock, turned lose in the range."
(3). Mary Musgrove was born circa 1720. "She had a liason with a man by the name of Jackson circa 1746, and had a daughter with him called 'Rachel Jackson'. She married Christopher Columbus Cunningham circa 1750, and was his second wife."
(4). Ann Musgrove was born circa 1722. She married Donald Moseley circa 1740, and they had two sons and a daughter. Her father left her the plantation on which he lived, a Negro girl named Judy and some cows, horses and sheep in his will.
(5). Margaret Musgrove was born circa 1724. There is no record of her marriage.
(6). William Musgrove was born circa 1726. He married Verlinda, born circa 1728. He died in 1778, in Loudon County, Virginia. One source states that he was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The writer has no confirmation of this. They had two sons and one daughter.
(7). Cuthbert Musgrove was born circa 1728. His father left him two plantations: Serido River Plantation and Wilson's Plantation. Cuthbert had a riding horse, stabled at his father's farm, and was given possession of the horse "Shaver" in his father's will. He was also given one half of his father's stock of horses and cattle. Cuthbert died in Frederick County, Virginia, and had at least one son, Samuel.
REMOVAL TO SOUTH CAROLINE
Edward and his brother, John II, moved to Berkley County circa 1754, in what later became the Ninety Six District of South Carolina, and were among the early settlers in the Backcountry.
Abraham Beeks Jr., son of Abraham and Susannah ? Beeks, and his wife, Sarah ? , traveled with the Musgroves. He was the brother of Edward Musgrove's wife.
Abraham Pennington petitioned for land on Indian Creek, a branch of the Enoree River in South Carolina, on February 4, 1752, and may have joined the Musgroves on their trip south.
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 6, 1694, and was an Indian Trader on Catoctin Creek near Brunswick, Maryland. He was issued a land patent in Orange County, Virginia, in 1734. He lost his first wife, Katrina, in the early 1740s and was married to Catherine Williams by 1743.
He brought his family to the area of Indian Creek and was living there when he wrote his will in Berkley County, S. C., on July 21, 1755. He mentions sons: Isaac, Jacob, Abraham and John in his will. He also had a daughter, Abigail, and referred to a boy, Thomas Laragent, "which I brought up." His will was probated on May 29, 1756.
Isaac Pennington, Abraham and Katarina Weister Pennington's oldest son was executor of his father's estate. He married Mary Williams on December 8, 1733, in Cecil County, Maryland. She was born circa 1717.
He and his wife, Mary Williams, brought their seven daughters and two sons with them to the Enoree settlement.
Isaac was born in Maryland on May 16, 1715. He was a captain in the militia and died at their Enoree River settlement in 1760. He wrote his will on March 3, 1760, which was proved before John Pearson by virtue of Peter Lewis Dedimus on September 17, 1760. His wife served as executrix of his estate.
Charles King, son of Jacob and Keziah Butler King, and his wife, Charity Pennington, daughter of Isaac and Mary Pennington, traveled with her parents to the Enoree settlement. They were married in Virginia in 1752. He was born circa 1720, in Maryland, and she was born circa 1734.
When her father died, he left her the 350 acres of land on which they resided. They had eight daughters and three sons.
Charles King and Isaac Pennington petitioned for land near the Santee River as new settlers in South Carolina on April 1, 1754. Charles King was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served as a captain under Colonel John Lindsay. He went on an expedition against the Cherokee Indians during 1775.
Charity died circa 1786, in Newberry District, and Charles died there January 21, 1789.
Another family that was among the early Enoree River settlers was the John Cannon family. He was born in 1712, in Kent County, Dover, England. He married Ann Mary Ellison, circa 1730. She was born circa 1714.
He attended the Quaker meetings at Bush River in Newberry District.
They had four daughters and three sons.
Ann Mary died after 1758, and John died October 4, 1762, in South Carolina. In his will he also named, but did not call them daughters: Susannah, who married John Dalrymple, and Elizabeth, who married John McClure.
Samuel Cannon, son of John and Ann Mary Ellison Cannon, married Lydia Pennington, daughter of Isaac and Mary Williams Pennington. He was born in 1735, and she was born circa 1740. They had four daughters and four sons. He died before 1790, for his wife, Lydia, was listed as head of the household in the 1790 census of Newberry District, and she died there between 1793 and 1800.
His son, John Cannon, married Rebecca Musgrove, daughter of Edward and Rebecca Beeks Musgrove, and his sister, Mary Cannon, married Jacob Pennington, son of Abraham and Katrina Weister Pennington.
John H. Logan, in his History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, wrote the following biography of Edward Musgrove:
"He had been bred to the law; was a man of education and fine abilities; was famous for hospitality and benevolence. He was the surveyor and counselor of law to all the surrounding country before the war (Revolutionary War) and in these departments was exceedingly useful.
His personal appearance was remarkable, a little above the ordinary size. He was a little above the medium height, slender, venerably gray even at 30, and possessed a magnificent head. He was in character, of great firmness and decision. As counselor and magistrate, he married a great number of the old settlers. He bore the title of Major."
Edward built Musgrove's Fort in the 1750s for protection against the Indians. He was a militia captain during the Cherokee War and served as commander of Fort William Henry Lyttelton on the Enoree.
He was a deputy surveyor and in 1762, became a justice of the peace, his commission being renewed in 1765 and 1767. He was tax inquirer and collector for the north side of Broad River and a commissioner for the Cannon's Creek-Gordon's Fort road in 1765.
Robert Stevens wrote:
"In 1768, he was granted land, which became the site of Musgrove's Mill. William Berry first obtained a warrant for the land and held it until Edward could act on it. The land was surveyed by William Gist, his brother-in-law.
He borrowed the money from his brother, John Musgrove, and Charles King with which to build the mill and constructed it in 1769. He defaulted on the loan, so was sued in Charleston by John and Charles, who won the verdict and a lien was placed on the mill property. He managed to pay the debt and nullify the mortgage."
Thomas H. Pope wrote:
"His brother, John, was the object of special hatred by some of the Regulators and was roughly handled by them and driven from his home in the winter of 1769. Edward took his brother's side and was himself then indicted as a 'very bad person, and encourager and conniver of thieves and robbers.'"
He had Tory leanings during the first part of the Revolutionary War, but did not participate in the conflict. He wrote a letter to William Henry Drayton on October 14, 1775, indicating his neutrality. In 1778-79, he was on the grand jury list for Ninety Six District.
The writer of an article in The Piedmont Headlight, Spartanburg, S. C., December 10, 1897, pages 3 & 6, stated:
"The original Musgrove house did not stand on the hill, but on an incline near the valley." An unpublished source states that the first Musgrove house was burned by the Tories after Edward and his son, Beeks, joined with the Patriots. The family was forced to find resting places with their friends until Edward could have the house rebuilt.
Lyman C. Draper in his book, King's Mountain and its Heroes, stated:
"He had passed the period of active life when the Revolutionary war commenced, and was then living with his third wife—too old to take any part in the bloody strife; but with trembling lips, he plead each night for a speedy return of peace and good will among men. He lived to see his prayers answered, dying in 1792, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and was buried in the little graveyard, just behind the site of his house, near the old mill."
The Battle of Musgrove's Mill was fought in parts of present day Union and Spartanburg counties. The left and center of the patriot line was in Union County. The battle took place on August 19, 1780, just across the river from Edward Musgrove's plantation.
Patriots assumed a defensive position on the north side of the Enoree River. Colonel Elijah Clark's command was on the left, Col. James Williams command was placed in the center and Col. Isaac Shelby's command was on the right. A flanking party of twenty-four men under the direction of Josiah Culbertson was sent from Shelby's command.
P. M. Waters wrote:
"The British officers, Col. Cruger and Major Innis, called a council of war in the house of Edward Musgrove, in the presence of his family. Their headquarters was in one of the rooms of the house."
At his request, Capt. Shadrach Inman, with sixteen mounted marksmen, skirmished with the Loyalists and provoked them to cross the ford.
Waters wrote:
"Williams and Shelby ordered that not a gun should be fired till they were within a few yards, in full exposure to the American riflemen. At this point, just before the American fire was delivered Inman wheeled to take his position in the center between the two wings, when a musket ball through the forehead laid him dead, near the root of a Spanish oak that stood a few paces above the point where the new road now leaves the old mill road."
The patriots repelled an assault by the Loyalist under Col. Alexander Innes, whose troops forded the river and charged with fixed bayonets. After exchanging several musket volleys Innes' troops were forced back with heavy losses. Col. Innes was shot from his horse but survived. He was shot in the neck and "left with a stiffness".
In his Encyclopedia of The American Revolution, Mark M. Boatner III wrote:
"They repulsed an attack in which 63 Loyalists were killed, 90 wounded and 70 captured. Only four rebels were killed and eight wounded." The Loyalists had 300 more men in the engagement than the Patriots.
Philemon M. Waters, Edward Musgrove's grandson, later purchased property between the ford and battleground.
In his History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, John H. Logan quotes from Capt. P. M. Waters article on The Battle of Musgrove's Mill:
"Sixteen Tories are said to have been buried in one pit near the mouth of the creek (Cedar Shoals). Others were buried in a grave-yard just below Musgrove's house. Several graves are still discernible on the spot where the Tories fell in such numbers at the first fire. The spot is a stone's throw below George Gordon's house, on the west-side of the old road."
Logan wrote:
"Many were buried in the yard of Capt. Philemon Waters (grandson of Edward Musgrove and son of Landon), who lived midway between the Ford and the battleground. The table, on which the dead were laid out, was preserved by the family of Capt. Waters."
It appears that Edward died in 1790, instead of 1792, Lyman C. Draper's death date. Edward made his will August 25, 1790, and probably died shortly after this. Ann was listed as head of the household in the 1790 U. S. Census of Laurens District. She received two grants of land in 1791, one for 65 acres and the other for 75 acres.
In his will, he left his son, Edward Beeks, fifty pounds sterling; his son, William, a dwelling and land; his daughter, Rebecca, twenty pounds sterling; his daughter, Mary, twenty pounds sterling; his wife, Ann, his plantation and mill "with the profits during her life to raise and maintain herself and her children".
He gave Ann his slaves: Tom, Phillis, Judy, Kizey, Matt during her lifetime and "after her decease the slaves are to be divided among her children: William, Margaret, Ann, Hannah, Leah, Rachel, Liney".
He appointed his wife and Thomas Crosby executors of his estate. Thomas was possibly the nephew of Nancy Ann, his third wife. Benjamin Adair was one of the appraisers of his estate and George Gordon was a witness to the will.
I. HE WAS FIRST MARRIED TO REBECCA BEEKS.
"She was the daughter of Abraham and Susannah ? Beakes of Philadelphia. She was born in July of 1728 and her only sibling, Abraham Beakes, Jr., was born in January of 1732. Their father died the year of his son's birth.
On May 30, 1734, Susannah Beeks remarried Edward Southwood of Bristol, Pennsylvania. He became the guardian of her two children and moved the family to Frederick County, Virginia. He died in 1749 and Rebecca and her brother petitioned the Orphans Court of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, for permission to choose new guardians. They selected William Biles and Thomas Yeardly. Susannah was a widow in 1755, but later married ? Roberts.
Edward Musgrove owned and operated a gristmill at what is now Harper's Ferry and married Rebecca in the early 1750's. She was listed as Edward's wife on a Frederick County, Virginia, deed on July 27, 1754.
In 1754, they moved to South Carolina, accompanied by her brother, Abraham and his wife. Abraham had an infant son, Samuel, and bought 100 acres of land from Margaret Reinger (widow) on the Tyger River in what is now Union County, S. C., on March 9, 1758.
On November 7, 1759, he applied for a grant of 150 acres, but the transaction was never consummated. Here his history ends. Abraham, his wife and sister, Rebecca, simply vanished. I can only guess that they became victims of a Cherokee Indian attack.
Edward took little Samuel and made him a part of his family. He continued to pay the quit rent on the land inherited by Samuel until he reached maturity. The land was originally granted to Margaret Reinger so a memorial had to be paid annually.
Samuel, born circa 1752, in Frederick County, Virginia, died in November of 1816, in Laurens County, S. C. His wife, Sarah Davenport, was born in 1764, and died August 1, 1844. She was buried in the Poplar Springs Baptist Church cemetery, Laurens County, S. C."
Judy Douglas, in Footprints In Time, states that Samuel Beeks mother was Sary ? (Sarah).
Samuel's wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Francis Davenport and his wife, Ann Wyley. They had six children: two sons and four daughters. Their son, Abraham Beakes, born 1782, moved to Aberdeen, Monroe County, Mississippi. They also had a son, Francis Marion Beeks (1786-1861), who married Mary Neal (1787-1861). He died in Laurens County, S. C.
Samuel Beeks served as a Patriot soldier in Col. Andrew Pickens Brigade during the American Revolutionary War.
EDWARD AND REBECCA BEEKS MUSGROVE'S CHILDREN
1. Abraham Musgrove. He was probably a child of Edward and Rebecca and was born circa 1753, in Virginia. He signed a legal document with Edward and Hannah Musgrove on August 17, 1767. No further records exist on him.
2. Edward Beeks Musgrove.
"He was born circa 1755. In early adulthood he frequently lived with his Uncle John Musgrove. Before and during the Revolutionary War he spent a great deal of time there. He apparently was closer to him than his own father. This accounts for Beeks involvement with the Tories or Loyalists for John was a British sympathizer and held the rank of Colonel in their army."
Inspired by the Cunninghams and Col. Ferguson, Beeks first joined with the Loyalists.
John H. Logan, in his History of The Upper Country of South Carolina, wrote:
"Mrs. Sims (Sybella, wife of Capt. Charles) continued to reproach and remonstrate with Lee for his villainy, in order to detain them as long as possible from the attack on her friends higher up the creek. While this was going on, B. Musgrove, one of Lee's men, went up to the bed on which Mrs. McDaniel's (Nancy, daughter of Capt. Charles) children were sleeping and took from it one of the two blankets that covered them. It was an exceedingly cold evening and raining.
As Musgrove went out of the door with the blanket, Mrs. McDaniel said to him: 'Beeks Musgrove, you will answer for that at the day of judgment.' 'By D—d, Madame,' he replied, 'if I am to have that long credit, I'll take the other.' And returning to the bed took that also."
Paddy Carr, an Indian trader on the frontier, was a member of Col. Elijah Clark's Regiment and was very much incensed that Beeks Musgrove had joined with the Tories and swore that he would kill him on sight.
"Paddy Carr, once hunting for Beeks, caught him in his father's house at the mill. He had come in to change his clothing, and get some refreshment; Mary was preparing him a meal; he had leaned his sword against the door lintel. Paddy came suddenly upon him, and took him before he could think of escape.
Paddy said: 'Are you Beeks Musgrove?' 'I am, sir.' 'You are the man, sir, I have long sought.' Mary seeing the drawn sword of her brother in Carr's hand, said: 'Are you Paddy Carr?' 'I am Mary Musgrove, Mr. Carr; and you must not kill my brother,' at the time throwing herself between them.
An interview now took place between Carr and Musgrove. Carr was struck with his manly beauty, and said: 'Musgrove, you look like a man that would fight.' 'Yes, said Musgrove, 'there are circumstances under which I would fight.' 'If I had come upon you alone,' said Carr, 'in possession of your arms, would you have fought me?' 'Yes, sword in hand.'
Carr was so taken with Musgrove that he proposed to him to become a member of his scout and go with him on the spot, and swear never to bear arms against the American cause.
His men had been stationed in the cedars some distance from the house, and had by this time come up to the scene.
Mary seeing her brother disposed to accede to Carr's proposition, her fears for his safety being still awake, challenged Carr for his motives. 'Mr. Carr,' she said, 'you do not design to persuade my brother to leave me, and then, when the presence of his sisters is no longer a restraint, butcher him in cold blood; pledge me, sir, that such is not your design.' 'I'll swear it,' said Carr.
Musgrove joined his party, continued some time with them still gaining upon the confidence of Carr, and never afterwards bore arms against his country."
In his book, Roster of South Carolina Patriots, Bobby G. Moss stated:
"Edward B. Musgrove served as a horseman in the militia."
He was listed in the Index Book of Revolutionary Claims in South Carolina between August 20, 1783, and August 31, 1786.
The 1790 U. S. Census for Laurens County, South Carolina, listed him with a wife, two sons and two daughters. He married Sarah Waters, daughter of Bordroyne Waters and his first wife (name unknown) circa 1782. She was born circa 1765.
He purchased property in Laurens County, South Carolina, from Robert Ellison of Fairfield on February 29, 1792. Their living children were: Elizabeth, John C., Loveberry, Monsieur and Edward W. Musgrove. He had a disagreement with his father and moved into the Duncan Creek area of Laurens County, S. C.
He was one of Capt. Bill Lee's men and was involved in the killing of a patriot while serving with the Loyalists during the Revolutionary War. They killed Colonel Joseph Hughes' father, Thomas, in 1779.
John H. Logan wrote:
"He was murdered by the Tories while in search of his hogs. His body was pierced by seven wounds. He lived on the road from Unionville to Chesterville at McCool's Ferry on Broad River. Joseph (Hughes) after looking at the mangled corpse of his father, raised his gun, and swore he would kill every Tory he met."
"After the war Hughes tracked down and killed about seven of Lee's men."
Beeks Musgrove was murdered by Col. Hughes, possibly in early 1800. He was deceased when the 1800 U. S. Census was taken for his wife, Sarah, was listed as head of the household. She had twin sons born in 1800.
"Some time after the war, a case was pending in Chester Court in which it became necessary to ascertain whether a certain notorious marauding Tory by the name of M——e (Beeks Musgrove) was dead or alive; and if dead, at what time did he die.
It being supposed that Hughes (Col. Joseph) knew something of him, he was examined on commission, when he fearlessly acknowledged that he had shot the said M——e since the war as one of the miscreants against whom he had sworn eternal vengeance. He later in life removed with his family and son-in-law, Jack Mabry, to the western edge of Alabama."
Beeks Musgrove's widow, Sarah, moved from the Duncan's Creek settlement to Cross Anchor, S. C. She lived with her daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Mordecai Chandler, after her husband's death. About 1816, she moved with the Chandler's from Spartanburg County to Union County and died at their residence on Cook's Bridge Road.
She wrote her will on September 21, 1839, and it was recorded September 4, 1841, in Union County. She left her son, Loveberry, "one feather bed and furniture and the rest to be divided between all my children with the exception of John C. Musgrove for he has had more of my estate than his part." She named her son, Loveberry, as executor.
Revis Leonard wrote:
"Edward W. was made administrator of his mother's will after Loveberry refused to serve. He then disposed of all the property, took the proceeds and left South Carolina."
Sarah was buried in the New Hope Baptist Church cemetery in Cross Anchor, S. C.
(1). Elizabeth, her daughter, was born circa 1783, and married Mordecai Chandler, son of Robert and Sarah Chandler. He was born May 1, 1762, in Culpepper, Virginia.
While residing in Newberry District, he served under Capt. James Liles and Col. John Liles. He was taken prisoner and sent to Ninety Six and thereafter put on a prison ship.
Next, he joined Capt. James Williams. He was in the battles of Cedar Springs, Musgrove's Mill and Stono.
At one time, he served under Capt. Benjamin Roebuck and Cols. John Thomas, Philemon Waters and Thomas Brandon.
"Mordecai was a close personal friend of the Reverend Spencer Bobo. They were members of the Padgett's Creek Baptist Church. In 1784, Spencer sold Chandler 84 acres on Cedar Shoals Creek so they could live side-by-side. He helped the Reverend Bobo establish the New Hope Baptist Church at Cross Anchor in 1804.
After the death of the Rev. Spencer Bobo in 1816, Mordecai moved to the 112 acres of land on Cook's Bridge Road in Union County, willed to him by his father, and there helped to establish the Hebron Baptist Church."
Mordecai married the granddaughter of Edward Musgrove, and Spencer and Judith Foster Bobo's son, Absalom, married the daughter of Edward.
Mordecai and Elizabeth had two sons and three daughters. He died May 23, 1846, and she died May 11, 1852. They were buried in the New Hope Baptist Church cemetery, Cross Anchor, S. C.
(2). John H. Logan wrote: "He had a son, a Baptist preacher, who displayed much of the eccentricity and acuteness of Lorenzo Dow."
Mary Ann Strickland Granger of Huntsville, Alabama, has researched and written much about the Reverend Edward William Musgrove and recorded it on the Internet. The author is indebted to her for her contributions to this article.
He was born circa 1785, in Laurens County, South Carolina. "His military service included fighting with Andrew Jackson on the Coosa River in Alabama. He later served as a substitute for someone else."
"He married at least four times if not more. It appears he abandoned all of them and was likely a bigamist.
He first married Nancy Stout on June 12, 1819, in Roane County, Tennessee. She is the only wife he ever acknowledged both in his application for a land grant and in a request for a War of 1812 pension, when he stated that his military papers were lost in a house fire.
He married Nancy Daniels on February 12, 1825, in Roane County, Tennessee. He apparently had several children by her.
He attended a small academy in Tennessee for a semester between marriages to the Nancys."
He returned to South Carolina, in 1841, when his mother, Sarah, died, served as administrator of her estate, sold her land and left with the proceeds."
He moved to Anderson County, S. C., and attended the Big Creek Baptist Church. Brian Scott of Greenville, S. C., has written a sketch of the church in which he states:
"In September 1842, one Edward W. Musgrove, a hard-shell Baptist preacher, came into the neighborhood and was frequently invited to occupy the pulpit (Big Creek Baptist Church).
In August 1843, he was received by letter into the church. He had already succeeded in sowing the seeds of discord, which were so soon to yield an abundant harvest of bitter fruit. At the next meeting, after being admitted to membership, he objected to a missionary deacon serving the church (Miles Ellison).
The storm, which had been gathering force, now burst upon the church in all its fury. The meeting broke up in confusion. This was in September (1843). There was no meeting held after this until January 1844, when confusion and disorder still prevailed.
The crash came, and the church was torn into fragments. The Musgrove party withdrew and shortly afterward held a meeting and called Elder Nathaniel Gaines to preach for them. This party took the name Big Creek Primitive Church."
He was next married to Nancy Johnson, daughter of Reuben Johnson and Nancy Carolina Greenless Johnson, on September 3, 1844, by John Harper, Esquire in Anderson County, S. C. She was born in Pendleton District.
The Reverend E. W. Musgrove performed the marriage ceremony for Baylis Kelly and Jane, daughter of Mrs. Sarah Wilson, on the same date of his marriage.
He and his wife moved from Anderson County, S. C., to Gwinnett County, Georgia, 'where he received a land grant for his War of 1812 service, but lost the land, which was sold by the Sheriff circa 1854, to cover a debt.'
After this, he left Nancy Johnson in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and she was remarried to Major Warbinger.
He reappeared in Giles County, Tennessee, in 1870, although his age was shown as much younger. He married fourthly, Sarah Kelly, on April 15, 1870, in the above county.
Shortly afterwards, he appeared in Winston County, Alabama, where he applied for a War of 1812 pension, without Sarah, repeating much of the information he provided when he applied for a land grant from Gwinnett County, Georgia. He stated that his wife was Nancy Stout (his first marriage) and did not indicate that she was deceased or provide any mention of his other wives.
He moved to Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama, and from there to Madison County, Alabama, near the Tennessee line where his last address was in care of a store in Tennessee just across the State Line.
He wrote an irate letter to the President of the United States because the New Orleans office, who paid the pension, was slow in getting his address changed."
In his booklet, A Brief Sketch of the Musgrove Brothers and Their Descendants, Philip M. Musgrove wrote:
"He was married in his early years to a young lady named Stout but there were no children that our branch of the family have ever heard of. I had the honor of entertaining him at my home soon after the Civil War. He was then eighty years old, was a classically educated man, spoke a number of languages, and prided himself on his thorough knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages.
He was a member of the Anti-Missionary Baptist order, and while at my home in Blountsville, Alabama, he delivered several sermons. So excellent and profound was his knowledge that it was a delight to listen to his discourses.
Ten years later, I read in a newspaper the notice of the death of a very aged preacher in West Tennessee by the name of Musgrove, but no particulars were given and I was never able to trace for certainty that he was the Edward Musgrove, whom I had once entertained. One of his idiosyncrasies was to travel on foot and preach."
*This Philip M. Musgrove was a son of John Tate and Penelope McCarty Musgrove and a great grandson of John and Araminta Musgrove. He was a farmer, a teacher, a Southern Baptist preacher and missionary, a physician, a druggist, a lawyer and a Captain of Co. C, 12th Battalion in the Alabama Calvary during the War Between the States. He married Louisa White.
(3). John C. Musgrove was born in 1787, and married circa 1830. His wife was deceased before 1840, and her name is unknown. He had moved to another state before his mother died and was listed in the 1850 Census of Dekalb County, Alabama, with children David, Rebecca and Beeks.
(4). Loveberry Musgrove was born circa 1800. He never married and was living with his sister, Elizabeth Chandler, in 1850, according to the Census of Union County, S. C.
"They lived near Hebron Baptist Church until she died in 1752. He then lived with his niece, Margaret Ann Frances Chandler James (Mrs. William Walton) in the town of Union, S. C. He was a carpenter and was associated with W. W. James. They built some of the finer houses in the city of Union. His partner, William Walton James, died in 1864, in Madison, Florida, in the CSA (Orderly Sgt., Co. A, 18th SCV).
William W. James (1821-1864) was born in Wilkes County, N. C., a son of Joseph Warren and Hylie James. He married Margaret Chandler in 1845."
Loveberry was buried in the James plot in the Presbyterian cemetery, and his grave marker states that he was a member of 1st SC Inf., Co. E, CSA.
"He served as a Confederate soldier but was sent home for being too old. He joined another company but was again discharged because of his age. He died in 1864, at the home of his niece, Margaret Chandler James."
(5). Monsieur Nowell Musgrove was born circa 1800. He married Nancy Cooksey, daughter of William Cooksey, in 1824. She was born in 1806. Her father, William, was a miller at the Gordon Mills. Her father was born circa 1788, and died after 1850. Name of her mother is not known.
He and his wife lived on the old Thomas Waters tract on Elisha Creek, waters of the Enoree River. He sold a tract of land "containing 37 and 1/5 acres on the waters of Elisha Creek, where I now live" to Philemon W. Head (Spartanburg District) in January 1832. His plantation was in the corner of Union, Spartanburg and Laurens counties.
"He was named for his father's Frenchman friend, Noel, who lived close to John Musgrove."
They were listed in the 1850 Census of Union County, South Carolina, and in the 1860 Census of Neshoba County, Mississippi. They had three sons and seven daughters. She died in Neshoba County, Mississippi, in September of 1870, and he died there in 1880.
3. Rebecca Musgrove. She was born circa 1757, and married John Cannon, son of Samuel Cannon and Lydia Pennington Cannon. He was born in 1755. They sold 100 acres of land on the north side of Enoree River to Thomas Springfield of Laurens County on February 6, 1792.
This included the dwelling where they were living. Rebecca and her husband, John, received this property from her father, Edward. They sold 50 acres of land on the north side of Enoree River to Benjamin Couch of Spartanburg County on November 8, 1798. It was part of a tract that Cannon purchased from Adam Garman. The land was bounded by Edward Lynch's spring branch.
They had three sons and two daughters. He died July 7, 1828, in Newberry District. Date of Rebecca's death is unknown to this writer.
She was still living in the early 1800s.
II. EDWARD MUSGROVE'S SECOND WIFE, HANNAH FINCHER, AND THEIR CHILDREN.
They were married circa 1761. She was a daughter of Francis and Hannah Shewin Fincher, and a granddaughter of John and Martha Taylor Fincher and William Shewin of Chester County, Pennsylvania. The Fincher's came to this country from England.
Her father and mother were married at London Grove Friends Meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania on May 31, 1731. Francis, her father, sold 150 acres on Armel's Branch of Tyger River to his son, John, on October 4, 1784. His granddaughter, Mary Musgrove, witnessed the transaction. He sold 100 acres to his son, John, on Fincher's Branch on the same date, and Mary was also a witness to this sale.
On March 24, 1786, Aaron Fincher and his wife, Mary Parker, sold 100 acres on a small branch of Fairforest to Moses Collins, and Mary Musgrove, niece of Aaron, was a witness.
Hannah Fincher Musgrove's sister, Sarah Frances, married William Gist on February 28, 1774. He was a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War.
Francis Fincher was still living in Union County, S. C. in 1786, and called "an old man" by Margaret Cook, a Quaker Minister, in her journal.
EDWARD MUSGROVE AND HIS WIFE, HANNAH, WERE PARENTS OF MARY AND SUSAN.
Edward was Deputy Surveyor of Berkley County, when he purchased 100 acres on Rocky Creek, branch of Broad River, in Craven County from Jacob Cannamore on December 22, 1761. Francis Fincher and his wife, Hannah, witnessed the transaction.
He and his wife, Hannah, of Berkley County, sold 200 acres of land at Fish Dam Farm on Sandy River to Thomas Fletchall of Craven County for 100 pounds currency. This transaction took place on February 13, 1764.
In the book, Petitions For Land From The South Carolina Council Journals, edited by Brent H. Holcomb, the minutes of the Council state:
"The clerk read the petition of Edward Musgrove in behalf of Francis Fincher setting forth that the said Francis Fincher was disabled from traveling by a fall from his horse and praying for a Warrant for 150 acres of Land on the Fork of Broad and Saludy Rivers." This meeting took place Tuesday, March 5, 1765.
4. Mary Musgrove. She was born circa 1763, and named for her father's sister. She has been immortalized by the pen of John Pendleton Kennedy in his book, Horseshoe Robinson. "Mary Musgrove's name is high on the list of the immortal names of women of South Carolina, whose fame was won by daring and devotion to the cause of American Independence."
"Like many brave girls of '76 and with all the tenderness of a woman she ministered to the sick, the wounded and fed the hungry, and like the beautiful young heroine of France, Joan of Arc, knew no fear in her heart. The 'miller's pretty daughter' as she was often called did many brave and noble things and would always say she was for 'General Washington and the Congress'.
Logan wrote: "Mary Musgrove was not only a woman of rare beauty, but of extraordinary mind and energy."
John Kennedy wrote that while Mary was visiting with her father's sister-in-law, Peggy Crosby Adair, in what is now Cherokee County, she warned Horseshoe Robinson and Major Butler not to go by Dogwood Springs (owned by Vardey McBee, Sr. at the time and now known as Limestone Springs) because of impending danger from the Tories.
Mary referred to Peggy (may not have been her real first name) as her aunt. She was her father's third wife's sister. According to Kennedy, Horseshoe and Major Butler were captured at Grindal's Ford.
Traditional accounts state that after Horseshoe escaped from Christie's Tavern, Mary hid him in the cavern to the left of the falls of Cedar Shoals Creek, feeding him and furnishing him with information concerning the activities of the Tories. She may not have hidden him in the cavern, but undoubtedly did hid him for his protection from the Tories.
The book, Horseshoe Robinson, states that Mary was engaged to John Ramsay, who lost his life at the hands of the British for the part he played in the successful escape of Major Arthur Butler.
When Kennedy lacked information about the name of a character in his book, he gave them a name. He referred to Edward Musgrove as Allen Musgrove and to James (Horseshoe) Robertson as Galbraith Roberson.
In The Laurens County Sketchbook, Edna Riddle Foy wrote:
"Mary Musgrove made possible the escape of two Whigs who were imprisoned in her home, which was used at intervals as headquarters for the British maneuvers.
At a time when the prisoners' captors were having their evening meal, the two men were helped through a window above the first floor roof from which they hoisted themselves into the branches of a huge oak tree. One man was slightly injured in a fall to the ground, but the two managed to join a rescue party on the other side of Enoree River, which had signaled by flares the hour for the escape."
"Mention is made of war casualties being carried to the Musgrove house during and after the Battle of Musgrove's Mill in August 1780. A Doctor Ross (George) was in attendance and Mary Musgrove helped to nurse the sick and wounded men from both sides."
John H. Logan in A History Of The Upper Country Of South Carolina, wrote:
"Among the American wounded left at Musgrove's was one named Miller—shoe through the body, and believed to be mortal, and had to draw a silk handkerchief through his body to cleanse the wound; his parents were from the lower part of Laurens, and got a physician, old Dr. (George) Ross, to attend to him, though it is believed the British surgeons were quite attentive. He recovered."
After the war, Mary married George Berry circa 1788. George was the son of William and Usley Berry. One source states that his father, William, sold the mill site to Edward Musgrove.
GEORGE AND MARY HAD CHILDREN: a. Rebecca; b. Lurana Phillips; c. Elizabeth; d. William; e. Mary Musgrove; and f. Robert Goodloe Harper Berry. Mary died circa 1803, following the birth of Robert.
After Mary's death, George married Edith Ligon, daughter of Robert and Edith Watkins Ligon. George and Edith had one child, Edith, who was listed as deceased by 1806, the year that her father died. John Hutchinson, husband of George and Mary's daughter, REBECCA, was administrator of George Berry's estate.
The Laurens County Guardian Returns indicate that Edith Berry was appointed guardian for Polly M. and Robert G. H. Berry and filed a return on April 25, 1812. She filed her final return on June 5, 1815.
Edith married Andrew Wray after George's death. They moved to the Cherokee Springs area of South Carolina, and took Mary's two youngest children with them.
They lived near James and Margaret Headen Turner. James father, George, had moved his family from the Thicketty Creek area of present day Cherokee County to Pacolet River near Coulter's Ford in Spartanburg County circa 1788, about the year that James married Margaret Headen. James was the brother-in-law of James (Horseshoe) Robertson.
These families attended the Buck Creek Baptist church, where James served as deacon.
MARY MUSGROVE BERRY, daughter of George and Mary Musgrove Berry, married Henry Hines, son of William and Sarah Whitney Hines, and her brother, ROBERT, married Nancy Hines, her husband's sister.
In the 1850 Census of Spartanburg County, Robert and his wife, Nancy, had three sons and five daughters living with them. They were listed in the 1860 Census of Spartanburg County with three of their daughters. Two of their daughters were named MARY and EDITH.
Henry Hines was born in 1790, and died April 6, 1861, and Mary Musgrove Berry Hines was born in 1801, and died September 27, 1861. Mary and her husband, Henry, had five boys and two girls. They were buried in the Turner-Hines family cemetery about four miles from Cherokee Springs.
Their daughter, Edith, married James Turner, Jr., son of James and Margaret Headen Turner. James Turner Jr. was born March 11, 1811, and died September 7, 1858. Edith was born in 1814, and died June 2, 1888. They were married September 7, 1828, when he was seventeen and she was fourteen.
They had ten girls and four boys. James and Edith were also buried in the Turner-Hines cemetery, but Edith's grave was not marked.
Edith was the granddaughter of George and Mary Musgrove Berry and James Turner Jr. was the nephew of James (Horseshoe) Robertson.
George and Mary Musgrove Berry's daughter, Rebecca, married John Hutcheson and their daughter, Lurana Phillips Berry married John Brown.
5. Susan Musgrove. She was born circa 1765. John H. Logan has Mary confused with her sister, Susan. It was Susan who died early and not Mary.
"The following incident occurred at her death: She requested that Mary Farrow, Mary Puckett, Sarah Musgrove, and a Miss George, should be her pall-bearers. The body being very light, they bore it to the grave on silk handkerchiefs.
Just as they were lowering it into the grave, a kind-hearted old lady present, but who was the wife of a Tory, came forward to assist, when a member of the family interposed and prevented it."
Both Mary and Susan were devoted Whigs in principle. Susan died circa 1784 of consumption.
Hannah Fincher Musgrove was still living on August 17, 1767, when she witnessed a transaction to sell land in Virginia. Her husband, Edward, and Abraham Musgrove, possible son of Edward by his first wife, also signed the document.
III. ACCORDING TO JOHN H. LOGAN, EDWARD MUSGROVE'S THIRD WIFE WAS NANCY ANN CROSBY.
"His third wife was alive when the battle of the mills was fought—her name was Nancy Crosby, from near the Fish Dam Ford of Broad River. She survived till 1824, to a very advanced age—the grandmother of Capt. P. M. Waters and Dr. E. M. Bobo." Edward's third marriage took place circa 1768.
In the book, Horseshoe Robinson, Horseshoe refers to Peggy Crosby Adair and to her mother as Mrs. Crosby. Mrs. Crosby was supposed to be about 80 years of age. Her name has not been recorded. Edward Musgrove had owned a farm near the Crosbys, which he called Fish Dam Farm, and he was well acquainted with this family. He sold the farm after he married Hannah Fincher.
Nancy Ann, Peggy (may not have been her real first name), Dennis and William Crosby were possible brothers and sisters. They grew up in the Fish Dam Ford area.
They were possible children of William Crosby and his wife, ? ? Crosby. Their mother is listed in the databases as having been born in 1700. That is the year that the book, Horse Shoe Robinson, gives for "old Mrs. Crosby's birth date".
Mrs. Crosoby and her husband, William, were married circa 1722/1723. William was born in 1696, in Berkley County, S. C. Thomas is listed as the father of William.
Dennis Crosby, possible brother of Nancy Ann, was born December 11, 1724. He married Hannah Revels in 1748. She was born in 1728. They had four sons and two daughters.
He was granted 300 acres of land on Thicketty Creek on August 18, 1763, in what later became Ninety Six District. Dennis died October 11, 1771. Hannah furnished supplies for the Continental and Militia use during the American Revolutionary War. She died August 12, 1785.
Richard Crosby, son of Dennis and Hannah Revels Crosby, was born in 1749. He married Rhoda Davis. She was born in 1756. They had four sons and four daughters. He furnished materials for the use of the militia in 1780, 1781, 1782, and 1783. He died in 1798.
Thomas Crosby, son of Dennis and Hannah Revels Crosby, was born in 1751, in what was then called Berkley County, S. C. He married Margaret Davis in 1770. She was born on December 17, 1751.
He was a patriot soldier in the Revolutionary War and served under General Andrew Pickens, after the fall of Charleston, S. C. They had six sons and two daughters. He died March 7, 1791, and his wife died February 18, 1825.
William Crosby was the son of Dennis and Hannah Revels and was born in 1755. He married Mary Polly Davis in 1778, in Camden District. She was born in 1758. He served in the militia as a sergeant on horseback and on foot from 1779 to 1783.
The skirmish at Fish Dam was fought in Camden District (later Chester County) in the flat on Broad River, between the ford and the ferry according to John H. Logan. The battle took place on the plantation of William and Polly Crosby. Mrs. Crosby reported as many as twenty (British) killed and many others wounded. She nursed some of the wounded and buried two of the dead British soldiers on the hill near her house.
William and Polly had two sons and three daughters. He died in 1797, and she died on February 27, 1824. Just before her death she sold 70 acres to Joseph Crosby that included the house where she lived.
The three Davis girls who married Crosby brothers were probably sisters.
William Crosby, possible brother of Dennis, married Susannah Benton. A grant of 600 acres on Silver Springs made circa October 2, 1767, was probably his land.
He was a patriot soldier during the Revolutionary War and served as a Continental soldier under Capt. Robert Maysfield and Col. John Thomas. He served from February 1779 to July 1783 under Capt. William Baskin and General Andrew Pickens.
Edward Musgrove listed Thomas Crosby, son of Dennis, as one of the executors of his will. Thomas died in 1791, and was unable to fulfill his responsibilities as administrator of Edward's estate.
Before the ending of the Revolutionary War, Edward gave up his position of neutrality and become a supporter in the fight for independence. He was possibly influenced by his third wife, Nancy Ann, for she came from a very patriotic family.
Traditional accounts state that Edward's house was burned after the family switched their allegiance.
CHILDREN OF EDWARD AND ANN CROSBY MUSGROVE WERE: WILLIAM, MARGARET, LEAH, ANN, RACHEL, LINEY AND HANNAH.
He and his wife, Ann, sold 100 acres of land in Union County, S. C., to Robert Crenshaw of Union County, S. C., on February 17, 1787, for 50 pounds sterling. This land had been granted to Edward on August 13, 1766.
6. Margaret Musgrove. According to Logan, Margaret was 12 years old when the Battle of Musgrove's Mill was fought. This means that she was born circa 1768 or 1769.
P. M. Waters wrote about his mother's perceptions of the battle:
"Margaret said that it was the grandest sight she ever saw as they came at full speed down the steep hill along which the old road ran to the east of the present house occupied by Dr. Bobo—their uniforms and rake ? blades flashing in the sun just risen in full splendor above the lofty hill under which her father's house stood.
They dashed up and the commanding officer (Loyalist) asked what had happened. The account of the battle was given him in a few words, on which rising in his stirrups and uttering several deep and loud imprecations, he commanded his men to cross the river.
They dashed at full speed into the water, which Margaret told afterwards played in rainbows around their horses. The enemy, however, were far out of their reach, and they were left nothing but the melancholy duty of burying the dead, and conveying the wounded to the hospital at Musgrove's."
She married Landon Waters in 1792. He was the son of Bordroyne and his wife, Elizabeth. He was the grandson of Philemon and Sarah Bordroyne Waters. Landon was born in 1764.
The Waters came to South Carolina from Prince William County, Virginia.
"The Waters who came to South Carolina were: Col. Philemon Waters (m. Mary Berry), Capt. Bordroyne Waters, Rosannah Waters Farrow (m. John), Sarah Waters Head (m. John) and Col. Thomas Waters, the notorious Tory active in South Carolina and Georgia."
Bordroyne was the brother of Col. Philemon Waters and served as captain under him.
P. M. Waters (son of Landon) wrote:
"Bordroyne Waters had occasion to go down to Dutch Ford on business, after times became troublesome; and on his return found to his surprise one of his neighbors, together with the grocery keeper and two others—who were in favor of the King.
This neighbor, under the influence of liquor, insisted on B. Waters subscribing an oath of allegiance to the King, which he refused to do, upon which they came to words. Waters in the act of starting for home walked out of the grocery, when this neighbor seized a loaded rifle, which stood in the corner of the grocery, and pursued Waters, and presenting the gun, saying: 'I will kill you unless you subscribe to the oath.'
Waters then commenced parleying with him, and by stratagem snatched the gun from him, and turned it upon him. When the fellow seized a stick and turned upon Waters, who gave back and bid him stand off or he would kill him, and finally shot him and he died immediately.
Consulting with his brother, Col. Phil Waters, B. Waters, surrendered himself to the civil authorities, and was put in Ninety Six jail. Not long after, Col. P. Waters and friends liberated him by cutting down the door in a dark night, upon which B. Waters left immediately and took refuge in the North, and there joined the American army, and returning South with Green, fought at Eutau Springs."
"The man that Capt. Bordroyne Waters killed was Benjamin Morrow. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to be hung at Charleston. Proof of this is in Union County Deed Book SS, pages 318-319. It contains the record of a pardon granted to Capt. Waters by South Carolina Governor John Rutledge on December 15, 1779."
Bordroyne was killed by Ned Turner, a Loyalist associated with Bloody Bill Cunningham, on September 15, 1782. He was trying to rescue his son, Landon, and John Clark, captives of Turner. John Clark was a brother of Col. Elijah Clark.
After killing him, Turner released Landon to bury his father. He buried him near the place where he was killed and four years later moved him to the Bush River Baptist Church cemetery. His grave was not marked.
Bordroyne's brother, Thomas, was a Colonel and fought with the Loyalists. Thomas and his wife, Mary, traveled from South Carolina to Georgia with Elijah Clark in 1773.
Bordroyne's sister, Rosanna, was the twin sister of Philemon and married John Thomas Farrow. They had at least four sons who fought with the patriots during the Revolutionary War. In 1776, John was stricken with smallpox after a business trip to Virginia, and died in North Carolina.
During the war, Rosanna heard news of the capture of three of her sons and that they were scheduled to be executed. Col. Cruger offered to trade them for six British soldiers so she went to Col. James Williams' camp and carried six of his prisoners to Ninety Six and exchanged them for her sons. Her parting words to Col. Cruger were: "I have given you two for one, but understand that I consider it the best trade I have ever made for rest assured that hereafter the Farrow boys will whip you four to one."
Her son Samuel served as a captain under Col. James Williams at the Battle of Musgrove's Mill and was wounded in the face by a saber.
Landon served in the Patriot militia under Capt. Philemon Waters (later Col. Waters) from June 5 through September 15, 1781.
He died in 1822, and his wife died in 1824. They were parents of five sons and two daughters. Landon M. Waters and Philemon M. Waters were their sons. Landon M. owned property on the Tyger River adjacent to land once owned by Golden Tinsley and William Blackstock.
7. Ann Musgrove. She was born May 25, 1773, and married Absalom Bobo August 1, 1790. He was the son of Simpson and Judith Foster Bobo and was born in Virginia, March 13, 1765. He was drafted during February or March 1781, while residing in Ninety Six District and served in the Revolutionary War under Col. Benjamin Roebuck and Capt. George Roebuck. He guarded prisoners at the Orangeburg jail.
Ann and Absalom Bobo had the following children: Edward Musgrove Bobo; Jane Bobo; Levinia Bobo; and Sampson Bobo. Ann died circa 1807, after the birth of her son Sampson. They were living in Cross Anchor, S. C., at this time. Most of their children grew up on Two Mile Creek, near Woodruff, S. C.
Edward Musgrove Bobo was born on December 22, 1792, and married Elizabeth Murphy in 1816. She was born on November 21, 1796. He died October 15, 1858, and her death occurred on May 17, 1862. They were buried in the Presbyterian cemetery in Union, S. C.
He was a physician, and he and his wife had two boys and two girls. William Musgrove, his mother's brother, in 1848, left him 443 acres of land in his will, which included the Musgrove house and mills. In the August freshet of 1852, he lost the grist and saw mills.
His daughter, Susan Jane, married the wealthy Richard Austin Springs of Springsteen Plantation in York County. Edward Musgrove Bobo owned a great deal of real estate in Union County.
In 1859, Lewis Lawrence purchased 500 acres from his estate, which included the Musgrove house and mills tract.
Jane Bobo was born December 8, 1798, and married Alfred Dean, son of Joel and Mary Brockman Dean, in 1842. Joel Dean was a patriot soldier in the Revolutionary War and fought in North Carolina under General Griffith Rutherford in his Rowan County Brigade.
Alfred was born September 19, 1798. They had four boys and three girls. He died May 7, 1877, and she died October 8, 1884. They were members of the Abner Creek Baptist Church. She moved her membership from the Bethel Baptist Church in Woodruff, S. C., to Abner Creek. Their sons, Alvin and Dean, were both Confederate soldiers and attained the rank of captain in the War Between the States.
Levinia Bobo was born in 1804, and married Amos P. Woodruff, son of Samuel H. and Nancy Pilgrim Woodruff, circa 1824. He was born in 1801. They had seven boys and five girls. He died circa 1882, and she died in 1889. They were living in Lamar County, Texas, when they died.
Sampson Bobo was born in 1807, and married Rebecca Woodruff, daughter of Samuel and Nancy Pilgrim Woodruff, in 1825. She was born September 10, 1806, and died January 19, 1846. They had four girls and two boys. Their son, Biram, died December 21, 1845, in the second year of his age.
Biram and his mother are buried in Bethel Baptist Cemetery, Woodruff, S. C. After Rebecca's death, Sampson married Elizabeth Pearson on September 14, 1848. She was born August 2, 1814. They moved to Panola County, Mississippi, where he died on December 2, 1884, and she died there on September 3, 1899.
Absalom Bobo's second wife was Mary (Polly) Bobo, his first cousin. She was the daughter of Sampson and Sarah
Simpson Bobo and was born May 25, 1773. They married circa 1808, and lived on Two Mile Creek near Woodruff, S. C.
Her father, Sampson Bobo, while residing in Ninety Six District, served in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon.
Two children were born to this couple: Aseneath Bobo, born April 24, 1810, and George Washington Bobo, born November 5, 1812.
By 1825, or before, Absalom Bobo acquired some of Edward and Ann Musgrove's slaves possibly from their daughter, Hannah, or from the will of Edward and gave them to his son, Edward M. and daughter Jane Dean, children of his first wife, Ann Musgrove. Ann was deceased at this time.
George Washington Bobo married Permelia Frances Todd, daughter of James and Elizabeth Jane Spencer Todd in 1839. She was born March 21, 1819. He and his wife were members of the Bethel Baptist Church in Woodruff, S. C., and had two sons.
George died August 20, 1848, and his widow moved her membership to the Lower Fairforest Baptist Church in Union County, September 20, 1848. She later married a Hartsfield and moved to Panola County, Mississippi, where she died on January 28, 1878.
Aseneath Bobo married William Winder Hitch, son of John and Katherine Hanna Hitch. She was his second wife. They were married September 2, 1847. They had two sons and a daughter and moved to Mississippi, in November of 1860. He died in Panola County, Mississippi, on June 9, 1870, and she died there December 14, 1887.
Absalom Bobo died December 1, 1846. Mary (Polly), his widow, was living with her daughter, Aseneath and son-in-law, William Hitch, in 1850, and died November 10, 1857, while residing in their house. He and his 2nd wife and George were buried in the Bethel Baptist Church cemetery in Woodruff, S. C., and their graves have inscribed stones.
8. Leah Musgrove. One source states that she married a Glenn.
9. Rachel Musgrove. On June 1, 1800, she married George Ross Adair, son of James and Rebecca Montgomery Adair, and grandson of Joseph Alexander and Sarah Lafferty Adair. He was born December 15, 1779.
His father was a patriot soldier and served under General Francis Marion in 1780 and 1781. His grandfather was also a patriot soldier and a commissary of the Little River Regiment under Col. Levi Casey. He also served under Col. William Washington.
James Adair was named for his uncle, James, who received a tract of land from King George II on Duncan's Creek in Laurens County, S. C., and had his father and brothers move from Pennsylvania to South Carolina to settle on this land.
He was an Indian trader and published a book on a History of the American Indians. He attempted to trace the descent of the Indians from the Jews based upon resemblances between the customs of the two races. When he went to London, England, in 1775, to have his book published, he appealed to members of the British Cabinet to reconcile with the American Colonies and settle matters peacefully.
George Ross and Rachel had two sons and a daughter. Their son, Isaac, born in 1807, and died in 1866, married Nancy Farrow, daughter of William and Rhoda Waters Farrow. They belonged to Hurricane Shoals Baptist Church in Laurens County, S. C. They moved to Indiana, but returned to Laurens County within a year.
George moved with his second wife, Anna Kay, to Gwinnett County, Georgia. They named their Georgia settlement "Maryville". His third wife was Mary Keziah Bennett. He died September 30, 1850, in Russell County, Alabama.
10. Liney Musgrove. One source states that she married a West.
11. Hannah Musgrove. Her mother, Ann Crosby Musgrove Smith, and her step-father, David Smith, sold three slaves, beds, pots and tables to her on July 4, 1794, for 30 pounds sterling. She was not married at this time.
12. William Musgrove. In 1790, his father's will left him the dwelling, land and mill after his mother's death. After he became of age, the court gave him back his father's land. While living in Laurens District, S. C., he purchased 114 acres of land for $700.00 on November 1833, from Thomas and Isabella Fraser of Spartanburg District. He died in 1848, and left the mill and Musgrove house to his nephew, Dr. Edward Musgrove Bobo. There was an inscribed stone over his grave, but it has been removed.
*Nancy Ann Crosby Musgrove married David Smith of Union County, S. C., after the death of her husband, Edward Musgrove. They lived in the Padgett's Creek community.
Robert Stevens and Linda Stevens Crissinger in their article, The Founding of a South Carolina Backcountry Society Union County, Historical and Genealogical, wrote:
"On May 20, 1794, David Smith, Sr., sold to David Smith Jr., a set of blacksmith tools. At the same time, he sold all of his furniture and cattle to his daughter, Mary Smith. On July 4, 1794, David Smith Sr. and wife, Ann, of Union County, sold her life estate share of three slaves to her daughter, Hannah Musgrove. On the same day, they sold another slave to Landon Waters, husband of her daughter, Margaret, who lived just across the Enoree River in Spartanburg County."
Due to her debts, Ann lost two grants she had received in 1791, totaling 140 acres and also one of her slaves.
Robert Stevens and Linda Crissinger wrote:
"If Ann Musgrove Smith had collected any of the more than five hundred pounds due the estate of her late husband, she certainly hadn't acknowledged it to the Laurens County Probate Court. In 1795, Charles Sims sued the estate of Edward Musgrove for a debt. The case went to District Court in Ninety Six and Sims was awarded a judgment. Musgrove's Mill, including the 150 acres was seized and sold at public auction to George Gordon for twenty-seven pounds to satisfy the debt."
Hannah, who was living in her father's house, had to vacate the property. Ann had a right under the law to demand at least a one-third share of her husband's estate for her dower. Her right of dower was not included in the property sold by the court.
In the book, Some South Carolina Genealogical Records, compiled by Janie Revill, was found a record of the following transaction:
"David Smith and his wife, Ann, formerly wife of Edward Musgrove, sold her land (right of dower) on the Enoree known as Musgrove's Mill, a tract of 150 acres to Thomas Lee on January 13, 1796. Both parties were residents of Union County at this time." George Gordon found himself with an unwanted partner in the mill operation.
William S. Glenn, in his article, The Battle of Musgrove's Mill, published in The Spartanburg Herald on April 18, 1926, wrote:
"William Musgrove, Ann's son, to whom the mill and property had been willed after her death, sued and reclaimed the property after he had reached maturity."
In 1811, Ann was sued for the debts of her husband, David Smith. She died circa 1824.
**David Smith, son of William and Mercy Croasdale Smith, was born on April 25, 1736, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His first wife was Hannah Hibbs. She was the daughter of Jeremiah and Hannah Jones Hibbs. Her mother probably died in childbirth for she was raised by Sarah Hibbs Cooper.
They married on April 11, 1761, at Dutch Reformed church of North and South Hampton, at what is now Churchville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She agreed to become a Quaker after her marriage. They were parents of six boys and five girls. He moved to South Carolina with the Quakers in 1768. He was a member of Bush River MM.
Quaker records indicate that he was a patriot soldier the latter part of the Revolutionary War (1783). He was disowned by his church for his participation, but was later restored to fellowship.
Ralph Smith, who served under Gen. Thomas Sumter, was his brother. Ralph married Mary Penquite.
David and Hannah's son, George, born January 21, 1777, was a Methodist minister in Indianapolis, Indiana. He married Sarah Kennedy on January 1, 1797, in Union County, S. C.
David's first wife died in 1785. He died in 1801, and left Ann Crosby Musgrove Smith, a widow again. He was buried in the Quaker cemetery at Sedalia, S. C.
SOURCES CONSULTED
The Annals of Newberry by John Belton O'Neall; Roster of South Carolina Patriots by Bobby Gilmer Moss; Encyclopedia of the American Revolution by Mark M. Boatner III; Some South Carolina Genealogical Records by Janie Revill; A History Of The Upper Country Of South Carolina by John H. Logan;
Will of Absalom Bobo, Will Book D, Box 3, Package 19, page 124, Spartanburg County Courthouse, Spartanburg County, S. C.; Laurens County newspaper, 1852;
Spartanburg County Cemetery Survey, Vols. I & II, Bethel Baptist Church cemetery, Woodruff, S. C., & Hines and Turner cemetery near Cherokee Springs, S. C.; Records from Pinckney District Chapter of S. C. Genealogical Society; The History of Newberry County, Vol. I, 1749-1860, by Thomas H. Pope;
Fincher In The USA, 1683-1900, by Evelyn Davis Fincher and Ann Wilson Fincher; Abstracts of Early Records of Laurens County, 1765-1820 by Sara M. Nash; Bobo Cousins By The Dozens by Robert M. Newell, Jr. and Jeanie Patterson Newell; Kings Mountain And Its Heroes by Lyman C. Draper; Laurens County South Carolina Wills by Colleen Ellliott;
The History Of South Carolina In The Revolution by Edward McCrady; Petitions For Land from The South Carolina Council Journals, Vol. VI, 1766-1770, Vol. VII, 1771-1774, by Brent H. Holcomb; Union County, South Carolina Minutes Of The County Court, 1785-1799, by Brent H. Holcomb;
South Carolina's Distinguished Women Of Laurens County by Marguerite Tolbert, Irene Dillard Elliott and Dr. Wil Lou Gray; Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia And Other States by Mrs. Howard H. McCall;
Women Of The Revolution, Piedmont Headlight, Spartanburg, South Carolina, December 10, 1897, Vol. V., pgs. 3 & 6; Carolyn Waters' Application For Membership To The National Society Of The Children Of The American Revolution;
Letter from Lorene Barnett; Letter from Myra Lake Howell; Documentary History Of The American Revolution by R. W. Gibbes; 1810 Equity Petitions of Laurens County, S. C., Package 8, Box 27;
Musgrove's Mill by Sam P. Manning; Laurens and Newberry Counties South Carolina: Saluda and Little River Settlements, 1749-1775, by Jesse Hogan Motes III and Margaret Peckham Motes; Laurens County Advertiser Articles on September 3rd & 8th by Jim Kluttz and Tom Priddy; Unpublished Manuscript on Philemon Waters Family; South Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1719-1772, Vol. III, by Clara A. Langley;
Petitions For Land From The South Carolina Council Journals, Vol. V, 1757-1765, by Brent H. Holcomb; Will of Edward Musgrove, Recorded in Book A, Pg. 28, Laurens County Courthouse; Andrews Almanac for 1765;
The Jury Lists Of South Carolina for 96 District in 1778-1779, by Ge Lee Corley Hendrix and Morn McKoy Lindsay; Spartanburg County South Carolina Minutes Of The County Court, 1785-1799, by Brent H. Holcomb;
Union County, South Carolina, Will Abstracts by Brent H. Holcomb; South Carolina Marriages, 1749-1867, Implied In South Carolina Equity Reports by Barbara R. Langdon; South Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1773-1778, Books F-4 through X-4—Books I-5 through Z-5 by Brent H. Holcomb;
Marriage And Death Notices From The Up-Country Of South Carolina, 1826-1863, by Brent H. Holcomb; Internet—Musgrove Genealogy Family Forum;
Pinckney District, South Carolina, Common Pleas Minute Book, 1792-1794, by Lucille Hendrick Gardner; Genealogical Articles on the Families from rootsweb.com and from gencircles.com; Adair History and Genealogy by James Barnett Adair, M. D.; Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts Vols. 1-4 by Brent H. Holcomb;
Bessie Poole Lamb's Files on the Musgrove Family; Spartanburg County Deed Abstracts, Vols. 1-4; U. S. Census records; Memoirs of Major Joseph McJunkin by Rev. James Hodge Saye; Touring South Carolina's Revolutionary War Sites by Daniel W. Barefoot; Emails from Brian L. Robson, Interpretive Ranger of Musgrove Mill State Park; Emails from Robert J. Stevens, 415 N. Main St., 6-E Darlington, S. C., 29532-2245;
A Brief Sketch of the Musgrove Brothers and their Descendants by Phillip M. Musgrove; South Carolina State Plats (Charleston Series) Vol. 27, pg. 496; Vol. 28, pg. 25; Laurens County Deed Books, Vol. D, pgs. 452-453; Vol. DB C, pgs. 35-36; DB E, pgs. 7-8; DB G, pg. 570; Vol. E. pg. 308-309; Vol. F, pgs. 57-58; 109-110; Vol. K, pg. 19; Vol. Q, pgs. 307-308;
South Carolina State Plats (Columbia Series) Vol. 52, pg. 410; Laurens Estate Papers, Box 104, pkg. 1;
Abstracts of Old Ninety-Six and Abbeville District Wills and Bonds compiled by Willie Pauline Young. The Founding of a South Carolina Backcountry Society, Union County, Historical and Genealogical by
Robert J. Stevens and Linda Stevens Crissinger; "The Battle of Musgrove's Mill" by William S. Glenn, published in Spartanburg Herald, April 18, 1926; Union County, S. C. Deed Book SS, pgs. 318-319.
Articles on Internet by Mary Ann Strickland Grainger, 3301 Ohara Road, Huntsville, Alabama, 35801; William Musgrove Descendants In England, Tennessee and Alabama by J. T. Smith, Internet.)
admin Bullock, Crockett, Grindal, Henderson, Hodge, Ivey, McJunkin, Mitchell, Nuckolls, Reeves, Ward, Williams 3 Comments
Part One: BY ROBERT A. IVEY
The surname of Henderson is derived from Henry–Henry's son, which in time became Henrison, Hendrickson, Henderson. The name is Scottish, the family having lived there since the fifteenth century with the chief seat being at Fordell, County Fife.
(People Family Search, Our Family History, the Barnard Family Story, Introduction to the Henderson Chronicles, Internet.)
Sir James Henderson of "Fordell", Scotland, was one of the progenitor of the Hendersons in the Ninety Six District of South Carolina. He married Jean Murray and had four sons: Sir John, his heir,
Robert, James and Francis. The last three were Colonels and brave officers in Danish, Swedish and French wars.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Carrie's Family Tree, ID: 107579, Sir James Henderson, Contact R. C. Karnes.)
Thomas Henderson was born in Virginia circa 1653. He married Ursula Keeling, daughter of George and Ursula Fleming Keeling, in 1676, in Hanover County, Virginia.
She was born in New Kent County, Virginia, circa 1660, and had two brothers and a sister. Her sister, Mary, was born September 26, 1664, in York County, Virginia.
George Keeling was born circa 1635. He married Ursula Fleming, circa 1658. She was possibly the daughter of Thomas and Judith Ursula Tarleton Fleming, and was born circa 1639.
George was elected Captain of the Militia on July 4, 1702, and Sheriff of New Kent County, on April 28, 1708. He was a Justice of the Peace in New Kent County, Virginia, and served as a member of the Vestry of St. Peter's Parish. Ursula Fleming Keeling died circa 1700, in New Kent County, Virginia, and her husband, George, died circa 1720, in Granville County, North Carolina.
(RootsWeb's World Connect Project: My Family, Past & Present, ID: 11589, Thomas Henderson, Contact Jennifer; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Carrie's Family Tree, ID: 107579,108482 &108483, George and Ursula Keeling Henderson, Contact R. C. Karnes.)
(The Ancestry and Family History of Louise Ann Booth at Grand Forks, North Dakota, Some Descendants of Capt. George Keeling, Internet; Genealogy.com—GenForum, George Keeling/Ursula Fleming, Posted by Hewitt Ryan, Internet; Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Ancestors of Richard Anthony McKoin Cos…Internet.)
Thomas and Ursula had the following children: John, Richard, Thomas, Edward, James and Sarah Henderson. Their son, Richard, was born circa 1674. Ursula died in 1697, and he married Sarah Wilkinson, daughter of Thomas and Judith Fleming Wilkinson, on November 16, 1698.
Thomas and Sarah had the following children: William, Samuel, Jane, Susannah and Ursula Henderson. He was a parish collector for St. Paul's Parish and their neighbor.
He died in February of 1711. Date of the death of Sarah Wilkinson Henderson is not known to this writer.
(GenCircles, Carrie's Family Tree, Thomas Henderson, Contact R. C. Karnes; RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Dave's Bohemian, Canadian, and Southern Kin, ID: 134393, Thomas Henderson, Contact David V. Hughey.)
(RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Mostly Southern, ID: 106491, Thomas Henderson, Contact Mark Freeman; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Carrie's Family Tree, ID: 108482, George Keeling, Contact R.C. Karnes; Genealogy. Com, Thomas Henderson/Ursula Keeling, Starting New, Internet.)
Richard Henderson married Mary (Polly) Washer. She was born circa 1655, at Lawnes Plantation, Isle of Wight, Virginia, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Bruce Washer. Her father was born circa 1625, and her mother was born circa 1629. Her parents died in Hanover County, Virginia.
(RootsWeb's Worldconnect Project: David E. Leleux Family Tree, ID: 1033118, Thomas Washer, Contact David E. LeLeux; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Louisiana Melting Pot, ID: 1035136, Thomas and Mary Bruce Washer, Contact Jody M. Larousse.)
They had six sons and two daughters: Joseph, Edward, Leonard, Richard, Samuel, Nathaniel, Christian and Jane. Their son, Samuel, was born March 17, 1700.
Richard owned a plantation in Hanover County, Virginia, where he served as a Judge and Sheriff. Mary died in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1714, and he died June 21, 1749, in Goochland County, Virginia.
(Genealogy.Com, Family Tree Maker Online, Richard (the Sheriff) Henderson, Internet; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: A Goode American Family, ID: 132156, Richard Henderson, Contact David Goode.)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project, Carrie's Family Tree, ID: 11936, Richard Henderson, Contact R. C. Karnes; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Carrie's Family Tree, ID: 11937 & 107578, Mary Polly Washer, Contact R. C. Karnes.)
Samuel Henderson married Elizabeth Williams on November 14, 1732, in Hanover County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Lt. Col. John and Mary ? Williams and was born on September 14, 1714, in York County, Virginia.
(Some Descendants of Samuel Henderson & Elizabeth Williams of Granville County, North Carolina, Internet; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project, Family of Legends, ID: 1255265, John Williams, Contact David A. Blocher; John Williams (1679-1735) – Genealogy, Internet.)
John Williams, Elizabeth's father, was born in Llangollen, Wales. He was the son of John Williams II and his wife, Ann Whitley. He emigrated to America in the 1690s, and appears to have first settled on Queens' Creek in York County, Virginia. He married Mary ? on July 26, 1704, in York County, Virginia, where she was born.
The following was written by J. E. Williams and entitled, A Williams Line. He wrote: "JOHN WILLIAMS, a native of Wales, came to Virginia, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and settled in Hanover County. He was born January 26, 1679, and died about 1735. The court records of Hanover County show that John Tyler, with Thomas Prosser, as his bondsman, qualified as administrators of his estate on June 5, 1735. His wife, Mary, whose maiden name is not known, was born September 26, 1684."
John later moved to Hanover County, Virginia, and built his ancestral home, Studley, before 1712. He was a member of the Colonial Militia and served as a Lt. Col. and was referred to in some databases as a judge.
They had four sons and four daughters: John, Mary, Ann, Daniel, Nathaniel, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Joseph. Their daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Samuel Henderson, were the direct progenitors of the Carroll (Grindal) Shoals Hendersons.
Mary ? Williams died in 1730, in Hanover County, Virginia, and John, her husband, was married a second time to Ann ? . He died in Bertie County, North Carolina, on January 11, 1741.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: ID: 159538100, John II Williams, Contact Dave; John Williams (1679-1735)–-Genealogy, Internet.)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: The McMillin & Williams and Allied Families, ID: 105865, Mary Keeling, Contact Deb; Early Descendants of John Williams, "The Wealthy Welshman" of Hanover County, Virginia, Born 1679, Llangollen, Wales, Internet.)
(RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Charles McDonald, ID: 1532085360, Mary Keeling, Contact Charles McDonald; RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Family of Legends, ID:1255265, John Williams, Contact David A. Blocker; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Family 2010 Tree, ID: P2170662786, John Williams III, Contact Gary W. Wood.)
Samuel Henderson was first a High Sheriff of Hanover County, Virginia. Before 1740, he and his wife, Elizabeth, moved to Granville County, North Carolina, to lands on Nutbush Creek. He built Ashland Plantation in 1740. He became Sheriff of that county in 1754. He was one of the Justices of the County Court from 1747-1758.
The Ashland Plantation is still standing on Satterwhite Point Road and now houses the Vance County Historical Museum.
Samuel and Elizabeth Williams Henderson had the following children: Mary Ann, Richard, Nathaniel, Elizabeth, Anna, Susanna, John, Samuel Jr., William, Pleasant and Thomas Henderson.
Samuel died at his Ashland plantation August 25, 1783, and was buried at Williamsboro, N. C. Elizabeth, his wife, died in Rockingham County, North Carolina, on September 5, 1794, at one of her son's houses. She was buried at Williamsboro, N. C.
(Samuel Henderson (1700-1783)—Genealogy, Internet; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: VOLZKAI, ID:155219, Elizabeth Williams, Contact Denise Volzka; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Persephone's Prize, ID: 13689, Elizabeth Williams, Contact Terri Miles.)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: OUR FAMILIES, ID: 103107, Samuel Henderson, Sheriff, Contact Fletcher; NC Vance/Local, Vance Co. Contacts, Internet; Vance County, NCGenWeb Project, Internet; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Fisher and Grimes Ancesters, ID: 134144, Elizabeth Williams, Contact John Merrill Fisher.)
THE CARROLL (GRINDAL) SHOALS OR PACOLET RIVER
SETTLEMENT OF THE HENDERSONS, WILLIAMS AND CONNECTING FAMILIES
By September of 1766 or before, several families from the Granville County, North Carolina, area came to the Carroll (Grindal) Shoals section of what later became the Ninety Six District of South Carolina, and received grants of land from what was then believed to be Mecklenburg or Tryon Counties in North Carolina.
Zachariah Bullock, son of Richard and Ann Henley Bullock, from Granville, N. C., moved to the area and surveyed a lot of grants in the Carroll (Grindal) Shoals area. Two of his sisters lived at least for awhile in the area: Agatha and her husband, John Nuckolls Sr., and Agnes and her husband, John Williams. Their husbands were both Patriot officers during the American Revolutionary War.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p.95; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: My Family Tree and Twigs, ID: 114078, Richard Bullock, Contact Leonard Turnbull; RootsWeb's World Connect Project: The Ridner and Bender Families, ID: 15497, Agatha Bullock, Contact David A. Ridner.)
(Rootsweb's WorldConnect Project: The McMillin & Williams and Allied Families, ID: 108443, Agness Bullock, Contact Deb; Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 121.)
His brother, Leonard Henley Bullock Sr., owned property in Carroll (Grindal) Shoals as did Leonard's daughter, Susannah. Leonard was High Sheriff in Granville County, N. C. in 1769; Commander of Governor Tryon's Calvary Unit in 1771; Manager of the Translvania Land Company in 1775; and was a Major with the Patriot or Continental Forces during the American Revolutionary War.
(Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, by Brent Holcomb, pp 59, 119, 259; RootsWeb's World Connect Project: My Family Tree and Twigs, ID: 114080, Leonard Henley Bullock, Contact Leonard Turnbull.)
Zachariah Bullock owned a great deal of land in the Carroll (Grindal) Shoals area and served as a Major with the Continental forces under Col. Benjamin Roebuck. Angelica Mitchell Nott wrote: "The place on which he lived was settled by one Pacolet, after whom the river was named."
(Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, by Brent Holcomb, p. 17; History of Grindal Shoals by Rev. J. D. Bailey, p. 74.)
He died unmarried in 1791, and left his estate to his brother, Len, and Len's four daughters: Lyne, Lucy, Agnes and Nancy. He was a friend and neighbor to the Williams, Hendersons and Mitchells.
(Union County, South Carolina, Will Abstracts, 1787-1849, pp. 15-16.)
John Beckham apparently received one of the early grants in Mecklenburg County circa 1765 or 1766. Beckham's land or grant was mentioned in the survey that Joab Mitchell had made on September 27, 1766, for one of his grants.
Beckham had a 400 acre tract on both sides of the Pacolet River that he sold to William Hodge in 1775 or 1776. He had probably built his cabin here and lived in it until several years after his brother-in-law, William Henderson, moved to the area in 1771 or before. From records it appears that Beckham moved his family to the William Henderson lands circa 1774.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p. 95; South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 108-111, Article on General William Henderson compiled by B. F. Taylor; History of Grindal Shoals by Rev. J. D. Bailey, p. 24.)
During the Revolutionary War, Lieut. Col. Banastre Tarleton of the British army visited the William Hodge cabin in November of 1780, and had his men set the torch to it. This was probably the house that Beckham had constructed. He carried William Hodge to Camden, S. C., where he remained a prisoner until he and Daniel McJunkin escaped in April of 1781.
In his History of Grindal Shoals, the Reverend J. D. Bailey wrote: "When twelve, or fourteen years of age, the writer passing this ancient settlement one beautiful summer evening, in company with Frank Hodge, he pointed out to us three black rocks standing at right angles near the roadside, and said, 'There are the pillars of great—grand-father's house, which was burnt during the Revolution.' The site was about one hundred and fifty yards a little south of west from the old graveyard. They are not to be seen there now."
(History of Grindal Shoals, Article on William Hodge, by Rev. J. D. Bailey, pp. 53-56.)
All of Hodge's personal papers were burnt and on August 27, 1784, he had John Hodge and John Grindal Sr. appear before J. Thompson, J. P. and they stated that they saw John Beckham of the Ninety Six District in the year 1775 or 76 deliver to William Hodge of Pacolet River a lease and release for 400 acres, being the plantation whereon the said William Hodge now lives."
(Union County, South Carolina, Will Abstracts, 1787-1849, by Brent Howard Holcomb, p. 17.)
Joab Mitchell received four separate grants totaling 1300 acres in September of 1766, in what was then thought to be Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He received a later grant for 1888 acres on February 10, 1775, "on the Mill Creek at the mouth of School house branch."
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p. 95; Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. I: Deed Books A-F, 1785-1800 (1752-1800) by Brent Holcomb, p. 51.)
Richard Henderson, his brother-in-law, received six grants in 1767 and 1768, for a total of 2100 acres of land in the Pacolet River area. The land was thought to be a part of Mecklenburg and Tryon Counties in North Carolina. He never lived on the land. By 1771, William Henderson had purchased his brother, Richard Henderson's lands, and had moved there to oversee the property.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, pp. 70, 71, 140, 156.)
In a History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, p. 38, by John H. Logan, is found the following: "Col. William Henderson settled, a single man on the Pacolet, and lived there with his sister, Mrs. John Beckham."
He lived for several years with his sister until he constructed his own cabin. He allowed the Beckham's to settled on his land just off Sandy Run Creek in possibly a cabin that had already been built by "squatters". In his will, William Henderson gave the land (200 acres) to the Beckhams and his brother, John, an executor of the estate, deeded the land to the daughters of Beckham.
(Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. I: Deed Books A-F, 1785-1800 (1752-1800) by Brent Holcomb, p. 208.)
John Williams, son of Daniel Williams Sr. and Ursula Henderson Williams, and his wife, Mary Atwood Williams, were living (squatting) in a cabin in 1768 or before, on land that was later granted to John Kirconnell on the north side of Pacolet, the upper side of John Portman's land. Kirconnell received the grant in 1771, in what was then regarded as in Tryon County, North Carolina.
John Williams received a 300 acre grant on the Pacolet River in 1768. This land was then thought to be a part of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He received an additional grant of 500 acres that included "Clark's Old Field" in 1770. This land was in Tryon County, North Carolina. A part of John Clark's (father of Col. Elijah Clark) land was re-granted.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, pp. 121, 125, 141, 154, 158.)
John Williams probably moved to the area with his brother, Daniel Williams Jr., and his wife, Ann. Two of Ann's sisters had also moved there in the 1760s. Daniel may have purchased John's property on the Pacolet River after his brother moved to what later became Laurens County, S. C.
Their brother, James Williams, in 1773, moved to the Little River section of what became Laurens County, and John later joined him there circa 1775. John moved to Edgefield County, S. C., circa 1785.
Some of his brother, Daniel's children, later moved there. Davis, a son of Daniel and Ann Henderson Williams, sold land in Edgefield District, S. C., in 1801. Daniel's wife, Ann, lived in Edgefield after the death of her second husband, Adam Potter, in 1801. She died in Edgefield County.
(James Williams, An American Patriot in the Carolina Backcountry, by William T. Graves, p. 6; SCC-Template, South Carolina Connections, Disk5Chp68, Internet, pp. 1-2; RootsWeb's World Connect Project, SCSALUDA-L Archives, Ancestry.com, Internet; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Norris/Verbois Family Tree, ID: 1533945254, Anne Henderson, Contact Toni Verbois.)
John Williams Jr., son of John and Mary Womack Williams, from Granville County, N. C., received a 300 acre tract on both sides of the south fork of Pacolet River in 1767, and a 600 acre tract on both sides of the south fork of the Pacolet River in 1768. This land was thought to be in Tryon County, North Carolina, at the time. There is no record of John Jr. living on these grants. He may have sold his land to his brother-in-law, Zachariah Bullock.
His wife was Agness Bullock Keeling, widow of George Keeling, and sister of Zachariah. Her first husband was the grandson of George and Ursula Fleming Keeling.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Ancestors and Cousins, ID: 148323, George Keeling, Contact Karen Higgins.)
"Along with his cousin, Richard Henderson, Williams (John Jr.) organized the Louisa (later the Transylvania) Company in 1774, in order to develop and sell land between the Cumberland and Kentucky rivers."
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina, by Brent Holcomb, pp. 154-155; RootsWeb's World Connect: Family of Legends and The Unknown, ID: 1255007, George Keeling, Contact David A. Blocher.)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: The McMillin & Williams and Allied Families, ID: 116309, Southern Historical Collection, Col. John Williams, Contact Deb.)
John Haile moved to this area in 1766, and served as a chain bearer for Joab Mitchell when he was receiving his grants. He received a grant for a 289 acre tract of land on Mill Creek of Pacolet River "about one mile above the fair forrest path…" on October 27, 1767.
Zachariah Bullock had surveyed the tract on February 17, 1767. William Coleman and Joab Mitchell were his chain bearers. He married Ruth Mitchell, daughter of Joab Mitchell, circa 1770.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, pp. 52, 53, 67, 95, 128, 152; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Blick's Family Workbook, ID: 13242, John Haile, Capt., Contact Phyllis Blickensderfer.)
Joab Mitchell apparently received a part of the John Clark land when he was receiving his grants and in 1769, sold land on Mill Creek to David Robertson, father of James (Horseshoe) Robertson. "The land Joab Mitchell sold him contained a grist mill, which he operated until three days before he made his will." His will was written on July 8, 1771.
This area was first called Clark's Mill Creek, and the mill was originally constructed by John Clark, Col. Elijah Clark's father.
On February 20, 1767, Charles Robertson, David Robertson's brother, carried the surveyor's chain for Joab Mitchell near the Pacolet River and on August 12, 1767, Charles and his brother, David, carried the chain for James Hanna on the south fork of Fishing Creek.
Charles carried the chain for James Bridges for a grant on both sides of Thicketty Creek also on August 12, 1767. He did not receive a grant for himself. His brother, David, sought to protect Charles assets in his will, but the state rejected the will.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p. 51; The Robertsons of Tennessee: Myth and Reality, by Tom Robertson, pp. 5-7; Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, p. 54.)
CHILDREN OF SAMUEL AND ELIZABETH WILLIAMS HENDERSON
1. Mary Ann Henderson was born January 10, 1734, in Hanover County, Virginia. She married Joab Mitchell on October 14, 1751, in Granville County, North Carolina. He was born February 13, 1721, in Henrico County, Virginia. He was Christened on September 16, 1722, in Bristol Parish, Henrico County, Virginia.
He was the son of Thomas and Hannah ? Mitchell. Thomas was born circa 1698, and Hannah was born circa 1700. Thomas' will was filed on October 5, 1767, in Amherst County, Virginia.
He listed Charles, Joab, Elizabeth and Nancy as his children.
(Genealogy.com: My Genealogy Home Page: Information about Mary Henderson, Internet; Mitchell Family Records of Hawkins County, Tennessee, by Willie Blount Mitchell, 1847, Internet; Family: Joab Mitchell and Mary Henderson (1) – Genealogy, Internet.)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: OUR FAMILIES, Swallow, Schaeck, Bond, Henwood, Kortum and Allied Families, ID: 104319, Joab Mitchell, Contact Joseph; Person: Thomas Mitchell (2) – Genealogy, Internet; Amherst County, Virginia, Abstracts of Wills Before 1799, Internet.)
"Joab Mitchell was listed as a soldier on the Granville County Muster Roll of a Company of Foot in the Regiment of Granville, N.C.—September 6,1755."
On March 3, 1757, "Mary Stuart, 13 years old, was bound to Joab Mitchell to learn housewifery and to get 1 Years schooling after 15 years."
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Spirit Walking, ID: 1114595, Joab Mitchell, Contact Sandra; From ORPHAN BONDS OF GRANVILLE COUNTY, N. C., 1749-1786.)
Joab and Mary probably had at least six of their children while living in Granville County, North Carolina, and at least four of their children while living in the Carroll (Grindal) Shoals area of what later became South Carolina.
Joab Mitchell sold 150 acres of land to Peter Copland of the Province of Virginia, on May 13, 1773. It was a part of a 450 acre grant to Joab by North Carolina on October 26, 1767.
He sold 300 acres on both sides of the Pacolet River near Carrol Shoals to Susannah Bullock, daughter of Len Henley Bullock, brother of Zachariah Bullock, on October 2, 1773.
On May 12-13, 1775, he and his wife, Mary, sold 300 acres of land on Mill Creek to Richard Hawkins.
He and his family were still living at Grindal Shoals on December 18-19, 1775, when he sold 300 acres of land on Clarks Mill Creek to Thomas Draper. The land was granted to him on September 6, 1774.
(Union County South Carolina Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, by Brent Holcomb, pp. 2, 54, 59, 78.)
The Battle of Lexington occurred on April 18, 1775, and the Snow Campaign in South Carolina, occurred in November of 1775. Apparently, Joab had not enlisted and was not involved in the early skirmishes and battles of the first year of the American Revolutionary War.
It is speculative, but the writer doubts that Joab started for Tennessee before early spring of 1776. Mary was expecting a child, and they probably remained at Grindal Shoals until after the birth of Polly Mitchell on April 6, 1776. So there could have been five children born in South Carolina.
There seems to have been a problem for the traveling party, perhaps one of illness, or Joab would not have left one of his younger children with his wife's sister, Ann, who was at that time married to Daniel Williams Jr. Their daughter, Angelica, remained and was raised by her Aunt Ann.
Joab moved to Hawkins County, Tennessee, near the village of Rogersville. Joab and his son, Mark, signed the Watauga Association petition, and the new Washington District was officially accepted by North Carolina on August 22, 1776. "All the men signing the petition were frontier soldiers."
(Kings Mountain Men by K. K. White, pp. 7-8.)
Davy Crockett's grandparents, David and Elizabeth Hedge Crockett, lived in what today is downtown Rogersville, near a spring that bears their name. David and Elizabeth were massacred in August of 1777, by a group of Indians led by "Dragging Canoe".
Davy Crockett wrote: "The Indians wounded Joseph Crockett, a brother to my father, by a ball, which broke his arm; and took James a prisoner, who was still a younger brother than Joseph, and who, from natural defects, was less able to make his escape, as he was both deaf and dumb. He remained with them for seventeen years and nine months, when he was discovered and recollected by my father and his eldest brother, William Crockett; and was purchased by them from an Indian trader."
(David the Elder Crockett, 1 (c. 1730-1777)—Genealogy, Internet; Davy Crockett's Own Story p. 17.)
The remaining Crocketts sold their property to a French Huguenot, named Colonel Thomas Amis. He built a fort at Big Creek in 1780, with the assistance of fellow settler and Scots-Irish John Carter, on the outskirts of Rogersville. Colonel Amis erected a fort-like stone house, around which, he built a palisade for protection against the Indians.
(Rogersville, Tennessee—Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Internet.)
The last child of Joab and Mary, Susannah, was born in Hawkins County, Tennessee, on November 18, 1779, just a few months before the death of her father.
(Family: Joab Mitchell and Mary Henderson (1)—Genealogy, Internet.)
On one occasion several families were gathered at the fort called Big Creek, and because they were greatly in need of salt, Joab Mitchell, volunteered to go and secure it.
"He had procured a supply of salt and had nearly reached his friends in safety, when he was suddenly fired upon by some Indians concealed in the hollow. His left arm was shattered by a (musket) ball. In a few minutes he was with his friends in the fort. There being no skilled surgeon present, and the weather being excessively warm, mortification and death ensued in about 3 days."
His remains were interred in a depression, which has since borne the name of "Mitchell's Hollow". He died on March 13, 1780, almost three years after the Crockett's lost their lives.
(RAMBLIN—pfg. 273—Generated by Personal Ancestral File, Internet; Goodspeed's History of Hawkins County, Tennessee; Sketches of Hawkins County by James W. Rogan—1859.)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Swallow, Schaeck, Bond, Henwood, Kortum and Allied Families, ID: 108011, Joab Mitchell Jr., Contact Joseph G. Swallow.)
From, Watauga and Its Records, is found the following in the May term of 1780: "Ordered that Mary Mitchell have leave of administration on the Estate of Joab Mitchell. Mark Mitchell and George Russell her security."
(Kings Mountain Men by K. K. White, p. 33.)
Mary Henderson Mitchell died in Hawkins County, Tennessee, on August 25, 1803.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: VOLZKAI, ID: 155216, Contact Denise Volzka, Mary Henderson, Contact Joseph G. Swallow.)
Children of Joab and Mary Henderson Mitchell
(a). Ruth M. Mitchell was born on August 1, 1753, in Granville County, North Carolina. She married John Haile, son of John and Elizabeth ? Haile, circa 1770, in Carroll (Grindal) Shoals. He was born in 1746, in Virginia.
(RootsWeb World Connect Project: from the present to the beginning, ID: P210344164, Ruth Mitchell, Contact Richard Finch; RootsWeb World Connect Project: Reaves-Wilson Family, ID: 1101, John Haile, Contact William Reaves.)
(RootsWeb World Connect Project: Blick's Family Workbook, ID: 13242, John Haile Capt., Contact, Phyllis Blickensderfer.)
He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served as a horseman and quartermaster under Capt. John Thompson. He "lost a horse in service during 1779". He was a Captain under Col. Thomas Brandon, and was listed in several databases as Capt. John Haile Sr.
(South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 399.)
They had five daughters and five sons. Her husband was the first Clerk of Court in Union County, S. C., in 1785.
(Ramblin-pafg274—Generated by Ancestral File, The Tangled Web, Internet; GenCircles, Global Tree, The White Family & Other Connections by Carol Robertson White, John Haile.)
His obituary appeared in the Saturday, June 29th Issue of the Marion Star, Marion, S. C., in 1816:
"Died, at his residence in Union District on Monday the 17 th, inst. JOHN HAILE, Esq. in the 70th year of his age..he was a parent to a numerous offspring, a valuable citizen, generous neighbor, a sincere friend. His door was never shut against the poor and indigent, and by repeated acts of benevolence he has gained the esteem of all who knew him..His associations in life, only knew how to appreciate his worth."
Ruth Mitchell Haile died May 9, 1840, in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: from the present to the beginning, ID: P-210344164, Ruth Mitchell, Contact Richard Finch.)
Their daughter, Elizabeth, born January 24, 1772, married a Patriot Revolutionary War veteran, Thomas Stribling. "He served in the militia from 1 April to 29 June 1782 under Capt. Joseph Hughes and Col. Thomas Brandon."
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: The Stribling Family in America, ID: 111632, Thomas Stribling, Contact Barbara Beers; South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 903.)
Their son, Benjamin, born October 23, 1774, married Sally Henderson, the daughter of John and Sarah Alston Henderson.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Reaves-Wilson Family, ID:1101, John Haile, Contact William Reaves; History of Grindal Shoals by Rev. J. D. Bailey, p. 52.)
Their daughter, Mary (Polly) Haile, born December 29, 1783, married Richard Thomson, son of William (Gentleman) Thomson and his wife, Sarah Hatton Thomson. Polly Haile was his second wife.
William and Sarah Thomson were both born in England. They first settled in Williamsburg, Virginia, after moving to this country.
(Rootsweb's WorldConnect Project: Reaves-Wilson Family, ID: 1101, John Haile, Contact William Reaves; Thomson/Thompson from the Ragland Genealogy, Internet.)
Richard was first married to Mary (Polly) Hopson, daughter of Neville and Sarah Ragland Hopson, on November 8, 1802, in Rutherford County, North Carolina. She was born July 10, 1780, in Halifax County, Virginia. They had four sons and two daughters. Mary Hopson Thomson died circa 1813.
(RootsWebs WorldConnect Project: Sexton, Basil, Roller, Walden and Related Families, ID: 111234, Neville Hopson, Contact Teresa Sexton; Richard Thomson and Mary Hopson, Internet.)
Mary (Polly) Haile and Richard Thomson married circa 1814, and had two sons and two daughters. She was living in 1837, when she relinquished her dower rights to Joshua Tapp, Justice of the Quorum, on May 8th. Her husband had sold 37 acres of land west of the Village of Spartanburg, S. C., to Thomas Poole.
(Spartanburg District, South Carolina Deed Abstracts, Books U-W (1827-1839), p. 394; York County, South Carolina, Will Abstracts, 1787-1862 (1770-1862), by Brent Holcomb, pp. 145-146.)
William (Gentleman) Thomson fought as a horseman under Capt. John Mapp and Col. Benjamin Roebuck during the Revolutionary War. He may have fought in the Battles of Kings Mountain and Cowpens.
(South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Bobby Gilmer Moss, p.930; The Patriots at Kings Mountain by Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 290.)
"Col. (William) Washington was at Wofford's Iron Works, on Lawson's Fork, having his horses shod. Receiving the message delivered by Major (Joseph) McJunkin, Gen. (Daniel) Morgan called out to a little Frenchman, who had just come in from the Iron Works, but was then asleep: 'Barron, get up and go back to the iron works and tell Billy, that Benny is approaching, and tell him to meet me tomorrow evening at Gentleman Thomson's on the east side of Thickety Creek.'
William (Gentleman) Thomson, lived where Thickety station on the Southern Railway now is (was), and is buried in an unmarked grave on the old homestead."
(History of Grindal Shoals by Rev. J. D. Bailey, pp. 18-19.)
In William (Gentleman) Thomson's obituary, published in the Yorkville Pioneer, Yorkville, S. C., September 27, 1823, is given the following account of his life:
"Died on the 14th inst. at his residence on the Beauty Spot, in this District, Mr. William Thompson, in the 73rd year of his age.
He was among the first, who resisted the arbitrary measures of Great Britain. Under the celebrated Patrick Henry, he assisted in expelling Lord Dunmore from Virginia, and from thence to the close of the struggle he continued to present his breast to the shafts of battle."
The oldest street now in the city of Gaffney, S. C., is named for William (Gentleman) Thomson (Thompson Street). He and William Lipscomb owned a tract of land that faced the street later called "Thompson Street". It had "lime on it" he stated. In his will he wrote: "He (William Lipscomb), now deceased, willed it (his share) to me." The street was called "Thompson Street" after his death in 1823.
(York County, South Carolina, Will Abstracts, 1787-1862 (1770-1862), by Brent H. Holcomb.)
His son, Richard Thomson, applied for Letters Testamentary on September 22, 1823.)
Richard, surveyed and drew a plat of the land that Michael Gaffney used for the construction of a race tract near Limestone Springs, S. C., in 1837.
(150th Anniversary Souvenir Program, Gaffney, S. C., The Gaffney Story Through the Years, 1837; A History of Limestone College by Montague McMillan, p. 4.)
John and Ruth Haile's daughter, Ruth, married George McKnight. McKnight gave to the Gilead Baptist Church trustees: Robert Coleman, John Hames, John Gibson, Nathaniel Gist and William Henderson a tract of land containing 2.35 acres on October 15, 1819. Charles Jones and Hiram Coleman witnessed the transaction.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Blick's Family Workbook, ID: 13473, George McKnight, Contact Phyllis Blickensderfer; Union County Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, by Brent Holcomb, pp. 244-245, P-355-356.)
(b). Mark Mitchell was born on January 17, 1756, in Granville County, North Carolina. He was a frontier soldier in what later became Hawkins County, Tennessee.
He sold 200 acres of his father's property in the Grindal Shoals area on branches of Mill Creek to Maharshalhasbaz Lile of Union County, January 2nd & 3rd , 1786. The property was part of a grant of 300 acres to his father, Joab Mitchell, on September 6, 1775. He received the property from his father's estate.
The land was adjacent to lands owned by Thomas Draper and Edward Pickett. Witnesses to the transaction were: John Haile, Adam Potter, and Philip Saunders. He was living in Washington County, North Carolina, at the time. The area, where he was living, later became the state of Tennessee.
He was married but the name of his wife is unknown to this writer. They had five sons and three daughters. His first child, Thomas, was born November 21, 1794, and his son, Mark, was born January 17, 1800. Date of his death is not known to this writer.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Tangled Web, ID: 18070, Mark Mitchell, Contact Judith Ramblin; Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, 1785-1800, p. 17.)
(c). Elizabeth M. Mitchell was born on March 14, 1758, in Granville County, North Carolina. She married Jesse Bean, son of Capt. William and Lydia Russell Bean, in 1778, in Washington County, North Carolina, later a part of Tennessee.
(Jesse Bean and Elizabeth Mitchell (1)—Genealogy. Internet.)
Jesse's father, William Bean, was a Captain in the Virginia Militia. While living in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, he traveled to Holston Country on hunting expeditions with Daniel Boone numerous times. During the American Revolution, he was a Captain with the Watauga Riflemen.
(Generations Gone By, Captain William Bean, St. Stephens Parish, North Cumberland County, Virginia, Internet; My Genealogy Home Page: Information about Capt. William Bean, Internet.)
George, Jesse, John and Robert were all Watauga riflemen under Col. John Sevier. Draper calls them the "sharpshooters from Watauga".
(King's Mountain Men by K. K. White, p. 146.)
In his book, The Overmountain Men, page 34, Pat Alderman wrote:
"Jesse's mother, Lydia Russell, daughter of George and Mary Henley Russell, was captured by a group of Cherokee Indians, while hurrying on horseback to the safety of the Watauga Fort. She was taken to their camp on the Nolichucky River, where Indian warriors threatened to kill her.
Mrs. Bean was taken to Togue, where she was condemned to be burned. She had given up all hope as she was bound to the stake and the fire lighted, when suddenly Nancy Ward appeared and scattered the burning embers and stomped out the fire.
After untying Mrs. Bean, Nancy turned to the subdued warriors and remarked: 'It revolts my soul that the Cherokee warrior stoops so low as to torture a squaw.'"
"Nancy took Mrs. Bean into her own home to nurse her back to health. Mrs. Bean, like most 'settler women', wove her own cloth. She taught Ward how to set up a loom, spin thread or yarn, and weave cloth. This skill would make the Cherokee people less dependent on traders, but it also Europeanized the Cherokee in terms of gender roles.
Women came to be expected to do the weaving and house chores; as men became farmers in the changing society, women became 'housewives". Another aspect of Cherokee life that changed when
Ward saved the life of Mrs. Bean was that of raising animals. Lydia owned dairy cattle, which she took to Ward's house. Ward learned to prepare and use dairy foods, which provided some nourishment even when hunting was bad.
However, because of Ward's introduction of dairy farming to the Cherokee, they would begin to amass large herds and farms, which required even more manual labor. This would soon lead the Cherokees into using slave labor. In fact, Ward herself had been 'awarded' the black slave of a felled Creek warrior after her victory at the Battle of Taliwa and thus became the first Cherokee slave owner."
(Bean Notables and Anecdotes, Bean Genealogy, Lydia (Russell) Bean, Internet, pp. 1-2.)
Pat Alderman in, The Overmountain Men, p. 7, wrote: " Without the timely warning by Nancy Ward, most of the settlers of the Watagua, Holston and Carter's Valley could have been surprised by the Indians and killed. Without these settlements there would not have been an Overmountain Men's Army to defeat Ferguson at King's Mountain. Without that victory the story of America could have been different."
Nancy's mother, Catherine Tame Doe Raven, was an Indian, the sister of Chief Oconostota, and her father, Francis Ward, son of Edmond Bryan and Abigail Ferrell Ward, was an English Indian trader, who lived for awhile in Chota, a Cherokee Indian Village, with his wife, Tame Doe. Francis Ward was born in Ireland in 1710.
(Edmond Bryan Ward (1675-1770)—Genealogy, Internet.)
Tame Doe was born circa 1712. Francis and Tame Doe were married in 1728, and had two children: Longfellow, born circa 1729, and Nancy, born circa 1731.
(Sisney Legacy: Information about Catherine Tame Doe Raven, Genealogy. Com, Family Tree Maker Online; My Mother is Cherokee and so was her Mother and Her Mother before, (17.) Nancy of the WolfClan; Abigail Ward Ferrell (1675-1739)—Genealogy, p. 1, Internet.)
Francis Ward was banished from Chota before the birth of his daughter, Nancy.
He moved back to the Tyger River area, where he and his brother, Edmond, had originally settled. He was a civil engineer by occupation. This area is in Spartanburg County, S. C., near Walnut Grove where there is still a Ward Creek.
He married two more times. His second wife was a Ward, possibly the widow of his brother, Edmond Ward. One source lists Edmond Ward's wife as Ann ? . His third wife was Nancy March Ward, daughter of Patrick March.
(The Wards of Ireland by Robert G. Adams, Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee; RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Boles, Johnson, Wright, Ladd, Houser, Ward, ID: 1239, Francis Bryan Ward, Contact Rhonda McCulley.)
Migrations into Spartanburg County, S. C., by Frank Scott, p. 3; Spartanburg County/District, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Books A-T, 1785-1827 by Albert Bruce Pruitt, p. 395.)
He was the writer's wife, Elizabeth Reeves Ivey's, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather through his second wife, and the writer's great, great, great, great, great, grandfather through his third wife. Thus, the writer and his wife are related to Nancy Ward through her father, Francis Ward.
"Lydia's brother, George Russell, husband of Elizabeth Bean, was killed by Indians, while on a hunting trip to Grainger County, Tennessee, in 1796, and her daughter, Jane Bean, was killed in 1798, by Indians, while working her loom outside the wall of Bean's
Station." Both Lydia and her husband, William, were deceased at this time.
(Bean Notables and Anecdotes, Bean Genealogy, Internet.)
Jesse Bean was born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in 1756. He served as a Captain in a North Carolina Militia Unit under the command of Lt. Col. John Sevier and fought under him at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
(The Patriots at Kings Mountain by Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 16.)
He and his family settled in the Mulberry Valley (present day Pleasant Hill, Crawford County, Arkansas) before the Indians were driven out. He was living in Pleasant Hill in 1818 or before. He organized the first Sunday School (possibly Baptist) in Pleasant Hill.
All whites were driven out of the valley except Jesse and Judge Reuben Saunders, who were allowed to remain because they were blacksmiths.
(Jesse Bean and Elizabeth Mitchell (1) Genealogy, Internet.)
Capt. William Russell Jr., husband of Jesse's daughter, Lydia, also later moved his family to Crawford County, Arkansas. He fought in the War of 1812, with his father, Major William Russell Sr., who fought in battles during the Revolutionary War and in the War of 1812. The Russells were included in the book written by Davy Crockett. President Andrew Jackson wrote a personal letter to Capt. William Russell Jr.
(Major William Russell Sr., Internet article; Davy Crockett's Own Story as written by Himself; The Patriots at Kings Mountain by Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 220.)
Jesse and Elizabeth had five sons and four daughters. Jesse died in Independence County, Arkansas, on September 10, 1829, and Elizabeth Mitchell Bean died September 10, 1837, in Independence County, Arkansas.
(Rootsweb's WorldConnect Project: Jordan and Allied Families, ID. 1407, Jesse Bean, Contact Amy Stier; Rootweb's WorldConnect Project: Julieo Wollard Trout's GEDCOM Files, ID: 112828, Elizabeth Mitchell, Contact Julie Wollard.)
(d). Joab Mitchell was born on May 28, 1760, in Granville County, North Carolina. He apparently did not marry. One database article stated that he died in April of 1779, in Rogersville, Tennessee.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Ryan A. & Kellie W's Family Tree, ID: 11511, Joab Mitchell, Contact Ryan.)
(e). Richard Mitchell was born on September 11, 1762, in Granville County, North Carolina. He was with his father, Joab, when he died from the Indian attack.
He was with Daniel Boone at his fort in Kentucky for more than twelve months. He married Elizabeth Sanders, daughter of William and Elizabeth Jordan Sanders, on January 9, 1794. She was born on October 13, 1772.
He was a Hawkins County Court Clerk for 20 years and a Collector of the Revenue in 1813, 1814 and 1815. He was in one of the battles against the Indians in Tennessee and was a member of the First Tennessee Constitutional Convention.
He and his wife had nine children: five daughters and four sons. He died March 16, 1853, in Pearl River, Mississippi, and his wife, Elizabeth, died in Hawkins County, Tennessee, November 1857.
(GenCircles, Global Tree, Richard Mitchell; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Swallow, Schaeck, Bond, Henwood, Kortum and Allied Families, ID:100821, Richard Mitchell, Contact Joseph G. Swallow.)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Brown Family of Cove, Polk County, Arkansas, ID: 1072747, Elizabeth Sanders, Contact Sandra Hunter.)
(f). Samuel Mitchell was born on April 13, 1765, in Granville County, North Carolina. Samuel was a lawyer and was appointed by Thomas Jefferson, President, Agent of the Chickasaw and Choctaw nation of Indians, which post he held to the time of his death.
(Descendants of James Logan Colbert: Third Generation, 11. Delilah 'Liley' Love.)
He first married Mary (Molly) Folsom, daughter of Nathaniel and Iahnecha Folsom, in 1798. Nathaniel was white, but married two full blooded Choctaw sisters: Aiahnechaohoyo and Iahnecha.
Molly was born circa 1780. She and Samuel had two children: Alzira and Sophia. She died circa 1802, after the birth of Sophia.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Mary Jane Wilson–Indian Connecton, ID: 11711904018, Nathaniel Folsom; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project, Johnston Family, ID: 111508, Mary (Molly) Folsom, Contact Ian Johnston.)
Samuel was engaged to Margaret (Peggy) Allen in the Chickasaw Nation of Mississippi, circa 1804. He proposed and was promptly turned down by Peggy. "Samuel carried his suit to her grandmother, a dominating dowager Colbert. Th old lady considered it an excellent match. Pre-emptorily, she sent Peggy off to the agency, where Mitchell presided with a string of well-loaded packhorses and ten Negro slaves as her dowry.
The lovely Peggy, whose mother had been only one-eight part Indian, was as determined as her grandmother. Peggy made the trip to Mitchell's house. That was as far as she would go. She stubbornly refused him, saying, according to Claiborne, that she 'would never marry a drinking man white or Indian.' She married instead Simon Burney." Peggy and Simon had two sons and four daughters.
Samuel married secondly, Delilah (Liley) Love, daughter of Thomas and Sally Colbert (House of Incunnomar) circa 1807. They had two children: Joseph Greer Mitchell and Catherine (Kitty) Mitchell. Samuel died circa 1811, in Mississippi.
(ramblin—pafg275—Generated by Ancestral File—Samuel Mitchell;
RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Swallow, Schaeck, Bond, Henwood, Kortum and Allied Families, ID: 102144, Samuel Mitchell, Contact Joseph.)
His widow, Delilah, married John Basset Moore circa 1813. They had two sons and five daughters. She died before 1847, at Fort Washita, Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Jones/Johnson Ancestors, ID: 113446, Delilah Love, Contact Lissa Johnston.)
(g). Thomas Mitchell was born on September 19, 1767, on lands of the Pacolet River in what later became South Carolina. He was an early settler of Tennessee and led a volunteer expedition against the Cherokee Indians.
He married Frances Dyer, daughter of Joel Henry and Sophia Weston Dyer, April 10, 1794, in Tennessee.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Schaeck-Kortum Family, ID: 104345, Thomas Mitchell, Contact Joseph Swallow.)
Frances' father was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and her mother was born in Yatesbury, Witshire, England. She was born in 1771.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Ancestors and Descendants of Larry and Jan Sroufe, ID: 11895, Joel Henry Dyer, Contact Jan Sroufe.)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: ID: 1588, Sophia Weston, Contact Denise Carpenter Gregory.)
Joel moved to Tennessee circa 1792, and settled on Poor Valley Creek, near Mooresburg, in Hawkins County. He was a member of the Senate, of the 2nd General Assembly, 1797-99, representing Hawkins County, Tennessee.
On October 4, 1796, Joel received his commission in the Tennessee State Militia. He was appointed Major in the Hawkins County Militia. In 1800, he removed to Rutherford County. He possibly was a soldier in the War of 1812.
He moved to Madison County in 1821. He helped to form the new government of this county and was one of the first Commissioners.
Major Dyer died, June 11, 1825, and his obituary was in the first newspaper for the new county.
"Died at his residence in this county (Madison) on Saturday morning last, Major Joel Dyer, aged seventy-one, one of the few surviving soldiers of the Revolutionary War. He was a man much respected for his benevolence of character and esteemed by all who knew him, as a good Citizen and an honest man. He has left an affectionate wife, and upwards of 100 descendants.
Thus, we see the soldiers of the Revolution falling around us like the leaves of the majestic oak, before an autumnal blast; but although they are consigned to their mother dust, their deeds of valor and the glorious result of their patriotic devotion to their country, will live in our recollections, and their names be handed down to the latest generation."
Major Dyer owned land in the area that was to become Dyer County, and had the county named in honor of his son, Robert Henry.
(ramblin—pafg—Generated by Personal Ancestral File, Internet; Major Joel Henry Dyer, First Settler of Crockett County, Tennessee, Internet.)
Thomas and Frances moved to Middle Tennessee and became the parents of three sons and five daughters. He died in 1812, in Middle Tennessee.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Cracker Crumbs, Thomas Mitchell, Contact Lisa Bowman; ramblin-pafg274-Generated by Personal Ancestral File, Internet.)
Frances was married a second time to John P. Byrne circa 1813. Date of her death is unknown to this writer.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Ancestors and Descendants of Larry and Jan Sroufe, ID: 110448, Frances Dyer, Contact Jan Sroufe.)
(h). Edward Mitchell was born on December 3, 1769, on lands of the Pacolet River in what later became South Carolina. He married Betsy Smith in May of 1794, in Hawkins County, Tennessee. He was an agent to the Choctaw Indians.
(ramblin- pafg-Generated by Personal Ancestral File, Internet.)
They had four sons and two daughters. Their first child was named Angelica Mitchell, for the sister who remained in South Carolina.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Tangled Web, ID: 18076, Edward Mitchell, Contact Judith.)
Edward died in Pearl River, Mississippi, date unknown. Betsy's date of death is also unknown to this writer.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Jennifer Steelman Family Feb 27 2006, Edward Mitchell, Contact Jennifer Steelman.
(i). Angelica Mitchell was born December 22, 1771, in what later became South Carolina. She was four years old when her father moved his family to Hawkins County, Tennessee, in 1776, but stayed behind with her Aunt Ann, and Uncle Daniel Williams.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Jennifer Steelman Family Feb 27 2006, ID: 12206, Angelica Mitchell, Contact Jennifer Steelman.)
Additional information will be included on Angelica under Ann Henderson Williams Potter.
(j). William Mitchell was born on February 4, 1774, in what later became South Carolina. He married Nancy Dyer, sister of Frances Dyer Mitchell and daughter of Major Joel and Sophia Weston Dyer in 1798, in Hawkins County, Tennessee.
He was in the War of 1812. He was a Private in Coffee's Brigade, Calvary & Mounted Gunman, in Tennessee Volunteers. He attained the rank of Major in 1818. He fought in the Seminole Indian War in Florida, and was a member of Company I, Volunteer Mounted Gunman, Western Tennessee, and rose to the rank of Lt. Col.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Jennifer Steelman Family Feb 27 2006, ID: 10513, William Mitchell, Contact Jennifer Steelman.)
He and his wife, Nancy, had three sons and two daughters. Nancy died in Sparta, White County, Tennessee, in 1807, and he died there in September of 1827.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Jennifer Steelman Family Feb 27 2006, ID: 10524, Nancy Dyer, Contact Jennifer Steelman.)
(k). Polly Mitchell was born on April 6, 1776, possibly in the area near Pacolet River that later became South Carolina. She married John Hall, son of John and Priscilla Fanning Hall.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: New Updated Family Tree For Weaver/Sanders, ID: 1125863, Polly Mitchell, Contact David Weaver.)
John was born in Staunton, Virginia. His father was born in Sunbury, Northumberland, Pennsylvania, and his mother was born in Canandaigua, Ontario, New York.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Lareau Family Master File, ID: 19977, John Hall, Contact Paul.)
John and Polly Mitchell Hall had two children: Langley Swan Hall and Edward Park Hall. Their son, Edward, was a Presbyterian preacher and taught school in Newport, Kentucky. Edward later moved to Ohio.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Spirit Walking, ID: 1115246, Edward Park Hall, Contact Sandra.)
The writer has been unable to secure any dates that relate to this couple except Polly's date of birth.
(l). Susannah M. Mitchell was born November 18, 1779, in Hawkins County, Tennessee. Her father was killed several months later. She married Robert Henry Dyer, son of Major Joel and Sophia Weston Dyer, on June 27, 1799, in Rogersville, Hawkins County, Tennessee. He was the brother of Thomas Mitchell's wife, Frances, and
William Mitchell's wife, Nancy.
(RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Ancestors and Descendants of Larry and Jan Sroufe, ID: 111983, Susannah M. Mitchell, Contact Jan Sroufe.)
Robert Henry Dyer was born in Halifax County, North Carolina, in 1774, but grew up near the Holston River in Tennessee. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the cavalry regiment of the 5th Tennessee Brigade by 1807.
"He was promoted to Captain in 1812, before being elevated to the rank of Lt. Colonel the following year. It was in that year that he went with General Andrew Jackson on the Natchez Expedition."
"He was Col. Commandant of the 2nd Regiment of Tenn. Volunteers and was in the celebrated night attack on the British lines below New Orleans the 23rd December 1814, under Gen. Coffee, where his horse was killed under him, and he was wounded in the leg."
He was in the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, and was recommended for a promotion by General Andrew Jackson.
He ended his military career with General Jackson's expedition against the Seminoles in North Florida, where he commanded the 1st Regiment of Tennessee Volunteers.
When West Tennessee was opened up for settlement, he became a Justice of the Peace and opened up a saloon and register's office on his North Forked Deer settlement in Madison County.
His father was one of the first lawyers in the same county. When the neighboring county of Dyer was established in his honor, he moved there and became its first Postmaster and served on the first County Court.
Robert and his wife, Susannah Mitchell Dyer, were parents of two sons and seven daughters.
At Robert's death in May of 1826, the following obituary was run in the Jackson Gazette. "Departed this life, on May 11th instant at his residence in this county, after a short illness, Col. Robert H. Dyer, a distinguished hero in the service of his country, under General Jackson, during the late war. His remains were interred at his late residence, on yesterday with military honors."
His wife, Susannah, died after 1830, in possibly Gibson County, Tennessee.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Vaughn and Hood Family Heritage, ID: 106378, Robert Henry Dyer, Contact Sherry Parks.)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Kortum-Swallow, ID: 110292, Robert Henry Dyer, Contact Joseph.)
(GenealogyForum, Genealogy.com, Dyer co. TN….Robert Henry Dyer, son of Joel H. Dyer, ID: 7036, Posted by Larry M. Stegall.)
admin Jasper 6 Comments
The John Jasper Family
BY ROBERT A. IVEY.
The statue of Sergeant William Jasper, located in the center of Madison Square at the corner of Bull and Charlton Streets in Savannah, Georgia, has a plaque on the statue which reads: "To the heroic memory of Sergeant William Jasper, who though mortally wounded rescued the colors of his regiment in the assault on the British lines about this city October 9th, 1779. A century has not dimmed the glory of the Irish American Soldier whose last tribute to the civil liberty was his noble life, 1779-1879."
(Sergeant William Jasper—Savannah, GA—Irish American Historic Places on Waymarking.com.)
Sargent William Jasper statue – Madison Square, Savanna Georgia, 2013. Photo: Greg Foster
Sergeant Jasper's father, John, was not Irish; neither was he German as some contend. There are some genealogists who have identified John as the son of Thomas and Sarah Taylor Jasper from Richmond County, Virginia. This Jasper line is from Suffolk, England.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Scheuerman/Willson Family Trees—ID: 117021—John Jasper Sr.; Our Jasper Family—Sherry's Genealogy Home Page–Internet.)
Thomas did have a son, John Jasper, listed in his will, but this son was born April 6, 1721, and died in Richmond County, Virginia, on September 3, 1764.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Rhonda Tink Albright—ID: P-339047610–John Jasper, son of Thomas.)
"John Andrew Jasper was born at Cavermarthen (Carmarthen) in Wales." His birth date is given in most of the databases as 1722. "Carmarthen is a community and the country town of Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the river Towy and lays claim to being the oldest town in Wales."
(Pulaski County Kentucky, A Part of KY GenWeb, Fact Book II, Chapter 9; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Spears and Allied Families—ID: 100670–John Andrew Jasper; Carmarthen, Wikipedia, the free encylopedia–Internet.)
The writer believes that this is the most plausible explanation for John Jasper Sr.'s place of birth and that he was Welsh. There seems to be no other direct family connection in this country to John thus indicating that he may have sailed to this country alone.
However, the Kentucky descendants have used an alias or an assumed name "Abraham" for his middle name. The writer has a copy of a legal document written by Mary, his wife, in which she refers to her husband as John Andrew Jasper.
(Root'sWeb WorldConnect Project: James Ralston Pace Ancestors—ID: 1245–John Andrew Jasper; Copy of Mary's unrecorded document sent to writer by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)
John Jasper Sr.'s oldest son's name was Abraham, and two grandsons were named Abraham. Nicholas had a son, Abraham, and Rachel Covenhoven, had a son, Abraham.
(Pulaski County Kentucky, A Part of KY GenWeb, Fact Book II, Chapter 9; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Winter—ID: 1346–Nicholas Jasper; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Rhonda Tink Albright–ID: P-135021407–Rachel Covenhoven.)
In the Internet article, Welsh American, in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, is found the following: "In the late seventeenth century, there was a large emigration of Welsh Quakers to Pennsylvania, where a Welsh Tract was established." It was probably to this tract that John Andrew Jasper came in the early 1740s.
John Jasper possibly met Mary, daughter of Jacob and Hannah Jones Herrington, after her father moved to York County, Pennsylvania. Her father, Jacob, was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, circa 1701, the son of Cornelius and Rachel Jones Herrington.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Vandiver, Neal, Atherton, Pyland, Settle, Stavely, Lynn, Gish, Rust, Abner, McHood, Tayloe, Outlaw, Atherton—ID: 1630012589–Jacob Herrington.)
Cornelius was born circa 1675, and lived in the neighborhood of Gunpowder River, Baltimore County, Maryland, as early as 1695. He owned three tracts of land in this locality and paid taxes in 1700, 1702, 1703, 1704, 1705 and 1706, on the North Side, Gunpowder District.
(RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Kristi Anne McKenzie's Family Web—ID: 149692—Cornelius Herrington.)
Cornelius married Rachel Jones, daughter of Thomas and Mary Harrison Jones, on April 25, 1701, in Baltimore County, Maryland. Rachel was born December 1, 1677, in Baltimore County.
Her father, Thomas Jones, was an Indian trader in Baltimore County. His wife, Mary Harrison Herrington, married Thomas Staley after the death of Thomas. Thomas and Mary had three children: Charles, Cadwaller and Rachel.
(Internet—Erin J. Ellis Family Tree: Information about Mary Harrison.)
Cornelius and Rachel Jones Herrington had the following children:
Jacob Herrrington, born circa 1701, married Hannah Jones; Katherine, born January 1702, married Samuel Sicklemore, September 12, 1716, died 1764 (2nd wife); and Isaac, born May 5, 1705. Rachel died July 11, 1716, in Maryland.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Soher, Iversen, Gammon, Beal, Carson, Spalding, Bevan—ID: 102854—Katherine (Katterne) Herrington.)
Cornelius second marriage was to Elizabeth ? , in 1717. She was born in 1680, and they had one daughter: Wealthy Herrington, born August 17, 1718. Cornelius died in 1767, in Maryland. (Not sure if this is correct death date.)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Huppe—Wealthy Herrington; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Kristi Anne McKenzie's Family Web & Taber, Fleming, Restine, Buhler, Liddle, Yarber, Ricks, Prather, Wait, etc. —Cornelius Herrington.)
Jacob Herrington married Hannah Jones, October 26, 1720, at St. George's Parish, Harford County, Maryland. Hannah Jones Herrington was born in Harford County, Maryland, June 6, 1705.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Goin Family of San Diego—Hannah Jones.
Jacob and Hannah Jones Herrington had the following children: Frances, born circa 1721; Hannah, born March 31, 1723; Mary, born November 30, 1724; Isaac, born November 30, 1727; Ann, born May 13, 1729; Jacob, born August 20, 1730; Thomas, born February 18, 1732; Sarah, born April 2, 1735; John, born circa 1736; and Rachel, born circa 1737.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect, Project: Soher, Iversen, Gammon, Beal, Carson, Spalding, Bevan—Jacob Herrington.)
Hannah died before 1750; Mary died after 1811; Isaac died 1768; Ann died 1765; Jacob died March 21, 1770; Thomas died 1762; and John died after 1783.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Hannah Herrington—Isaac Herrington—Jacob Herrington—John Herrington; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Taber, Fleming, Restine, Buhler, Liddle, Yarber, Ricks, Prather, Wait, etc.—Thomas Herrington; Union County, S. C., Will Book A, pp. 171-172—Mary Herrington Jasper.)
Hannah Herrington married William Morton, son of Richard and Mercy Massey Sanford Morton, circa 1740. He was born circa 1723, and died March 28, 1751. They had two sons and two daughters.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Scheuerman/Wilson family—Hannah Herrington; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Neuman, Smith, Goodale Family and Ancestors—William Morton.)
Mary Herrington married John Andrew Jasper circa 1742. They had four sons and seven daughters. John Jasper died in 1799.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Rhonda Tink Albright—Mary Herrington Jasper; Union County, S. C., Will Book A, pp. 119-120.)
Isaac Herrington married Jane or Jeanne ? . Jane died after 1765. They had three sons and one daughter.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Jane ? Herrington.)
Ann Herrington married Thomas Lawson, son of John and Frances Davis Lawson. He was born in England circa 1718, and died October 20,1796, at Ft. Ashby, Mineral County, West Virginia. They had six sons and one daughter.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Soher, Iversen, Gammon, Beal, Carson, Spalding, Bevan—Thomas Lawson—Ann Herrington Lawson.)
Jacob Herrington married Mary ? . They had three sons and one daughter. (RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Jacob Herrington.)
Thomas Herrington married Sarah Moody, daughter of Hugh and Sarah ? Moody. They had at least one son, John. They were killed in 1762, during an Indian attack in York County, Pennsylvania. John was raised by his maternal grandparents, Hugh and Sarah Moody.
"Revolutionary War Payroll records show that this John Herrington (son of Thomas) was paid the sum of $33.30 in 1786 for his 2 years of service in the 11th Pennsylvania Regiment during the Revolutionary War. Oral history says that he once took General Washington's horse to water." John lived to be 103 years of age.
(RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Familes—Thomas Herrington & John Herrington.)
John Herrington married Martha Berkley. Martha was born in 1738, and died in 1760. Dying at the same time was her husband, John.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Martha Berkley Herrington.)
Rachel Herrington married John Freeparty. He was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1733. (RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Scheuerman, Wilson Family Trees—Rachel Herrington.)
The writer has been unable to secure the names of Hannah Jones Herrington's parents and her death date. Hannah was not included in Jacob Herrington's will and may have died shortly after the birth of her last child, Rachel, in 1737. She was only 32 years old when Rachel was born and possibly could have had other children if she had lived.
She certainly was deceased when her husband made his will. Hannah, her daughter, was deceased before 1750, and was also not included in the will.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Jacob Herrington.)
Mary's father, Jacob, died in 1754 in Windsor Township, York County, Pennsylvania. Several years before his death, he moved just across the line from Baltimore County into York County, Pennsylvania, possibly after his wife, Hannah, died.
His children: Isaac, Ann, Jacob, Thomas and John are known to have died in York County, Pennsylvania.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Thomas Herrington, John Herrington, Jacob Herrington; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Soher, Iversen Gammon, Beal, Carson, Spalding, Bevan—Ann Herrington.)
"Papers in the estate of Jacob Herrington were filed in the York County (PA) Courthouse with bond to Isaac Herrington, Thomas Berwick & Thomas Minschell (and) dated 11 Dec 1754. Distribution was filed 25 Apr 1757, listing: Mary the Wife of John Jasper; Isaac Herrington; Ann the Wife of Thos. Lawson; Jacob Herrington; Thomas Herrington; Frances Herrington; Rachel the Wife of John Freeparty; Sarah Herrington; John Herrington. All shared equally in the estate with the exception of Isaac who received a double portion."
Mary was born November 30, 1724, in Baltimore County, Maryland. John Jasper probably married Mary circa 1742, in York County, Pennsylvania. Their oldest son, Abraham, was born circa 1743. Her mother may have been deceased when she married.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Vandiver, Neal, Atherton, Pyland, Settle, Stavely, Lynn, Gish, Rust, Abner, Mchood, Tayloe, Outlaw, Atherton—Mary Herrington Jasper; Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrate, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)
Mary's mother was not "Hannah Johnson, who was the wife of Thomas Cresap", nor was she "Mary Herndon" as some genealogists suggest.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Hooker, Herrington, Treadaway, Francis, Lewis—Hannah Johnson; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Mary Herndon.)
John and Mary Jasper may have lived in York County, Pennsylvania, until the settling of the estate of her father in 1757, or they may have moved to Virginia before his death.
If they moved to Frederick County, Virginia, in the 1757s or before, their children William, Hannah, Nancy Anna, Charity and Lydda would have been born in Virginia.
Some genealogists have suggested that the William Jasper who lived in Frederick County, Virginia, was the father of John Jasper Sr.
In his will he left land to his son, Henry, that adjoined land of Isaac Thomas and said that he was to provide for his mother from the land. He mentioned his wife, Ann, and daughters, Elizabeth and Sarah. There was no reference made to a son, John.
(William Jasper's will was dated August 27, 1746, and proved May 5, 1747. It was recorded at Frederick County Courthouse in Deed Book I, p. 118.)
On December 5, 1770, John Jasper purchased land in Augusta County, Virginia, from Alexander Lackey. The deed read: "John Jasper, late of Frederick County…"
(Mrs. D. W. Ritenour, Genealogist, Winchester, Virginia; Unpublished manuscript on Jasper Family by Nancy R. Roy, La Mesa, California.)
Abraham; Nicholas and his wife, Elizabeth Wyatt; Mary and her husband John McWhorter; Elizabeth and her husband John George; Rachel and her husband, Benjamin Covenhoven; and William appear to have moved to Carroll Shoals (later Grindal Shoals) in North Carolina, in 1771. This area became a part of South Carolina in 1772.
It is impossible to know how John's children met and married their spouses. They all came from different locales.
Elizabeth Wyatt married Nicholas Jasper. They married in Wytheville, Va., Wythe County, circa 1767.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: My Kentucky Family (Shannon)—Elizabeth Wyatt.)
Susannah McElfresh married John Jasper Jr. She was from Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland.
(RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: Ogle, Colvin, Jones, Wunder—Susannah McElfresh.)
John McWhorter married Mary Jasper. He was from Albemarle County, Virginia.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: a 2010 Geer Family Master File—John McWhorter.)
John George married Elizabeth Jasper. He was probably from Lancaster County, Virginia.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Kerr and Related Families—John George.)
Benjamin Covenhoven married Rachel Jasper. He was from Monmouth County, New Jersey.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Melia 72006—Benjamin Covenhoven."
Mary Wheatley married William Jasper. She was from Pennsylvania (possibly Philadelphia).
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project—R. K. West's Master List—Mary Wheatley.)
William Cheney married Hannah Jasper. He was from Frederick County, Maryland.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Deckard-Hollowell–William Cheney.)
James Moseley married Nancy Anna Jasper. He was from Brunswick County, Virginia.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Spears and Allied Families—James Moseley.)
John Hames married Charity Jasper. He was from Mecklenburg County, Virginia.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: My Haymes—Popp Family—John Hames.)
The key factor in the first removal to what later became South Carolina, was John McWhorter's marriage to Mary Jasper. After John's father, John, Sr., died in 1757, his mother, Eleanor, applied for and received a grant of 300 acres on September 26, 1766, from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The land was on both sides of Pacolet River. The McWhorters were from Albemarle County, Virginia.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina,(McWhorter) by Brent Holcomb, p. 90, File No. 743 (1471), Gr. No. 314, Book 17, p. 377 (Mecklenburg County); RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Brummitt, Dismang, McWhorter, Burger–John McWhorter.)
A part of the Jasper family settled on Eleanor Brevard McWhorter's land, and a part on John Portman Sr. and Jr.'s land. John Portman Jr. married John McWhorter Jr.'s sister, Sarah. The Portman lands were also granted in the 1760s.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina (John Portmans), by Brent Holcomb, pp. 103-104, (Mecklenburg County); RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project, Goin Family of San Diego—John Portman.)
They were "squatters" on the land that later was granted to John Kirkconnell from North Carolina. Most of the land was on the north side of Pacolet River.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina (Kirkconnell), by Brent Holcomb, p. 141, Tryon County).
The boundary line between North and South Carolina was changed in 1772, and the land became a part of South Carolina.
(North Carolina—South Carolina Border Surveys 1730-1815 (1772)–Internet.)
John Jasper, Sr. and his wife, Mary Herrington Jasper; John Jasper, Jr. and his wife, Susannah McElfresh; Hannah Jasper; Nancy Anna Jasper; Charity Jasper and Lydda Jasper remained in Augusta or Berkley County, Virginia. John Jr. lived on his father's land in Augusta County.
John Jasper Sr. purchased a tract of 256 acres in Augusta County, Virginia, from Samuel and Rachel Love February 6, 1775, for 400 pounds. It was part of a tract of 300 acres conveyed to Samuel Love by deed of August 17-18, 1759. The Loves were living in Orange County, North Carolina, at the time of the sale.
(Augusta (County, Virginia, Deed Book 21, p. 110; Unpublished Manuscript on Jasper Family by Nancy R. Roy of La Mesa, California.)
He sold this land to Manoah Singleton on April 26, 1779, for 1400 pounds. It bordered Christian's Creek.
(Augusta County, Virginia, Deed Book 23, p. 16; Unpublished manuscript on Jasper Family by Nancy R. Roy.)
The rest of the family that remained in Augusta or Berkley County, Virginia, except John Jr. and his wife, Susannah, moved to South Carolina, to be near the other children circa 1779. They probably moved after they sold their land to Manoah Singleton or after they learned of the death of their son, William, in Savannah, October 9th, 1779.
John Jasper Sr. was purchasing land in S. C., in 1781, and his two daughters, Nancy Anna and Charity, were courting and marrying in this state by 1781.
In the book, Horry and Parson Weems' Life of Francis Marion, pp. 68-69, there are these words concerning the death of William Jasper: "You see that sword?—It is the one which governor Rutledge presented to me for my services at Fort Moultrie—give that sword to my father, and tell him I never dishonored it. If he should weep for me, tell him his son died in hope of a better life."
The sword was given to his wife, Mary, and she gave it to their son, William, and after his death it was given to their daughter, Elizabeth.
In 1888, a monument was unveiled in Savannah, Georgia, to Sgt. William Jasper on Washington's Birthday. President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland were in town on that occasion.
"William Jasper Dibble of South Carolina, was said to be the grandson of Sergeant Jasper's widow by her second marriage to Christopher Wagner (through their son, Samuel Jasper Wagner). (He was present for the unveiling of the statue of Sgt. Jasper.)
As the question has often been asked, what became of the sword that President John Rutledge gave to Sergeant Jasper, it is of interest to note that Dibble stated that the sword, on the death of Sergeant Jasper's daughter (Elizabeth), had been coined into spoons and apportioned as heirlooms."
(William Jasper by Thomas Gamble–Savannah, Georgia, Morning News: Sunday, February 21, 1932.)
John Jr. stayed in Augusta County, Virginia, and farmed his father's remaining land purchased from Alexander Lackey. It is possible that John Jr. served as a Patriot soldier and fought in Virginia for the independence of his country. The Kentucky records indicate that he did.
(Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)
John Sr.'s daughter, Nancy Anna, married James Moseley and his daughter, Charity, married John Hames in 1781. Moseley probably learned his blacksmithing trade from his father-in-law.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Dodge Family—Nancy Anna Jasper Moseley; Rootsweb's WorldConnect Project: James Ralston Pace Ancestors—Charity Jasper Hames.)
John Sr.'s daughter, Lydda Jasper, died before her father, probably after they moved to South Carolina, and may have been buried in the Jasper cemetery. By 1790, all of his children were married except Lydda. In the 1790 Federal Census there is a female child listed as living with John Jasper, Sr., so this may have been Lydda.
On August 13, 1781, John McWhorter Jr. sold 121 acres on both sides of the Pacolet River to John Jasper Sr. It was part of a tract of 200 acres that was originally granted to John Portman Sr. on October 13, 1765, and sold by him to John McWhorter Jr. on September 20, 1773. It was the land that John McWhorter Jr. lived on.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 409-412.)
Stub Entries To Indents, Book X, Part II, p. 188, by A. S. Salley, show that John Jasper Sr. was reimbursed for corn and for long-time military use of a wagon during the Revolutionary War. He probably did blacksmith work for the Patriot troops also. "The blacksmiths shod the horses of the Militia enabling them to keep pace with the trained British army."
(Sgt. William Jasper and His Kith and Kin by Jane H. Owen, published in The Genealogical Society Bulletin of Old Tryon County in August 1980, No. 3, pp. 120-133, Forest City, N. C.; The Life of a Colonial Blacksmith—eHow.com, Internet.)
Two of John Jasper Sr.'s sons fought under Col. and Gen. Francis Marion. Sgt. William Jasper fought in the Second South Carolina Continentals under Marion before the Fall of Charleston, and Nicholas Jasper fought under Marion after the Fall of Charleston.
(The Life of Gen. Francis Marion by Brig. Gen. P. Horry and M. L. Weems, p. 41; General Francis Marion's Men compiled by William Willis Boddie, p. 22.)
John Sr. and Mary visited John Jr. and his wife, Susannah, in 1783, after the end of the Revolutionary War, and stayed with them for awhile. During this time Mary Jasper visited the Augusta County Courthouse on October 2, 1783, and relinquished her dower rights to the 256 acres of land sold to Manoah Singleton.
(Augusta County, Virginia, Order Book No. XVIII, p. 131.)
The writer has a copy of a letter written by John Jasper Jr. from Augusta County, Virginia, to his parents in South Carolina, September 17, 1786. He tells his father that James Davis says that he is to give him fifty pounds if he is to sue Capt. Riddle. He also tells of a fire that destroyed his shop, tools, wagon and a saddle. Asks to be remembered to his brothers and sisters and to all their husbands and wives and to John Foster and Molley. Molley was a sister of John Jr.'s wife, Susannah.
(Copy of letter & wills sent to the writer by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)
Augusta County Tax Records show that John Jasper, Sr., Blacksmith, continued to pay taxes on his remaining land until 1788, when John Jr. moved to South Carolina to be near his father and mother. John Jr. was listed as a resident of Union County, South Carolina, when the 1790 Federal Census was taken.
(Ref. Mrs. Emma Matheny, Genealogist, Richmond, Virginia; Unpublished manuscript of Jasper Family by Nancy R. Roy.)
On September 23, 1788, John Henderson of Union County, South Carolina, sold John Jasper, Blacksmith, 214 acres of land on the eastside of Big Sandy Run Creek. This tract was on the southside of Pacolet River and was the land on which the Jasper Cemetery was eventually located.
At this time, Nicholas Jasper and Charles Hames owned lands adjacent to this tract. John Jr. built his cabin on his father's Sandy Run Creek land.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, p. 226.)
John McWhorter sold John Jasper Sr. 45 acres of land on the south- side of Pacolet River on December 28, 1790. It was part of the land that had been granted to John McWhorter on May 3, 1790.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book, pp. 408-409.)
Benjamin Covenhoven purchased a tract of 200 acres on June 26-27, 1788, from Peter Johnston of Rutherford County, North Carolina, executor of the estate of John Kirkconnell. It was originally granted to John Kirkconnell December 6, 1771.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina, Tryon County, by Brent Holcomb, p. 141.)
At this time, Covenhoven was living on the land and probably had lived there since 1771, before it was granted to Kirkconnell. The land was on the northside of Pacolet River.
Lemuel James Alston of Greenville, S. C., step-son of John Henderson, sold John Jasper "one negro girl named Let between the ages of 10 and 11 years of age", on April 1, 1793, for 40 pounds sterling.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book C, p. 244.)
Robert Powell was an out-of-wedlock child of John Jasper Sr. Two letters have been preserved that he wrote to John Jasper. The writer has copies. He lived in Berkley County, now in West Virginia.
He addressed one of the letters: "Dear Father and Mother".
He tells of receiving a letter from his father. He spoke of the difficulty of selling his place and of visiting South Carolina. He may have lived on the land in Berkley County, Virginia, given to Benjamin Covenhoven by his father. The land was possibly purchased by John Jasper Sr. and given to his out-of-wedlock son.
He spoke of William and Hannah Chaney visiting him and listed his children in another letter as: Polly, Patty, John, Hannah and Lydia. He signed the letters "Your Loving Son". The letters were written in 1793 and 1795.
(Copy of the letters were sent to the writer by Loubeth R. Hames, State University, Arkansas, in 1981.)
John Jasper Sr. possibly lived on the Covenhoven land in Berkley County, Virginia, for a period of time before moving to South Carolina.
John Jasper Sr. purchased a tract of 54 acres from Benjamin and Rachel Covenhover on September 1, 1794. The land was on waters of Pacolet River and included the mill and plantation on which John Jasper was living. It was a part of the Kirkconnell grant and was on the northside of the river.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book C, pp. 387-388.)
Robert Gault sold a 100 acre tract of land on waters of Pacolet to John Jasper Sr. on June 16, 1794. The transaction was witnessed by John Jasper, Jr.
(Union County, S.C., Deed Book C, pp. 379-380.)
This land was purchased by Gault from John Hames on September 4-5, 1787, and was described as lying between John's Creek and Pacolet River. It was on the northside of Pacolet River. The original tract of 200 acres was granted to John Hames on January 21, 1785.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 27-29.)
John Jasper Sr. died in October of 1799. His will was written September 29, 1799.
(It was recorded in Union County, S. C., Will Book No. 1, pp. 119-120, Nov. 16, 1799.)
"September the twenty ninth in the year of our Lord, 1799…I, John Jasper of Union County and State of South Carolina do make this my Last Will and Testament to wit: I leave to my beloved wife all my Reale Estate to gather with my Goods and Chattles to gather for her maintenance During her Life of Widowhood with a proviso that N C property be made way with but Sutch as is necessary for her support, then to be Divided Equally amongst my children which are Living to wit: Nicholas John Rachel Anna or Nancy Hannah and Charity.
Item to those of my children that are dead I give and bequeath to each of their heirs, five Shillings and I appoint and approve of my son John Jasper and my Son-in-law Benjamin Covenhoven as my Executors as witness my hand and Seal this twenty ninth Day of September 1799." Witnesses to the will were John Foster and Benjamin Covenhoven.
"The Last Will and testament of John Jasper, Senr. Proven in Open Court by the Oath of John Foster, the 16th of November 1799. John Jasper and Benjamin Covenhoven qualified as Executors."
(This statement was recorded in Union County, S. C., Will Book 1, pp. 199-120.)
"In 1803, Mary Jasper for the sum of one dollar paid by her son, John Jasper, "granted, bargained, sold and released unto the said John Jasper my just right and title to all the lands whereof John Andrew Jasper was in possession of at his Decease or the third part thereof and shall be bounded as follows (viz)
Beginning at a stake by or on the Bank of Pacolet River joining Land Now held by John Foster and running Southeast one hundred and eighty poles to a poplar and shall extend eastward in such shape and form as shall include the building wherein I now am in possession of and dwell and contain one third of the Land as above mentioned."
Witnesses to the document were Robert Martin, John George and John Crownover. It was signed by Mary Jasper's mark.
(Copy provided to the writer by Loubeth R. Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981. It was never recorded.)
John Jasper's will restricted the sale of his property during the lifetime of his wife. "This provision sent his children into court and resulted in the will being set aside and the property sold."
(Sgt. William Jasper and His Kith and Kin by Jane H. Owen, p. 124; Union County, S. C., Common Pleas Minutes, Oct. and Nov., 1804.)
Following is an abstract of a deed of Mary Jasper dated November 20, 1807, and attested to by George Foster:
"Mary Jasper of Union District being deprived of the privilege of enjoying the portion of property left me by my husband John Jasper decd., which said act was done by the legatees to the said John Jasper's estate, breaking & making void the will of said John Jasper on consequence of which I, Mary Jasper, claimed my share of said estate both real & personal as law directs in that case, & my son John Jasper by virtue of a power of attorney from myself to him,
If he the said John Jasper does by himself causes me to be decently & sufficiently clothed & supported during life Y&at death to bury me as a Christian ought to be, I give to my son all my estate real and personal, being one third of tract of land whereon I now live, one bed and furniture, one chest & my wearing apparel, 30 Nov 1807."
Witnesses to the document were: George Foster, William Hames and James Lane. It was signed by Mary Jasper's mark.
(It is recorded in Union County, S. C., Deed Book I, pp. 384-385.)
"Joseph Hughes, Esquire, Sheriff of Union District, Jan. 30,1808, to John Jasper of same, whereas John Jasper died intestate & he being seized of three tracts of land, one containing 120 acres, part of 200 acres granted to John Portman 30 October 1765 by Gov. Tryon (North Carolina), on both sides of Pacolet River, conveyed by said Portman to John McWhorter to said John Jasper Senr;
One other tract of 45 acres on said Jasper's line; also one other tract on waters of Pacolet, 100 acres, which by virtue of a writ of partition from the court of Union district on the third Monday I October 1807, directed the sheriff to sell to the highest bidder on a credit of 12 months, and sold to John Jasper for $621.00."
"Jos'h Hughes, S. U. D., Wit. Isaac Gowing (Going), James W. Darby. Proved in Union District by the oath of Isaac Gowing (Going) 1 February before Jer'h Lucas, J. Q. Recorded 1 Feb 1808."
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book I, pp. 383-384.)
"John Jasper of Union District bound to Joseph Hughes of same in the sum of $1500, 16 Jan 1809, to keep said Joseph Hughes harmless in delivering to said John Jasper a note of hand for $621, the purchase money for three tracts of land sold by order of court as the property of John Jasper Sen'r deceased. John Jasper—Wit. James W. Darby. Recorded 16 Jan 1809." John Jr. was under a $1500.00 bond and payment for the land was $621.00.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book I, p. 542.)
John Jasper Sr. had two other tracts of land: one for 214 acres on Sandy Run and one for 54 acres on the north side of Pacolet River.
It appears that John Sr. sold or gave the 54 acres back to Benjamin Covenhoven. John Jr. seems to have acquired the Sandy Run property, where he had built his cabin, from his father or mother.
William C. Lake wrote an unpublished article entitled: "Jasper Born In Union County". Though Sgt. William Jasper was not born in Union County, S. C., but probably in Virginia, he does give an adequate description of the place where John Jasper Sr. lived.
He stated that he lived "at the old Jasper place, about one and one half miles opposite the mouth of Mill's creek, in what is now Cherokee County, then a part of this County (Union). The house stood beyond the old John Hames place, on the right hand side of the new road leading from Union to Gaffney."
After the death of her husband, Mary Herrington Jasper lived with her son, John, on the property that her husband had purchased from John Henderson on Sandy Run Creek. It was also the property that contained the Jasper Cemetery.
(Union County, S. C., Will Book A, pp. 171-172; Union County, S. C., Deed Book 0, pp. 177-178.)
Photos: Greg Foster 2006
Some records speak of the cemetery being washed away by the Pacolet River flood of 1903, but only the field stones that marked the graves were washed away. Sometime after the flood, a government marker was placed at the grave of James Moseley in the Jasper Cemetery and can still be seen today.
The roadway into this old cemetery is located .6 of a mile on the left of Tump Road (off of Bobby Faucett Road). The cemetery was on the left of the end of this roadway in the wooded area.
Entrance to the site of JAmes Moseley Headstone (Jasper family cemetery) off Tump Smith Road 2006 Photo: Greg Foster
The writer believes that John and Mary Herrington Jasper were possibly buried in the Jasper Cemetery as were: John Jr. and his wife, Susannah McElfresh Jasper; Nancy Anna Jasper Moseley and her husband James (High-Key) Moseley. Also, possibly Lydda Jasper, John Sr.'s daughter.
John, Jr. died in 1811, and Mary Jasper was still living with her daughter-in-law, Susannah McElfresh Jasper. Mary died after the death of her son and before the death of her daughter-in-law, Susannah (1829).
(Union County, S. C., Will Book A, pp. 171-172; Union County, S. C., Will Book B, pp. 139-140.)
When Nicholas Jasper left South Carolina and moved to Kentucky, he took with him valuable information concerning the John Andrew Jasper family. This writer believes that the Kentucky list of John and Mary's children is correct.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts Book H, p. 374.)
These Kentucky Jaspers insisted through the years that Abraham Jasper, the Tory, and Sgt. William Jasper of Sullivan's Island were part of their family.
John Hames, Patriot Revolutionary War soldier, who settled in Georgia, declared that his wife was the sister of Sgt. William Jasper.
Mary Polly Moseley, daughter of Nancy Anna Jasper, and wife of John Long Sr., insisted that her mother was the sister of Sgt. William Jasper, and this information was added to the Long family genealogy over 100 years ago.
(Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends by Lucian Lamar Knight, Byrd Printing Co., 1913, p. 463; Unpublished Manuscript of Jasper Born in Union County, by William C. Lake.)
Elizabeth Moseley Fowler, oldest child of James and Nancy Anna Jasper Moseley, and wife of Mark Fowler, was born November 30, 1782, and died March 4, 1883, living over 100 years. With a clear mind until the end, she possibly told the Reverend J. D. Bailey that her mother was Sgt. William Jasper's sister. Bailey attended her 100th birthday celebration.
(History of Grindal Shoals by Rev. J. D. Bailey, pp. 37-38, 70.)
The story of Abraham Jasper's loyalty to the King concurs with the story of Sgt. William Jasper's visits with his Tory brother at the British camp called Ebenezer. This occurred during the American Revolutionary War.
(The Life of Gen. Francis Marion by Brig. Gen. P. Horry and M. L. Weems, pp. 53-56.)
Kentucky records state that before Nicholas Jasper died on May 14, 1827, he named his grandson, Francis Marion Jasper, after his old commander. His grandson became a medical doctor.
(A History of Jessamine County, Kentucky by Bennett H. Young, pp. 240-242; General Francis Marion's Men, Privates and Non-commissioned Officers, compiled by William Willis Boddie, p. 22.)
The writer believes that the Kentucky descendants story of the birth of John Jasper Sr. at Caevmarthen (Carmarthen), Wales, is a true story.
(Obituary of Dr. James Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)
However, as this material passed through the hands of his descendants they became confused at times with dates; about the place where John Jasper Sr. originally settled in South Carolina; and about his middle name.
They were confused about the place of settlement because they were given information about Sgt. William Jasper's settlement in South Carolina, and thought it also referred to his father, mother and their children.
William did live at one time at Haddrell's Point on the Cooper River, while they were building the fort on Sullivan's Island. When he married Elizabeth Wheatley, they lived in a small house on Sullivan's Island. The house later was converted into a building for the Episcopal Church, probably a mission of Grace Church parish.
(Swamp Fox, by Robert Bass, pp. 15; Jasper's Heroic Deeds Live in the Memorials in Bronze and Granite That Have Been Erected by a Grateful People by Thomas Gamble—Savannah, Georgia Morning News: Sunday, February 21, 1932.)
On June 23, 1777, Sgt. William Jasper was living in Charleston, S. C., at "the new barracks". After his death, Mary and her children lived in Charleston, S. C.
(Swamp Fox by Robert Bass, p. 21; Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrat, Nicolasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892; William Jasper by Thomas Gamble–Savannah, Georgia, Morning News, Sunday, February 21, 1932.)
Sgt. William Jasper's son, William Jr., was given a grant of 200 acres in the District of Georgetown on March 26, 1784, on the northeast side of the Little Pedee River on Treadwell Swamp.
(Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicolasville Democrat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892; William Jasper by Thomas Gamble–Savannah, Georgia, Morning News, Sunday, February 21, 1932.)
William's father and mother did not leave Augusta County, Virginia, or Berkley County, Virginia, and come to South Carolina until the middle of the war years, and they settled on the Pacolet River in what is now Cherokee County, S. C.
(Unpublished manuscript on Jasper Born in Union County, S. C. by William C. Lake; Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 409-412.)
Mary Herrington Jasper, wife of John Andrew Jasper, did not conform to the colonial custom of naming the first born for oneself or one's spouse. She probably named her first born for her husband's father.
Some of the Kentucky relatives thought that Abraham Jasper was given this name because it was a middle name of John, his father, but this was not true. John's middle name was Andrew. Nicholas Jasper knew this and named one of his sons, Andrew.
(Rootsweb's World Connect Project: R. K. West's Master List—Andrew Jasper.)
All of the Jasper family originally lived on the north side of Pacolet River in what is now Cherokee County. Later, John Jasper Jr.'s family and Nicholas Jasper's family lived on Sandy Run Creek on the south side of Pacolet River. Nancy Anna Jasper moved to the south side of the river after she married James Moseley.
The Children Of John Andrew And Mary Herrington Jasper
The writer has carefully researched the names of their children. All resources available were used to make this determination. However, the birth dates of these children may not be absolutely correct or the names of their spouses' parents. Family information has come largely from Rootsweb's WorldConnect Projects on the Internet. Other sources are properly marked.
1. Abraham Jasper. He was born circa 1743. The Kentucky records tell us that he was the oldest son and also a Tory. Records are silent as to his marital statis. No one seems to know if he had a wife and family.
(A history of Jessamine County, Kentucky, by Bennett H. Young, Louisville, Kentucky, pp. 240-242.)
The writer believes that he came to South Carolina with his brothers and sisters, possibly by 1771. The recurrence of the name, Abraham, seems to indicate that he may have been named for his grandfather in England.
The only additional source that mentions Sgt. William Jasper's brother does not record his name. From the book, The Life of Gen. Francis Marion, by Brig. Gen. P. Horry and M. L. Weems, p. 53, is found the following:
"Jasper (Sgt. William) had a brother who had joined the British, and held the rank of sergeant in their garrison at Ebenezer. Never man was truer to his country than Jasper, yet was his heart so warm that he loved his brother, though a tory, and actually went over to see him."
Sgt. William Jasper made a second trip to Ebenezer to see his brother, but after this there is no mentioning of him. Since he was not included in his father's will in 1799, it is presumed that he either died or was killed during the American Revolutionary War.
2. Nicholas Jasper. He was born October 1, 1744. He came to South Carolina with other members of his family circa 1771. He brought with him his wife, Elizabeth Wyatt. She was born circa 1750. The writer has been unable to secure the names of her parents. Databases suggest that they were married in Wytheville,
Virginia, in 1767. She was not the daughter of Francis and Lucy Mary Rowe Wyatt as some suggest.
At the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, Nicholas Jasper is said to have fought under Colonel William Moultrie and Major William Richardson Davie as a continental soldier.
(A Sketch of Nicholas Jasper, Pioneer of Pulaski County, Kentucky by William J. Moore, p. 1—Internet.)
Dr. Bobby Moss in his book, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, p. 495, states: "He served as a sergeant, lieutenant and captain in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon before and after the Fall of Charleston."
He witnessed a real estate transaction in Union District, S. C., between John McWhorter and John George on February 12, 1778.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, by Brent H. Holcomb, p. 1.)
According to the book, General Francis Marion's Men, compiled by William Willis Boddie, p. 22, he served at various times as a non-commissioned officer of General Francis Marion. He was paid for the loss of a horse in action, 1780.
(Receipt Book for S. C. Revolutionary Soldiers, pp. 74, 75, 112—Posted by Marsha O'dell Young—Internet.)
He sold Peter Howard of Spartanburg County, S. C., 200 acres on both sides of Tyger River on September 17, 1786. He had received this land as a grant from Gov. Benjamin Guerrard on January 21, 1785, probably for his services to his country.
(Spartanburg County/ District, South Carolina Deed Abstracts Books A-T, 1785-1827, by Albert Bruce Pruitt pp. 7, 108.)
He purchased 93 acres on waters of Pacolet River (Sandy Run Creek) from Theodorous Pridmore, adjacent to lands owned by Robert Gault, Nicholas Jasper and Charles Hames on January 24, 1789. It was part of a grant of 393 acres to Theodorous Pridmore on January 17, 1788.
Though it is not recorded it appears that he had received a 200 acre grant on waters of Sandy Run that joined this 93 acres circa 1785, probably for his services as an officer in the American Revolutionary War.
He purchased nine lots on the north side of Main Street in Union, S. C., from John McCool of Chester County, on January 17, 1795. He sold these nine lots of one half acre each to Alexander Macbeth & John Moncrieffe, merchants of Union, S. C., November 11, 1795.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book D, pp. 87-89; 413-415.)
Before moving to Kentucky he agreed on November 12, 1795, to sell John Foster his remaining 293 acres on Sandy Run that joined lands of John Jasper, Sr. and Charles Hames. John Foster was to pay $500.00 for the land on March 10, 1800. He was living in Kentucky in 1800, when he had a deed recorded in Union County, S. C., to John Foster for the land.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book H, p. 374.)
He disposed of his lands the latter part of 1795, anticipating a move to Kentucky. He moved to Kentucky in 1796. Mary, Nicholas' daughter, married William Spears in Lincoln County, Kentucky, on October 1, 1798.
Nicholas had a land entry listed by the Filson Club, Kentucky Land Grants, p. 34, "Nicholas Jasper, 200 acres, Lincoln County, January 14, 1799, Little Sinking Creek."
In A Sketch of Nicholas Jasper, Pioneer of Pulaski County, Kentucky, by William J. Moore, p. 1, is found the following: "Nicholas Jasper is acknowledged to be a very instrumental person in the founding of Pulaski County, Kentucky. He is said to have named the county for Count Casmir Pulaski. His brother, William Jasper, was killed during the Battle of Savannah in 1779, along with Count Pulaski."
Nicholas may possibly have fought in this battle for he seems to have either known the Count personally or known about him.
He was elected Justice of the Peace in Pulaski County, June 25, 1799.
"On December 24th, 1799, ordered that it be entered on records that this court will meet at Nicholas Jasper's Esquire on the second Friday in next month for the purpose of viewing the different proposal's made to the Court for the purpose of fixing the seat of Justice of the County."
He was appointed County Commissioner in 1801.
March Court 1805–"Nicholas Jasper Esquire, produced a commission from his Excellency the Governor of Kentucky, appointing him Sheriff of the County, who took the necessary oaths, and Entered into and acknowledged bond with security conditioned as the law directs."
"Nicholas Jasper was one of the noble pioneers of Kentucky. As a soldier, senior justice or sheriff, his character seems to have been faultless, and his intercourse with his fellowmen was always marked with integrity and honor."
(A Sketch of Nicholas Jasper, Pioneer of Pulaski County, Kentucky, by William J. Moore, pp. 1-7—Internet.)
His first wife, Elizabeth Wyatt died before 1810. Some databases say that she died as early as 1803. He did not marry Rebecca Hames. This was his son, John's wife.
He married Martha Irving in Fayette County, Kentucky, on January 2, 1810. They later legally separated. A son, Martin Jasper, was born to this union in 1812.
Databases suggest that a second son named John Jasper was born to Martha Irving on June 17, 1817. This John died November 4, 1849. The writer is uncertain about this because Nicholas already had a son, John, by his first wife, Elizabeth, and he was still living at this time.
However, John, son of Elizabeth, does mention a brother, John, in one of his letters.
(Letter of John and Rebecca Jasper to Charles Hames; copy sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth E. Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)
Nicholas died at his son, Thomas's house, at Fishing Creek, on May 14, 1827, and was buried in the family plot at Sinking Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. Thomas was his youngest child.
"Somerset Baptist Church (originally called Sinking Creek) is located in the town from which it derives its present name, in Pulaski County. It was the second church organized in the large county, and was constituted of twenty-one members by Isaac Newland, Peter Woods, Henry Brooks and John Turner, June 8th, 1798.
During the revival of 1801, it enjoyed a precious season, and its membership increased to one hundred. Thomas Hansford was its first pastor."
(A History of Kentucky Baptists, Vol. I, by J. H. Spencer, p. 418.)
Martha Irving Jasper was born circa 1780, and died in 1843.
Nicholas and Elizabeth Wyatt Jasper's Children
(1). John Jasper. He was born February 5, 1768, before they moved to South Carolina. He was named for his grandfather. He did not marry Rebecca McWhorter, but Rebecca Hames, daughter of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames, circa 1791, in South Carolina. She was born July 5, 1776.
Three of the letters he wrote to South Carolina were preserved. He wrote a letter from Pulaski County, Kentucky, to his wife's parents, Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames, August 22, 1802. It was a spiritual letter in which he refers to: "walking humbly with thy God". He speaks of "sinners coming to Christ". He wants to be remembered to his relations and acquaintances. The letter was signed "Your Loving Son and Daughter till Death–John and Rebecca Jasper".
Another letter was written to his brother-in-law, Edmond Hames, from Somerset, Kentucky, on October 7, 1834. He speaks of the possibility of Edmond's coming to visit them "in the country". He writes about the "religious awakening" in their area. It was signed "John Jasper".
He wrote again to Edmond and his wife. He wants to know if Daniel Mabry has ever returned. Speaks again of the "revival of religion" and states that if they never see each other again, "we shall meet in a better land". He signed the letter, "Your affectionate brother until death—John Jasper."
(Copy of letters sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)
They had at least eight children, five sons and three daughters. His wife died in Pulaski County before her husband. He died April 28, 1849, also in Pulaski County, Kentucky. They were buried in the Sinking Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.
(2). Elizabeth Jasper. She was born in South Carolina, January 13, 1772. She was named for her father's sister. She married John Chesney, son of Robert and Elizabeth Purdy Chesney, on August 26, 1791. He was born in Dunclug, County Antrim, Ireland, on March 17, 1769. He was the brother of the noted Tory, Capt. Alexander Chesney.
"Robert Chesney Sr. for love, good will and affection to my son, John Chesney of Union County, 50 acres with the use of my household furniture as long as I now live, also a bay mare, two cows and calves, two cows with calf, also all the labouring utensels as ploughs, hoes, axes, etc. 4 August 1791."
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book C, p. 23.)
John wrote the following and had it recorded in Miscellaneous Records: "In consequence of my father, Robert Chesney, leaving me by deed of gift his remaining landed property and also several horses, cows, calves, etc. I do promise to support him in his old age…August 4, 1791." It was witnessed by John Haile and recorded March 2, 1793.
(Miscellaneous Record Book 1-2, pp. 142-143.)
They moved to Kentucky in 1796. His father and mother stayed in Union District, S. C. John and Elizabeth had eight daughters and four sons. Two of the children were born in South Carolina. Elizabeth died March 7, 1816, in Pulaski County, Kentucky.
After the death of his wife, Elizabeth Jasper, he married Elizabeth Roseau. He died in September of 1840, in Pulaski County, Kentucky.
(3). Andrew Jasper. He was named for his grandfather, John Andrew Jasper. He was born circa 1774, in South Carolina. He married Martha Cowan circa 1794, in South Carolina. She was born circa 1778.
He was in Capt. Dollerhide's 3rd Company, Renick's Battalion, September 18, 1812, in the Kentucky Mounted Militia.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Pioneers of Benton County, Oregon—Andrew Jasper.)
He and Martha had eight sons and one daughter. She died before 1836.
He next married Elsey ? before 1836. She was born circa 1808. They had two sons. She died before 1845. His third wife was Elizabeth Trimble. She was born circa 1807. They married January 8, 1845. He died circa 1858, in DeKalb County, Missouri.
(4). Mary Jasper. She was born April 2, 1777, in South Carolina. She was named for her father's sister and her grandmother, Mary Herrington Jasper. She married William Spears, son of William and Delilah ? Spears, in Stanford, Lincoln County, Kentucky, October 1, 1798.
He was born June 28, 1774, in North Carolina. They had six sons and six daughters. He died January 16, 1838, and she died September 24, 1838. Both died in Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky.
(5). Achilles Jasper. He was born circa 1779, in South Carolina. He married Sally Paine in Pulaski County, Kentucky, circa 1810.
He and Sally had four daughters and three sons.
He emigrated to Hinds County, Mississippi, where he died in 1855.
(6). Sarah Jasper. She was born in South Carolina in 1782. She married William Hargrove on February 7, 1799, in Lincoln County, Kentucky. He was born in 1773, in Pulaski County, Kentucky.
He fought as a captain under General William Henry Harrison in his campaign against the Indians in the autumn of 1811, at the Battle of Tippecanoe, which terminated in the overthrow of the Confederacy and the destruction of the Prophets' Town.
(The Battle of Tippecanoe, Chapter XI, Roll of Companies, p. 1–Internet.)
They had five sons and four daughters. They both died in 1846, and were buried in Columbia Township, Gibson County, Indiana, in the Hargrove Cemetery.
(7). Rachel Jasper. She was named for her father's sister. She was born in South Carolina in 1785. She married Thomas Hinton in Pulaski County, Kentucky, on April 7, 1810. He was born circa 1780. She died on August 9, 1810, in Pulaski County.
(8). Nicholas Jasper. He was born in South Carolina on 1786. He was named for his father. He married Polly Ann ? in Pulaski County, Kentucky.
(9). Abraham Jasper. He was born in South Carolina on February 6, 1789. He was named for his father's brother. He married Elizabeth Baker, daughter of Jacob and Annie Turner Baker, on September 19, 1808, in Pulaski County, Kentucky. She was born May 31, 1791, in Madison County, Kentucky.
They had eight sons and four daughters. He died in 1860, at Sommerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky, and his wife died in Somerset in 1863.
(10). Thomas Jasper was born August 21, 1792, in South Carolina.
"Thomas Jasper bore his part as a brave soldier in the company commanded by Captain Harry James. He was at the Battle of the Thames, when Tecumseh lost his life, also at the Siege of Fort Harrison and witnessed the fight on Lake Erie when Commodore Perry destroyed the British fleet, September 10, 1813."
(A Sketch of Nicholas Jasper, Pioneer of Pulaski County, Kentucky, by Wiliam J. Moore, p. 2—Internet.)
He married Elizabeth Betsy Denham in Pulaski County, Kentucky. She was born September 9, 1796. They were married January 17, 1817. Thomas later became a Colonel in the Kentucky Militia.
(Pulaski County, Kentucky, Fact Book II, Chapter 9, Biographical Sketches, p. 2–Internet.)
They had three sons and two daughters. One of their sons, Francis Marion Jasper, was named by his grandfather for his old commander during the American Revolution War and was a physician in Jessamine County, Kentucky.
(Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, in the Nicholasville Democarat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)
He was elected a Representative of Pulaski County in the Legislatures of 1833, 1834 and 1835.
(Pulaski County Kentucky, Fact Book II, Chapter 9, Biographical Sketches, p. 2—Internet.)
He died in Pulaski County, Kentucky, in July 1838. His wife died in Pulaski County, Kentucky, January 9, 1866.
2. John Jasper, Jr. was born June 18, 1746. He married Susannah McElfresh from Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland. She was born circa 1750, and was named for her mother.
Her parents were Richard and Susannah Green McElfresh. They were married circa 1745, in Montgomery County, Maryland. Richard was born on June 28, 1724, at All Hallows Parish, Anne Arundel, Maryland, and died in February of 1808, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
Susannah was born on September 6, 1723, in St. Paul's Parish, Baltimore, Maryland, and died in 1810, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
Richard was the son of David Jr. and Mary Alice Leeke. David Jr. was the son of David Sr. and Alice Jones.
(Richard McElfresh Family History Wiki and Susannah Green Family History Wiki—Internet; The Third Generation; Richard McElfresh (1724-1808), Beginnings of Western Migration by Charles E. Moylan—Internet.)
John Jasper Jr. and Susannah McElfesh Jasper lived for several years in Augusta County, Virginia, before moving to South Carolina. They lived in Virginia during the Revolutionary War years.
Kentucky records state that John was a Patriot soldier in the war, but the writer lacks Virginia sources to confirm this.
John Jr. remained in Augusta County, Virginia, when his father and mother moved to lands on the Pacolet River in South Carolina, and farmed his father's land there.
He wrote to his father and mother on the Pacolet River in 1786, while he was living in Augusta County, Virginia. In the letter he indicated his appreciation to "God and His mercies which we daily receive". He talked about the loss of his shop, tools, wagon and saddle by fire.
He expressed "Thanks to God" that he now had a better shop and bellows. He may have been a blacksmith like his father.
(Copy of letter to John and Mary Herrington Jasper by John Jasper Jr. sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)
John Jr. and his wife, Susannah, moved to South Carolina circa 1788. He seemed to be close to his father and mother. His mother lived with him after her husband died.
When the other children went to court to have the will broken, he took no part in the litigation but sided with his mother. She expressed her appreciation by deeding all of her property and household furnishings to her son, John Jr.
When his father's property was sold by the sheriff, John Jr. purchased the lands.
John Jr. made his will on August 11, 1805. In his will he left his wearing apparel to his brother, Nicholas. He left his rifle to John Jasper, son of Nicholas. He left the remainder of his estate to his wife, Susannah. He called her "Sukie".
One of his slaves called Jack, he left to his nephew, John George, at his wife's decease. John George was the son of John and Elizabeth Jasper George. It was his desire to allow his slaves, Ann, Peter and George to be taught to read.
Ann was to be liberated at age 18, and the boys were to be liberated at age 21. There is no indication that his wife ever set them free, but sold them to Edmund Hames. She did not abide by terms of her husband's will to free Anny, Peter and George.
His wife was to "maintain and support his mother". "Sukie" was to be the executrix of his will. The will was recorded May 16, 1811.
(Union County, S. C. Will Book A, pp. 171-172.)
Susannah wrote two wills. The first was never recorded.
(a). The first will was written August 23, 1820. Funeral expenses were to be paid out of the estate. Sukie requested that they bury her beside her husband. Graves were to be enclosed with stone wall.
Nancy (McElfresh) Bright, her sister, was to have $300.00. Sister, Massy (McElfresh) Fitch was to have $100.00. Molley (McElfresh) Foster, sister, was to have $100.00. Sister-in-law, Nancy Moseley, was to have $100.00. Sophia Gault, daughter of Henry Gault, was to have $100.00. Niece, Sukey Hames, was to have $100.00.
John Martin was to have $75.00. Robert Martin was to have $75.00. John Fitch was to have my "big walnut chest".
Edmund Hames to have "all my land except one acre for the family burying ground". He married Nancy Foster, Susannah's niece.
Edmund Hames was the son of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames. His wife was the daughter of John and Mary (Mollie) McElfresh Foster. They had four children, two daughters and two sons.
Edmund was born February 18, 1777 and died October 21, 1840. Nancy was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1774, and died July 17, 1867. They were buried in the Hames—Gault Cemetery near Flat Rock, Union District, S. C.
Henry Farnandis Sr. was to have the privilege of purchasing her slaves for $5,000.00. Slaves listed: Letty, Anny, Peter, George, Judy, Beckey, Daniel, Ben, James Lucindy and Cassey. Slaves: Anny, Letty and Judy to have my wearing apparel and other slaves to have suit of clothes from estate. "This I give them (my slaves) for their great attention to me."
Rest of estate to go toward building a School House for the poor children. Abraham Nott and Henry Farnandis were to serve as executors of will. Will not recorded.
(Copy of first will sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)
Nancy McElfresh Bright was the sister of Sukie McElfresh Jasper. Mollie Foster and Massey Fitch were also Sukie's sisters. Mary (Mollie) McElfresh Foster, was the wife of John Foster. Massey McElfresh Fitch was the wife of John Fitch.
(Copy of material sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)
Nancy McElfresh Bright married Thomas Bright. They were living in Sullivan County, Tennessee, when she wrote to John Jasper Jr., May 9, 1805.
Nancy speaks of John Jr. writing a letter telling them that they had found a church, but she says he neglected to tell them what denomination. "We hope to meet you in heaven where we shall part no more."
"Four of our daughters are married: namely Polly, Rachel, James and Sucky. They have moved to the state of Kentucky (and live) in Livingston County, nearly four hundred miles from us. Last November our little son, Toney, died with fever. Living with us are: Jasper, Betsey, Nancy, Anna and Michael. John Fitch is living within one mile distance from us and is well." Thomas and Nancy Bright lived at Bluntville, Tennessee.
There were only a few Churches in the Grindal Shoals area at the time. John Jasper Jr.'s letter appears to have been written to Thomas and Nancy Bright in December of 1803.
(Copy of letter sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)
At this time there was in the Grindal Shoals area: the Sims-Marchbanks Meeting House, the Flat Rock Meeting House, the Fairforest Presbyterian Church, the Fairforest Baptist Church, the Scull Shoals Baptist Church and the Goucher Baptist Church. Several denominations met in the Meetinghouses usually Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians.
Gilead Baptist Church was constituted September 27, 1804, near what later became Jonesville, S. C. A part of the James Moseley family had connections with the Gilead Baptist Church. At first the Gilead Baptist Church served the Grindal Shoals community.
(Records of Church Clerk, Gilead Baptist Church.)
Nancy Anna Moseley was John Jasper Jr.'s sister and wife of James Moseley. She was Sukie's sister-in-law.
Sophia Gault was the daughter of Henry and Mary (Polly) Foster Gault. Mary, her mother, was the daughter of John and Mary (Mollie) McElfresh Foster.
Sukie Hames, Susannah Jasper's niece, was probably the daughter of Charles and Martha ? Hames. Martha could possibly have been a daughter of John and Mary (Mollie) Foster, but the writer lacks decided proof. There was a Susannah Hames, daughter of Charles and Martha, and she seems to be the only Susannah Hames in the Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames family.
The writer has been unable to find a family connection between Sukie Jasper, widow of John Jasper Jr., and John Martin and Robert Martin.
(Copy of materials sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)
The following is a copy of a deed from Susannah Jasper to Edmund Hames: "Susannah Jasper of district (Union) aforesaid for love and affection for my friend Edmund Hames and for $2000.00, one negro woman named Letty aged 40, another named Anny aged 22, a negro boy named Peter aged 20, another boy named George aged 18, another girl named Judy aged 15, another girl named Rebecca aged 8, another boy named Daniel aged 6, another one named Ben aged 5, another boy named James aged 4, another girl named Lucinda aged 3, another girl named Cassey, aged one, 4 Feb. 1821." Susannah Jasper.
Wit: Joseph Gault, Charles Gault, William W. Johnson. Proved by the oath of Charles Gault, 4 Feb. 1822, before J. Rogers, Q. U."
(Recorded 4 Feb 1822, in Union County, S. C., Deed Book Q, pp. 420-421.)
Susannah Jasper confirmed the sale of her slaves to Edmund Hames in the publishing of her final will.
(b). Sukie's next and final will was written August 15, 1823. She requested that she be buried in a Christian manner and that all her debts be paid. Left 155 acres of land to Edmond Hames. Rest of land (one hundred acres more or less, stocks, household furniture, etc. to be sold and money to be equally divided between my two sisters, Mollie Foster and Massey Fitch. "I bequeath unto Edmond Hames the twelve following negroes—Let, Anne, Peter, George, Jude, Beck, Daniel, Ben, Linda, James, Cassey and Lila."
"I give the negroe Jack or the amount for which he has been sold unto the children of John George in case of his death before mine. If John George is living, then the said negroe or his value goes to him under the will of my husband.
Sisters, Mollie and Massey, to have one dress each. Rest of wearing apparel to be divided equally among the above mentioned negroes. Isaac J. Foster and Edmund Hames are to serve as my executors."
(Recorded in Union County, S. C., Will Book B, pp. 139-140, May 25, 1829.)
John Jasper Jr., son of John and Mary Herrington Jasper, died in Union County, S. C., in 1811, and his wife, Susannah McElfresh Jasper, died in Union County, S. C., in 1829. They were buried in the Jasper Cemetery near Sandy Run Creek. Mary Herrington Jasper, John Jr.'s mother, died shortly after her son, and was probably buried beside her husband in the Jasper Cemetery.
4. Mary Jasper. She was born March 13, 1748. She married John McWhorter Jr., son of John and Eleanor Brevard McWhorter, circa 1766. He was born in 1749, in Albemarle County, Virginia.
In Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts Book B, pp. 409-412, is found proof that John McWhorter Jr. married Mary Jasper. Mary signed the deed when her husband, John Jr., sold 121 acres of land to her father, John Jasper Sr., on August 13, 1781.
John Jr. did not marry Elizabeth Jasper as some have claimed. Elizabeth married John George. Elizabeth was the name of John McWhorter Jr.'s second wife.
John McWhorter Jr.'s father, John, was born in Ireland on April 28, 1720. He gave an acre of his land on or near Rockfish River to construct the Presbyterian Meetinghouse. He died in 1757, and his wife, Eleanor, and son, James, sold his remaining land in Albemarle County, Virginia, in 1758.
Eleanor remained in Albemarle County after the death of her husband. Her oldest son, James, died there in 1763, unmarried.
That part of Albemarle County in which the McWhorters settled became part of Amherst County in 1761, and is now Nelson County, Virginia. Albemarle and Augusta counties joined each other.
In 1766, Eleanor received a grant of land on both sides of Pacolet River in what later became South Carolina. Eleanor brought her remaining family to the Pacolet River grant in 1767-1768.
Robert McWhorter married Sarah ? circa 1759; John Jr. married Mary Jasper circa 1765; Sarah was not married; and George had not yet married.
Sarah McWhorter married John Portman Jr., son of John Portman Sr., in 1770, in what was then regarded as Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
She and her husband were both born in 1750. The Portman's emigrated from Pennsylvania to Mecklenburg County, N. C. (later South Carolina) in the latter 1760s.
John Portman Jr. and his wife, Sarah McWhorter, had three children: George, John III and Margaret Portman, all born in Union District, S. C.
John Portman Jr. was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War. Dr. Bobby Moss in his book on South Carolina Patriots, p. 780, states: "He served as a horseman in the militia under Col. John Thomas from 1 November 1780 to September 1781."
In the book, A History of Kentucky Baptists, Vol. II, by J. H. Spencer, p. 583, he states: "John Portman Jr., son of a Venerable Patriarch, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and fought in the battle of Kings Mountain."
John Portman Jr. and his father, John Sr., moved to Kentucky with the Nicholas Jaspers and the John McWhorters (his brother-in-law) in 1796. His father died in Christian County, Kentucky, in 1799. Date of death of John Portman Jr. and his wife, Sarah, is not known to this writer.
John Jr.'s son, John III, moved to Mississippi, where he died circa 1855. His son, George, married Patsy Riffe on April 11, 1803, in Lincoln County, Kentucky. George and Patsy had a son, Jesse Coffee Portman, who was a popular Baptist preacher in Kentucky. George died in Casey County, Kentucky on June 12, 1857.
(A History of Kentucky Baptists, Vol. II, by J. H. Spencer, p. 583.)
John Jr.'s daughter, Margaret, married Samuel Simpson on November 9, 1802, in Lincoln County, Kentucky.
Robert McWhorter and Sarah ? had one child, James Robert McWhorter, born circa 1760. James was born near the Rockfish River, in Albemarle County, Virginia.
Robert was a private in the French and Indian War and received a Land Grant Certificate for land in Albemarle County, Virginia. He was administrator of his brother, James' estate, in March of 1763.
(Family Tree Maker.com—Descendants of Hugh McWhorter.)
He moved with his mother, Eleanor, to her Pacolet River lands in Mecklenburg County, N. C., in 1767. By 1772, the land became a part of South Carolina. He purchased 200 acres from John Portman Jr. on both sides of the Pacolet River and sold it to his brother, George, on November 3, 1778.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, 1785-1800, by Brent Holcomb, pg. 25.)
He received a grant of 500 acres on the south side of Pacolet River on August 19, 1774, and sold it to James Wood of Lawson's Fork in September of 1774.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 364-367.)
He died in Union District, S. C., before June 14, 1783. Death of his wife is unknown. She remained in Union District, S. C., after her husband's death.
Their son, James Robert, married Winifred Hames, daughter of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames, in 1779, in Union District, S. C. She was born April 9, 1762, in Richmond County, Virginia.
He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolution. Dr. Bobby Moss in his book, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, p. 644, states: "After enlisting during 1778, while residing in Union District, he served under Captain John Thompson and Col. James Steen.
In addition, he served under Capt. Nicholas Jasper, Maj. Benjamin Jolly and General Thomas Sumter. He was in the Battle at Blackstock's Plantation. During 1782, he served as a sergeant under Col.
William Farr."
James and his first wife were constitutional members of Gilead Baptist Church, Union District, S. C., constituted September 27, 1804. This church is 2.8 miles from the Jerusalem Road and on the left just before entering the Town of Jonesville, S. C.
(A History of the Gilead Baptist Church by Robert A. Ivey, published in 2006, in the Reeves Family Cookbook.)
They had four sons and four daughters. She died in Union District, S. C., on April 3, 1828.
He next married Treacy Coleman, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Treacy Smith Coleman, circa 1829. She was born November 29, 1794.
He died in Union District, S. C., October 23, 1842. His funeral was conducted at the Gilead Baptist Church. Date of Treacy Coleman McWhorter's death is not known to this writer.
(Church Clerk Records of Gilead Baptist Church, Jonesville, S. C.)
George McWhorter, son of John and Eleanor Brevard McWhorter, was born February 9, 1752, in St. Anne's Parish, Albemarle County, Virginia. He married Elizabeth ? , in Union District, S. C., circa 1773. They had two sons and two daughters born in Union District, S. C.
He had a son, Frank McWhorter, by his slave, Juda, born in Union District, S. C., in 1777. He sold his property in Union District in 1795, and moved with other members of the McWhorter family to Kentucky in 1796. He died in Lincoln County, Kentucky, before August 10, 1815. Date of the death of his wife is not known to this writer.
Eleanor McWhorter had 300 acres on both sides of Pacolet River surveyed for a grant on September 5, 1765. John Portman Sr. and her son, George McWhorter, were the chain bearers. She received the grant on September 26, 1766.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p. 90.)
John Portman Sr. received a survey for 200 acres on both sides of the Pacolet River on September 3, 1765.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p. 103.)
John Portman Jr. received a 200 acre grant on April 27, 1767, on both sides of the Pacolet River that was adjacent to the Widow (Eleanor) McWhorter's corner.
(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p.104.)
John Kirkconnell received a 200 acre grant on the north side of Pacolet River on April 25, 1771. It was adjacent to the upper side of John Portman's land. John Williams had built a cabin on this land and was living in it at the time.
After Sarah McWhorter married John Portman Jr., this opened up the McWhorter and Portman lands for family settlement. Their friendship with John Kirkconnell also provided other land they could "squat on".
Mary Jasper McWhorter probably wrote to her family in Augusta or Berkley County, Virginia, to join them on the Pacolet River. So Abraham Jasper; Nicholas Jasper and Elizabeth Wyatt, his wife; Elizabeth Jasper and her husband, John George; Rachel Jasper and her husband Benjamin Covenhoven; and William Jasper joined her and her husband, John McWhorter Jr., in 1771.
(Estimated date of their arrival in what later became South Carolina.)
At first they all lived on the north side of Pacolet River in what is now Cherokee County, S. C. All lived on the McWhorter or the Portman grants except Benjamin and Rachel Jasper Covenhoven. They "squatted" on the Kirkconnell grant possibly living in the cabin that had been constructed by John Williams.
On September 20, 1773, John McWhorter Jr. purchased the grant of 200 acres that John Portman Sr. had received on both sides of the Pacolet River. Portman received the grant on October 30, 1765, from William Tryon, Governor of North Carolina.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, p.1-3.)
John McWhorter Jr. sold 83 acres of this purchase to John George on February 12-13, 1778. The transaction was witnessed by Adam Potter, Nicholas Jasper and John Portman Sr.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, p. 1-3.)
John McWhorter Jr. was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolution. According to his pension application, which he filed on July 27, 1832, in Casey County, Kentucky (W9560), he served in the following battles or skirmishes:
(1). He was in the Snow Campaign December of 1775, and probably fought under Col. Thomas Neal of the New Acquisition and Capt. Robert Thomson.
He served at various times under Cols. Thomas Brandon, William Farr and Capt. John Thompson. Mentions fighting under General Francis Marion.
(2). He was in the Bush River Campaign in 1781. This skirmish occurred May 1, in Newberry County, S. C. Col. John Thomas and his troops killed three Tories and captured a dozen. They took four wagons of supplies.
(3). He fought under General Nathanael Green at the Siege of Ninety Six, the latter part of May in 1781.
(4). Was in the Battle of Bacon's Bridge. This bridge was across the Ashley River.
He served as a guard at Wofford's Iron Works, Cherokee Fort on the Reedy River and Fortainbury Station on Congaree River. He received a pension.
(Pension Statement in Casey County, Kentucky; South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolutionary War by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 644.)
John Jasper Sr. purchased 121 acres of the tract John McWhorter Jr. had purchased from John Portman Sr. on August 13, 1781. It was on both sides of the Pacolet River. It was the land McWhorter was living on at the time on the north side of the river.
Eleanor McWhorter sold her son, John McWhorter Jr., 100 acres of her grant of 300 acres on the south side of Pacolet River on August 28-29, 1786. Her grant was received December 20, 1766, and was "deemed to be in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina". This was the last listed transaction for Eleanor McWhorter. She probably died in Union District shortly after this.
John McWhorter Jr. sold 10 acres of land on the south side of Pacolet River to John George on October 17-18, 1786. It was from a part of his mother's original grant. The transaction was witnessed by Nicholas Jasper, John George Jr., and John Pridmore.
Charles Hames purchased 100 acres on the south side of Pacolet River from John McWhorter Jr. on September 22, 1788.
John Jasper Sr. purchased 45 acres on the south side of Pacolet River from his former son-in-law, John McWhorter Jr., on December 28, 1790. The land was granted to McWhorter on May 3, 1790. It was part of a grant of 225 acres. George Wells purchased 180 acres of the grant.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 408-409; Deed Book C, pp. 229-230.)
As John McWhorter Jr. began to make preparations for his move to Kentucky, he sold 300 acres to Joshua Wilborn October 26, 1795. A portion of this land was a part of the grant to his mother, Eleanor, part was land he had purchased from William Steen and part was from his own grant. It was signed by John McWhorter Jr. and his second wife, Elizabeth.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book D, pp. 293-294.)
On October 27, 1795, John Jr. sold Cushman Rugles Edson part of two tracts containing 30 acres. One was a portion of the grant to Eleanor, his mother, and the other was from John McWhorter Jr.'s grant, containing a mill seat on Portman's Creek.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book D, p. 309.)
He was still living in Union District as late as March 29, 1796.
Children of John and Mary Jasper McWhorter Jr.
(a). George McWhorter was born in 1775, in Ninety Six District, South Carolina (later Union District, S. C.). He married Agnes Anne Simpson, daughter of Reuben and Sarah Sherill Simpson. She was born January 8, 1773, in Tuttle, North Carolina.
They were married in Lincoln County, Kentucky, on February 23, 1799. They had three sons and two daughters. He died in 1840, in Henry County, Tennessee. She died circa 1855.
(b). Jesse McWhorter. He was born in Ninety Six District (later Union District, S. C.), circa 1778. Date of death unknown.
"Jesse never married. He lived with his brother Robert (half-brother). He was a soldier in the War of 1812. He enlisted September 1, 1812. He served until October 1, 1812, in the company of Captain Henry James, 2nd Regiment Militia. He was mustered on August 26, 1813, and served until November 9, 1813, in Captain Jesse Coffee's Company, Kentucky Mounted Militia.
He enlisted on November 10, 1814, and served six months in the Kentucky Detached Militia commanded by Lt. Col. Gabriel Slaughter. He was captured by Indians and crippled for life when forced to run a gauntlet on ice."
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Goin Family of San Diego—Jesse McWhorter.)
(c). James W. McWhorter. He was born circa 1782, in Ninety Six District (later Union District, S. C.). He married Nancy Pigg, daughter of William D. and Mary (Polly) Fields Pigg on June 4, 1804, in Lincoln County, Kentucky.
They had three children, two sons and a daughter. The daughter apparently died in infancy. Nancy, his wife, died in Clay County, Kentucky in 1810, the year that her daughter died. James W. McWhorter died in Clay County, Kentucky, before 1815.
Mary Jasper McWhorter, wife of John McWhorter, died circa 1783, in Ninety Six District (later Union District, S. C.). She was probably buried in a single grave on the McWhorter property. The Jasper Cemetery had not been established at this time.
John McWhorter Jr.'s Second Wife and Family
John McWhorter Jr. was remarried April 14, 1784, in Ninety Six District to Elizabeth McClure. She was born in 1763, and this was her first marriage. She was not married to Thomas George as some have asserted. Thomas married Elizabeth Haney.
John Jr. and Elizabeth had four children born to this union while living in Union District, S. C. They were:
(a). Sarah, born January 23, 1786, in Union District, S. C.; died, November 15, 1857, Ray Co. Mo.; married, Lewis Pigg, son of William and Mary Fields Pigg, June 21, 1805, Lincoln Co., Ky. He was born February 8, 1783, in Pittsylvania Co., Va.; died April 15, 1845, Ray Co., Mo. They had five sons and four daughters.
(b). Elijah, born in 1790, Union District, S. C.; died, circa 1866, in Benge, Clay County, Kentucky; married, Mary Polly Pigg, daughter of William D. and Mary Polly Fields Pigg, on June 13, 1811, in Clay County, Kentucky; died circa 1872, in Benge, Clay County, Kentucky. They had four sons and six daughters.
(c). William "Buck" Thomas, born July 8, 1791, Union District, S. C.; died July 4, 1877, in Collins, Texas; married Mary E. Moore, August 18, 1819. She was born September 4, 1798, in Kentucky; died in 1890, in Collins, Texas. They had five sons and three daughters.
(d). Mary Jensey, born December 20, 1792, Union District, S. C.; died 1844, in Ray County, Missouri; married John Riffe, Casey County, Kentucky, born 1789, in Casey County, Kentucky; died in 1868, in Ray County, Missouri. Couple buried in Riffe Cemetery, Orick, Ray County, Missouri. Colonel John Riffe served in Mexican-American War.
John McWhorter Jr. moved his family to Lincoln County, (later Casey County) Kentucky in 1796. He was granted 150 acres on the south side of Green River about 1½ miles below the mouth of Knob Lick Fork. It was first surveyed November 17, 1798. The surveyor was J. Jones, assisted by chainmen, Reubin Simpson and George McWhorter.
(McWhorter Lives and Times—McWhorter Land Claims in Lincoln County, Kentucky, later Casey County–Internet.)
He and his wife, Elizabeth McClure McWhorter, had four more children after moving to Kentucky: Willis, John, Richard and Robert.
(e). Willis McWhorter was born in 1800, in Lincoln County, Kentucky. He died in Orrick, Ray County, Missouri.
(f). John McWhorter III was born May 11, 1802, in Lincoln County, Kentucky; died September 18, 1866, in Casey County, Kentucky; married Elizabeth Hight, daughter of Patrick and Elizabeth Hight, on June 20, 1825, Casey County, Kentucky.
She was born February 5, 1805, in Lincoln County, Kentucky; died in 1882, in Casey County, Kentucky. They had four sons and seven daughters. "Big John" was a wagon maker.
(g). Richard Woodrem McWhorter was born in Middleburg, Casey County, Kentucky, November 3, 1803; died September 10, 1878, in Casey County, Kentucky. Married Elizabeth M. Sutherland, daughter of Owen Southerland on January 6, 1827, Casey Creek, Adair County, Kentucky.
She was born May 31, 1810, in Lincoln County, Kentucky; died December 28, 1892, Casey Creek, Adair County, Kentucky. They had seven sons and three daughters. He served in Civil War as per Muster Rolls of 13th Kentucky Calvary. Was a farmer and land surveyor.
(h). Robert H. McWhorter was born in Casey County, Kentucky, in 1807; died April 27, 1853, in Casey County, Kentucky. Married Juliana Royalty Hight in Casey County, Kentucky, on December 30, 1829. She was born in 1810, in Kentucky; died after 1860. They had three sons and five daughters.
John McWhorter Jr. died in Middleburg, Casey County, Kentucky, on June 7, 1833.
On January 23, 1839, Elizabeth McClure McWhorter, 76, applied for a widows pension in Clay, Casey County, Kentucky. She had moved to Ray County, Missouri, when she applied for a transfer of her pension benefits on May 4, 1840.
At the time she was afflicted with palsy which rendered her helpless. Two of her sons and two of her daughters had moved to Missouri, and she had moved with them so that they could take care of her.
John McWhorter Jr.'s second wife, Elizabeth, died in Orrick, Ray County, Missouri, on December 2, 1841.
(McWhorter Lives and Times—Elizabeth McWhorter applies for widow's pension; McWhorter Lives and Times—Elizabeth McWhorter moves to Missouri–Internet.)
5. Elizabeth Jasper. She was born June 7, 1752. She married John George circa 1767. The reason there are so many differences in the databases on dates for this couple is the significant error that John George married Mary Jasper. Mary was older than Elizabeth. Deed abstracts in Union County, S. C., absolutely prove that John George did not marry Mary Jasper.
Some suggest that John married Mary Elizabeth Jasper, but there was no Mary Elizabeth Jasper for there were two daughters of John Jasper, one named Mary and one named Elizabeth.
It is also difficult to figure out the names of his parents. William and Mary ? George are possibilites. The estate papers do not list the names of all of William's children.
Some think that he had sons named John and David and that these two both moved to Union District. Both of them were Patriot soldiers during the American Revolutionary War and lived in this district. If there is a connection here then this family is from Lancaster County, Virginia.
(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 351.)
John and his wife, Elizabeth Jasper George, moved to the Pacolet River area in 1771. They had three children:
(a). Mary George was born circa 1768, in Virginia. She married John Pridmore, son of Theodorus and Mary Hull Pridmore, in Union District, S. C., on February 18, 1785. He was born circa 1763, in Cranberry, Middlesex, New Jersey. They had five sons and 10 daughters, all born in Union District. John served on juries in Union District in 1797-1798, and appraised an estate on October 16, 1799.
They moved to Pickens County, Alabama, with most of their family except Thomas. He married Nancy Crocker and Mahala Taylor and remained in Union District. John Pridmore died in Ethelville, Pickens County, Alabama, in 1841, and Mary died there after 1841.
(b). John George was born circa 1770, in Union District, S. C. He married Sarah Reid, daughter of William H. and Jane Anderson Reid, in 1788, in Union District. She was born January 23, 1767, in Augusta County, Virginia. They had three sons and one daughter. He died after 1823, and she died before 1860, in Union District, S. C.
When Sukie Jasper died in 1829, the children of John George received the money from the sale of the slave, Jack, left to John by his uncle, John Jasper Jr.
(Union County, S. C., Will Book B, pp. 139-140.)
(c). Thomas George was born circa 1775, in Union District, S. C. He married Elizabeth Haney. She was born circa 1780. She did not marry John McWhorter Jr. as some have said. They married circa 1808, and had two sons, Thomas Jefferson George and Andrew Jackson George. She died after 1824, in Union District, and he died in Union District circa 1833.
John George was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolution. He first enlisted in the Sixth South Carolina Continental Regiment on May 15, 1776. He served with James (Horseshoe) Robertson, David George and their neighbor, William Henderson.
He was probably recruited by Major William Henderson and served under him and Capt. Alexander Boyce. Col. Thomas Sumter was commander of the Sixth.
The Sixth Regiment was guarding the coasts when the Battle of Sullivan's Island was fought on June 28th of 1776. They fought at the Siege of Savannah where Capt. Alexander Boyce, Sgt. William Jasper and General Casimir Polaski were killed.
(Gamecock, The Life and Campaigns of General Thomas Sumter by Robert D. Bass, pp. 36-37, 48.)
David George, John's brother, was serving in the First Continental Regiment when it surrendered at the Fall of Charleston. His commander was Col. Charles Pinckney.
After the Fall of Charleston, John George served in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon. He attained the rank of sergeant, serving in a calvary unit.
On February 11-12, 1778, John George purchased 83 acres on the north side of Pacolet River from John McWhorter, his brother-in-law, for 300 pounds current money. It was part of the John Portman Sr. grant of 200 acres. Witnesses were: Adam Potter, Nicholas Jasper and John Portman Sr.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 1-3.)
William Gault sold 100 acres on the north side of Pacolet River to John George on October 16-17, 1786. It was the plantation that George was presently living on, a part of the John Portman Sr. grant. Witnesses were Nicholas Jasper, John George Jr. and John Pridmore.
John McWhorter Jr. sold 10 acres of land on the south side of Pacolet River to John George on October 17-18, 1786. It was part of the grant to his mother, Eleanor McWhorter.
John George died in 1791. He wrote his will March 16, 1791, and it was recorded September 6, 1791.
He left his son, John, the plantation, where he now lives, and land adjacent to it. He left him a ten month old colt. He left his daughter, Mary, 200 acres on the north side of Pacolet River, which she now possesses. Also, he left her one sorrel colt, six head of cattle and his loom.
He left his son, Thomas, the plantation "whereon I now live" and one bay horse. He left his wife, Elizabeth, his gray horse, four calves, one bed and furniture. He left the rest of his goods and chattles to his son, Thomas, and his wife, Elizabeth. He appointed his brother-in-law, John Jasper Jr., and his son, John, executors of his estate.
(Union County, S. C., Will Abstracts, 1787-1849, by Brent Holcomb, p. 16.)
Elizabeth Jasper George died after her husband and before the death of her father in 1799.
6. Rachel Jasper. She was born November 23, 1754. She married Benjamin Covenhoven, son of John and Lydia Pridmore Covenhoven, circa 1770. He was born circa 1752, in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
John was the son of Willmse Kowenhoven and Jacoba Cornelisse Vanderveer. He was born December 4, 1719, and baptized on April 12, 1719, at the Dutch Reformed Church, Marlboro, Monmouth County, New Jersey.
He and Lydia Pridmore obtained a marriage license on August 14, 1752, at Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. They were married August 15, 1752, in New Jersey. Lydia was the daughter of Jacob Benjamin and Hannah Mellot Pridmore. She was born in 1727. They had five sons and four daughters.
The name is also spelled Covenhover and Crownover.
John Covenhoven and Lydia bought 324 acres in Berkley Country, Virginia, June 1772. In May 1776, they conveyed 43 acres to Benjamin and Rachel Covenhoven.
John Jasper Sr. may possibly have lived on this land for several years thus purchasing it from his son-in law. His out-of-wedlock son, John Powell, lived in Berkley County, Virginia, and may have been given the land by John Jasper Sr.
John Covenhoven died on March 18, 1778, at Martinsburg, Berkley County, Virginia. John Jasper Sr., Rachel's father, witnessed his will, written on February 24, 1778. Berkley County (now West Virginia) and Frederick County, Virginia, were adjacent to each other.
Berkley County was created in 1772, from the northern third of Frederick County, Virginia.
Lydia Pridmore Covenhoven was remarried to Lt. Richard Prather, son of Col. Thomas Prather Jr. and Elizabeth Claggett, on August 3, 1782, at Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland. She died in 1809, in Washington County, Maryland.
Her brother, Theodorous Pridmore, received a grant for 393 acres on the south side of Pacolet River in South Carolina on January 17, 1788. He married Mary Hull. She was born in 1733, in Middlesex, New Jersey, and died at Grindal Shoals, S. C., in 1809. He was born in 1730, and died in Union District, South Carolina, in 1806. They had sons: John, Theodore, Jonathan and Benjamin.
Rachel and Benjamin came to the Pacolet River section of Carroll Shoals in 1771. It was then a part of Tryon, North Carolina. They settled on land that was soon granted to John Kirkconnell on the north side of the river. They continued to be "squatters" on his land for a number of years.
In 1772, this land was declared to be a part of South Carolina, and in 1773, Carroll Shoals became Grindal Shoals. It is a part of Cherokee County, S. C., today.
The Second Spartan Regiment was organized in January or February of 1777, and Col. Thomas Brandon was made commander. Benjamin Covenhoven was elected sergeant of the Regiment and fought under Col. Brandon, Col. William Farr and Major Samuel Otterson.
(Organizational Chart of Second Spartan Regiment–Internet.)
His little brother, Daniel, moved to the area and also served as a Patriot soldier. He was also a member of the Second Spartan Regiment. He served under Capt. Zachariah Bullock.
He was a substitute for his brother, Benjamin, from March 1, 1779, for four months. He was in the Battle of Stono Ferry. After this Daniel enlisted in a Virginia Unit and was at the Siege of Yorktown, Virginia.
(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 206, 221.)
Benjamin purchased 200 acres, the Kirkconnell tract on June 26-27, 1788, from Peter Johnson, executor for the estate of John Kirkconnell. It was described as "the tract that Benjamin Covenhoven now lives on".
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 169-171,173.)
When John and Mary Herrington Jasper came to South Carolina, in 1779, they "squatted" on the same Kirkconnell tract of land that their son-in-law, Benjamin Covenhoven, lived on.
Benjamin was given a grant of 200 acres February 5, 1787, for services rendered as a Patriot soldier. He sold this land on Little Sandy Run to William Johnstone on March 25, 1791.
After purchasing the Kirkconnell land that he and John Jasper Sr. had "squatted on", Benjamin sold 54 acres of the tract to John Jasper Sr. on September 1, 1794. It was described "as the plantation on which the said John Jasper now lives, including the mill".
When John Jasper Sr. wrote his will on September 29, 1799, he made Benjamin Covenhoven one of his executors. The will was challenged by the family, and Benjamin's services were not needed.
(Union County, S. C., Will Book A, pp. 119-120.)
Apparently, Benjamin reacquired the 54 acres from John Jasper and sold 44 acres of the land "with the mill seat" to Archabald Cathy.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book H, pp. 360-361.)
He sold 156 acres, the remainder of the 200 acres purchased from the John Kirkconnell estate, to Alexander Purdy on October 25, 1800. The land was on the north side of Pacolet River.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. II, Deed Books G-K, 1800-1811, by Brent Holcomb, p. 124.)
Alexander Purdy was the son of William Jr. and Ann Chesney Purdy. Ann was the sister of Robert Chesney Sr. William Jr. was the brother of Robert Chesney's wife, Elizabeth Purdy.
(Journal of Alexander Chesney, Edited by Dr. Bobby Moss, pp. 1-5.)
William Jr., son of William and Martha Peden, and his wife, Ann Chesney, daughter of Alexander and Jane Fulton Chesney, along with their children: Hugh, James, Sabala and Mary journeyed to Kentucky with the group that left Grindal Shoals, S. C., in 1796. They lived in Logan County where William died in 1799.
William and his son, Hugh, owned land in this county in the latter 1790s. Hugh married Mary Palm in Logan County, Kentucky, February 10, 1799, and Ann married Ambrose Maulding in Logan County in 1801.
(GenForum, Genealogy.com—Purdys in Logan County, Ky. 1790s; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Abel/Kizer Family tree—William Purdy.)
Alexander Purdy remained in Grindal Shoals, S. C., until at least October 29, 1805, or afterwards, when he sold 50 acres to Jesse Mabry. This land was part of a tract granted to Robert Chesney Sr. and by him conveyed by deed of gift to his son, John Chesney.
John Chesney sold the land to Alexander Purdy. The transaction was proved by oath of James Moseley on October 2, 1820, before Davis Goudelock, J. P.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. IV, Deed Books Q-S, 1820-1828, by Brent Holcomb, p. 201.)
Benjamin and Rachel Covehoven's daughter, Lydia, married Robert Chesney Jr. and their son, John, married Elizabeth Chesney, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Purdy Chesney.
Benjamin Covenhoven was listed in the 1800 Federal Census of Union County, S. C.
Rachel Covehoven married Abel Fike in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C., in 1805, indicating that the family had moved to this area by the early 1800s. Annie Covenhoven also married in that district about this time.
In 1810, Benjamin Covenhoven was listed in the Federal Census of Hopkins County, Kentucky. Abraham Covenhoven married in Illinois on December 2, 1813, thus indicating another move by the family.
Rachel Covenhoven died in St. Clair County, Illinois, in 1814, and her husband died there in 1815.
Benjamin's brother, Daniel, remained in the Grindal Shoals section of South Carolina, after his brother moved. He was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey, June 13, 1763, and had married Martha ? in Union District, South Carolina, circa 1783.
He served as a substitute for his brother, Benjamin Covenhoven, from March 1, 1779, for four months under Capts. Zachariah Bullock, Joshua Palmer and Cols. William Wofford and John Thomas. He fought in the Battle of Stono Ferry.
After serving as a Patriot soldier in South Carolina, Daniel served for three months in Virginia, and was in Capt. Cinder's Company, under Cols. Morgan and Meriwether. He was at the Siege of Yorktown, Virginia.
Daniel received a pension October 28, 1833, in Union District, S. C. (S32189).
Daniel Covenhoven moved to Pope County, Arkansas, and had his pension transferred in 1840. They had one son and three daughters. He died July 29, 1844, and was buried three miles north of Danville, Yell County, Arkansas, in the Spring Creek Cemetery.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Birds of a Feather—Daniel Covenhoven.)
Children Of Benjamin And Rachel Covenhoven
(a). Lydia Covenhoven was born circa 1772, at Carroll Shoals, S. C. (Grindal Shoals—1773). She married Robert Chesney Jr., son of Robert and Elizabeth Purdy, in 1790, at Grindal Shoals. He was born September 15, 1766, in Ireland. He was the brother of the noted loyalist Capt. Alexander Chesney.
(Journal of Capt. Alexander Chesney, Edited by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 5.)
Robert's brother, William, served as a Patriot soldier in the American Revolution though a mere boy. He served under Col. Thomas Brandon and lost a horse on one of the Cherokee Indian expeditions.
Robert and Lydia had eight daughters and three sons. Most of their children were born before they left South Carolina. They left for Kentucky in 1796, with several other families. They left Kentucky and moved to St. Clair, Illinois, where Lydia died in 1803.
Robert Chesney, husband of Lydia, moved to Brunswick County, Missouri, where he died November 14, 1845.
(b). John Covenhoven was born October 1, 1774, at Grindal Shoals, S. C. He married Mary Elizabeth Chesney, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Purdy Chesney, in January of 1794, in Union District, S. C. She was born in Union District, S. C., on June 21, 1778.
Their first three children were born at Grindal Shoals, S. C. "They moved to Buncombe County, North Carolina, then to Hardin County, Kentucky, to Illinois, and later to Arkansas and Texas."
"He was a hat maker by trade. He made men's tall silk hats. He received $20.00 for each hat."
In 1830, John Covenhoven moved to Texas from Arkansas with his wife, Elizabeth, and one daughter. He applied for a land grant in May 1835. His grant was located in Madison County. Their eleven children preceded them to Texas.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Bennett and Related Families of Texas—John Covenhoven.)
"John Covenhoven and his wife, Elizabeth, were an elderly couple living alone. One day, afraid of dying, they wanted to take communion and lacking the necessary ingredients, they had their servant to brew up some strong coffee and make some cornbread. This they ate and drank, hoping this would be pleasing in God's eyes."
John Covenhoven's will was dated August 18, 1842. He died September 8, 1842, at La Grange in Fayette County, Texas. His wife, Elizabeth, died on April 8, 1844, at La Grange.
(RootsWeb's World Connect Project: A Wood Family's Branches and Twigs—John Covenhoven.)
(c). William Covenhoven was born circa 1777, in Grindal Shoals, S. C. The name of his first wife is unknown. They had four children.
He next married Anna ? . She was born circa 1802. They had two sons: John and Giles. They moved to Louisiana.
(d). Melissa Covenhoven was born circa 1779, in Grindal Shoals, S. C.
(e). Elizabeth Covenhoven was born circa 1781, in Grindal Shoals, S. C. She married David Cunningham. He was born circa 1780. They had a child, John Hamilton Cunningham, born in 1812. Another database lists Mattias Fulcord as a second husband.
(f). Abraham Covenhoven was born circa 1783, in Grindal Shoals, S. C. He married Margaret Morrison Walker, born circa 1795. They married December 2, 1813, in Illinois. They had six sons and four daughters. He died circa 1857, in Bossier Parish, Louisiana.
(g). Rachel Covenhoven was born in March of 1785. She married Abel Fike in 1805, in Pendleton District, South Carolina. He was born April 15, 1777, in Granville County, North Carolina.
They had four sons and one daughter. Their first two children were born in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C. Their third child, John Jasper Fike, was born in Hopkins County, Kentucky. The last two children were born in St. Clair County, Illinois.
Rachel died in March of 1815, in St. Clair County, Illinois. After the death of Rachel, Abel Fike, married Nancy Land Covenhoven, widow of her brother, Joseph Covenhoven.
(h). Jesse Covenhoven was born in 1787, in Grindal Shoals, S. C.
(i). Annie Covenhoven was born October 14, 1789, in Grindal Shoals, S. C. She was married to Samuel Wilson Hillhouse, son of John and Margaret Chambers Hillhouse, in 1804, in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C.
He was born in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C., in May of 1780. They had nine daughters and six sons.
He died November 11, 1849, in Canton, Cherokee County, Georgia, and she died there September 6, 1855. They lived four miles below Canton, Georgia.
(j). Joseph Covenhoven was born circa 1790, in Grindal Shoals, S. C. He married Nancy Land, daughter of Moses and Charity Brashear Land, on March 16, 1806, in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C.
She was born May 22, 1792, in Pendleton District, S. C. They had one son and one daughter. He died January 20, 1815, in St. Clair County, Illinois.
Many of the family members died in St. Clair in the early 1800s. They must have been stricken by a similar disease.
After the death of Joseph Covenhoven and his sister, Rachel, their spouses were married to each other. Abel Fike married Nancy Land Covenhoven in December of 1815, in St. Clair County, lllinois.
Abel and Nancy had four sons and four daughters. Abel died February 10, 1852, in Mascoutah, St. Clair County, Illinois, and was buried
in the Fike Cemetery. Nancy died December 12, 1879, in Warrensburg, Johnson County, Missouri. She was buried in Macoutah, St. Clair County, Illinois.
7. William Jasper. He was probably born in Pennsylvania, or Virginia, September 11, 1757. According to the Nicholas Jasper historical data in Kentucky, the Jaspers were from Wales.
There is one group that insists that he was an Irishman and another group that he was of German descent.
It reminds the writer of an individual frequenting an antique store to purchase just any old pictures so that he could have a grandpa and grandma picture to display.
"Sgt. Jasper came from Ireland, period," said St. Patrick's Day Parade committee chairman, Jimmy Ray.
(Savannah NOW: Top Stories, Sgt. Jasper was one of their own, two groups say–Internet.)
Retired history professor Fenwick Jones said that Jasper was a German who was naturalized after arriving in the American colonies. In 1980, the local Savannah German Heritage Society said he was of German ancestry and formally inducted him into the society with a slight name change.
"He was Johann Wilhelm Jasper, according to ship records, the society said."
(Evidence Shows Jasper Not Irish, Savannah Morning News and Evening Press, Sunday, September 21, 1980.)
They seek to present him as being married in Pennsylvania when actually he married a Pennsylvania girl at Mt. Pleasant, S. C., or Sullivan's Island, S. C., in 1776.
(Article on William Jasper by Thomas Gamble, Savannah Morning News, Sunday, February 21, 1932.)
They make no allowance for his Tory brother. The Kentucky records call this brother, Abraham, and refer to him as a Tory. The Peter Horry and Parson Weems book, Life of Francis Marion, pp.53-54, tells of Sgt. Jasper's visits during the war with this Tory brother.
William Jasper probably came to the Carroll Shoals (later Grindal Shoals) section of South Carolina with his older brothers and sisters in 1771, at the age of fourteen.
This area was later known as Union District, S. C., and is now known as Cherokee County, S. C.
The writer believes that William Jasper quickly made friends with Elijah Clark, who had moved from North Carolina, in 1769, and lived just across the Pacolet River from the Jasper families.
(Notable Women Ancestors, A Biography of Hannah Harrington Clark, by Beverly L. Pack, p. 1, Internet.)
Elijah Clark was the son of John Clark Jr. and Mary Gibson Clark. John Clark Jr. was first married to Ann Alston, daughter of John and Mary Clark Alston. His second wife, Mary, was possibly the daughter of John and Martha Browne Gibson. His third wife was Martha Nesbit Pickens, widow of Israel Pickens, the brother of Capt. Andrew Pickens and uncle of General Andrew Pickens. Capt. Andrew Pickens was a captain and commander of the Anson County, North Carolina, Militia, after 1750.
(Pickens Company, Anson County, 1750s, p. 1—Internet; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: The Trask Family—John Clark; World Connect Project: Add Ons to My North Carolina Family—Capt. Andrew Pickens.)
Martha and Israel Pickens had two sons and three daughters. Israel, her husband, died or was killed in 1749, and Martha married John Clark Jr., after the death of his second wife, Mary Gibson Clark, who died in 1757.
(Genealogy.com GenForum: John Clark's Marriage to Mary Gibson)
The Israel Pickens Family and Pickens Origins by E. M. Sharp from Pickens Families of the South, p. 6—Internet; RootsWeb's World Connect Project: The Trask Family—John Gibson; RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Xavierdefreitas.ged—William Henry Pickens.)
John and Martha were married circa 1758. Martha still had three children at home at this time: Samuel, age 15; Rebecca, age 12; and Hannah, age 9. John and Martha had one son, Gibson Clark, who was born in 1760. Her children by Israel Pickens were grown when John Clark died circa 1768.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: John Clark; Genalogy.com GenForum—John Clark's Marriage to Mary Gibson and Martha Pickens; Part II: The Early Clarks of Carolina by Douglas C. Tucker, May 1997—Internet.)
Elijah, a veteran of the French and Indian wars, married Hannah Harrington, daughter of Thomas and Hanna Haynie Harrington, in 1765.
(Part II, The Early Clarks of Carolina, p. 2, by Douglas C. Tucker, May 1997; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Raney-1920—Hannah Harrington.)
Col. John Clark Jr., an officer in the Anson County, N. C., Militia, sold his Broad River lands to Richard Hughes and moved to the Pacolet River tract January 16, 1753. He died on the Pacolet River lands circa 1768.
(Upper Broad River Basin Pioneers—1750-1760, by Miles S. Philbeck, 264-D; The Early Clarks of Carolina by Douglas C. Tucker, May 1997, p. 2.)
Elijah's father, John Jr., left an 800 acre tract of land on Pacolet River to him. John Jr. received the grant March 16, 1751, (SS 586) "On the South side of Broad River on both sides of Pacolet including his improvement."
(Upper Broad River Basin Pioneers, 1750-1760, by Miles S. Philbeck, 108 E.)
Elijah moved to the land left him by his father to take care of his step-mother and his half-brother in 1769.
(Part II, The Early Clarks of Carolina, p. 3, by Douglas C. Tucker, May 1997—Internet.)
Martha apparently moved to Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and lived with her son, Samuel, until she was remarried to John Falls. She left her son, Gibson Clark, with his half-brother, Elijah.
(The Israel Pickens Family and Pickens Origins by E. M. Sharp from Pickens Families of the South, p. 6 & 10; RootsWeb's World Connect Project: The Davis Family Tree—John Falls.)
Samuel, son of Israel and Martha Nesbit Pickens, was a Patriot Soldier in the American Revolutionary War and an officer. He had a son, Israel, named for his grandfather, who was governor of Alabama.
(History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Vol. 4, p. 1360, by Thomas McAdory Owen and Maria Bankhead Owen; The Israel Pickens Family and Pickens Origins, by E. M. Sharp from Pickens Families of the South, p. 7.)
Elijah's wife, Hannah Harrington, was first cousin to Charles, Drury and John Harrington who lived between Abington and Gilkie creeks in Ninety Six District (later Union District).
(RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Raney-1920—Thomas Harrington Sr.; Thomas Harrington Jr.; Charles Harrington Sr.)
John and Drury both became Patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War.
The writer has no information concerning a possible kinship between the Harringtons and Herringtons. William Jasper's mother was Mary Herrington, daughter of Jacob Herrington.
Elijah liked to hunt, fish and trap, and young William Jasper and Elijah's half brother, Gibson, probably became his partners.
In her book, Hero of Hornet's Nest, A Biography of Elijah Clark, p. 5, Louise Frederick Hays wrote: "Elijah showed little John, his oldest boy, how to make rabbit traps, and though the child was only five, he was big for his years, and sometimes Elijah took the boy hunting and carried him on his back when the walking became too much for his sturdy little legs."
The Clark place was on the right side of Pacolet River just off highway 18 from Gaffney, S. C., and across the river in present day Union County, S. C. The Fernandez Cemetery is located on this land.
Clark began to plan for a caravan to leave the Grindal Shoals area of South Carolina, and journey to Georgia. Louise Frederick Hays, on page 7, of her book, has Hannah Clark saying, "Thar's some folks planning to move from around these parts. Nancy Hart rode by yesterday, while you were out in the swamp and said how she and Benjamin were ready to go and would rather live among the Indians than here whar you had to buy a stamp every time you turn around."
(Nancy Hart, Revolutionary Heroine, Internet.)
This writer believes that young William Jasper joined Clark on his journey to Georgia. It must have been an interesting experience to have lived in the Carroll Shoals (Grindal Shoals), S. C., community with such people as Elijah and Hannah Clark, Benjamin and Nancy Hart and the Jaspers.
Elijah, his wife, Hannah, four small children and his half-brother, Gibson, left with their friends in September of 1773, and traveled by wagon train to Georgia.
Elijah Clark served as a Patriot Soldier in the American Revolution and was an officer. His brothers, John III, Lewis and his half-brother, Gibson, were also Patriot Soldiers.
(Georgia's Roster of The Revolution–1920 byLucian Lamar Knight.)
John Clark III was wounded at the Battle of Wofford's Iron Works and carried by Capt. Vardry McBee Sr. to his house where his wife and daughters hurriedly attended to his wounds. After the war he returned to Vardry McBee Sr.'s home and married his daughter, Rebecca.
(Vardry McBee, Man of Reason In An Age Of Extremes, by Roy McBee Smith, pp. 34-35.)
Elijah's son, John, became a Patriot officer at the age of 16, and later Governor of Georgia. His son, Gibson, was an attorney and was the first valedictorian of the University of Georgia.
(Anson County, North Carolina, Archives Biographies—Families, Clark—p. 2–Internet; General Elijah Clark Was Father of Gov. John Clark—Internet.)
Two years after moving to Georgia, William Jasper was recruited in St. George's Parish, now Burke County, Georgia, by Captain Bernard Elliott on July 7, 1775, and signed to serve in the Second South Carolina Continental Regiment. Thomas Gamble wrote: "Jasper, when enlisted, was a member of a Georgia militia company of the Halifax District."
(Sergeant William Jasper, Georgia Soldier, Enlisted from St. George's Parish, Savannah Morning News, Sunday, January 24, 1932.)
William went immediately to Charleston, S. C., where he began his service under Colonel William Moultrie and Captain Francis Marion.
Capt. Bernard Elliott, in his dairy, wrote: "This Jasper was enlisted by Capt. Elliott of the Grenadiers of the Second Regiment, in Halifax County, Georgia, as a common soldier, but his extraordinary sobriety, his punctuality and readiness in obeying all orders while a private recommended him to his captain as a proper man for a sergeant, accordingly he appointed him to that office in October last, while he had the command of the battery at Fort Johnson."
At the time of William Jasper's enlistment, Charleston was still occupied by Royal Governor Lord William Campbell. "Campbell soon realized that he could no longer reside and govern in safety in Charleston.
In September 1775, he fled Charleston on a British warship and returned to England. In 1776, during the British attack upon Fort Moultrie, he was wounded by a splinter in the side, while aboard Sir Peter Parker's flagship, HMS Bristol. He never fully recovered, and died of its effects two years later.
(Lord William Campbell, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia—Internet.)
Much could be written about young William, but perhaps General Moultrie in his Memoirs of the American Revolution, Vol. II, best describes him: "He was a brave, active, stout, strong, enterprising man, and a very great partisan."
The Charles Town Gazette, in its first issue after the Battle of Fort Sullivan, gave this account: "In the beginning of the action the flagstaff was shot away, which, being observed by Sergeant Jasper of the Grenadiers, he immediately jumped from one of the embrasures upon the beach, took up the flag, and fixed it on a sponge staff. With it in his hand he mounted the merlon and notwithstanding the shot flew as thick as hail around him, he leisurely fixed it."
Thomas Gamble wrote: "In a spirit of utter defiance of the foe Jasper faced them and gave three cheers before he returned to serve the gun with which he had given his full share of punishment to the British ships."
The Union County, S. C., Museum has a pen staff made from the broken staff of the Fort Sullivan flag recovered by Sgt. William Jasper.
Gamble wrote: "On July 4, 1776, while the Continental Congress was adopting the Declaration of Independence, President Rutledge visited the garrison on Sullivan's Island to express the thanks of the South Carolina Provincial Congress. It was on this occasion he took his sword from its scabbard and presented it to Sergeant Jasper." "Edward Savage was allowed 70 pounds on 30 May 1777 for a sword in Room (place of) one Given Sergt Jasper."
(American Revolution Roster Fort Sullivan 1776-1780, Battle of Fort Sullivan, by Georgia Muldrow Gillmer, p. 192.)
Thomas Gamble wrote that William Jasper married Mary Wheatley from Pennsylvania in 1776. They had twins in 1777, and named them William and Elizabeth.
Speaking of Sgt. William Jasper, General Moultrie, in his Memoirs of the American Revolution, Vol. II, pg. 24, wrote: "I had such confidence in him that when I was in the field, I gave him a roving commission and liberty to pick out his men from my brigade. He seldom would take more than six: he went often out and returned with prisoners before I knew he was gone.
I have known of his catching a party that was looking for him. He has told me that he could have killed single men several times, but he would not, he would rather let them off.
He went into the British lines at Savannah and delivered himself up as a deserter, complaining at the same time of our ill-usage of him. He was gladly received (they having heard of his character) and caressed by them. He stayed eight days, and after informing himself well of their strength, situation, and intentions, he returned to us again; but that game he could not play a second time."
Bowen in his Life of Lincoln, p. 316, "Mentions a letter from Jasper to General Lincoln 'ill written and worse spelt', dated at Purysburg, July 23, 1779, in which he informs General Lincoln that in company with three of the Georgia Continentals he had gone up the river, two days before, hoping to surprise a picket guard. It turned out, however, to be only a patrolling party from which he had made four prisoners and brought off some negroes, all of whom he had sent to Charleston."
Mary Wheatley gave birth to a daughter in 1779, but the little girl died.
Alexander Garden, an aid-decamp to Major General Nathanael Greene, wrote in his, Anecdotes of the American Revolutionary War, that Jasper was "a perfect Proteus in his ability to alter his appearance, perpetually entering the camp of the enemy without detection, and invariably returning to his own with soldiers he had seduced or prisoners he had captured."
In one incident recorded in the April 21, 1779, South Carolina Gazette, "The brave Sergeant Jasper giving new proof of his courage, crossed the Savannah River with another soldier, perhaps Sgt. John Newton, and captured two British officers, Captains Scott and Young."
A monument was erected at Jasper Spring, Savannah, Georgia, Chatman County, in 1932. Inscription on the monument reads: "At this spring close by the entrenchment of the British who held Savannah, Sergeant William Jasper and Sergeant John Newton in 1779, effected their heroic rescue of a number of American Patriots who were being taken to Savannah for military trial. These prisoners were under a guard of ten British soldiers.
Sergeants Jasper and Newton had followed them for many miles almost within sight of the British fortifications. The escort here stacked arms. Two soldiers guarded the prisoners while the others refreshed themselves at the spring.
Rushing from their concealment in the heavy underbrush, the gallant Americans shot down the two guards, seized the guns, disabled two others of the enemy and made the remainder prisoners. The rescued patriots were released and armed with the captured guns. The British prisoners were then marched to the American camp in South Carolina."
Sergeant John Newton was a son of the Reverend John Newton, a constituent member of the Congaree Baptist Church in South Carolina, and Keziah Dorsett Newton. His father was also listed as co-pastor of the Charleston Church with the Reverend Oliver Hart in 1779.
Sergeant Newton was taken prisoner at the surrender of Charleston in 1780, and died aboard a British prison ship.
(South Carolina Baptists, 1670-1805, by Leah Townsend, pp. 30, 142-144; Sergeants William Jasper and John Newton, Savannah, Georgia, Specific Veteran Memorials on Waymarking.com—Internet.)
From the story, Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Hero; the Story of Sergeant William Jasper (Internet), is recorded the following account of the Siege of Savannah on October 9, 1779:
"A lieutenant Bush carried one of the regimental flags of the 2nd South Carolina into battle that day, supported by Sergeant Jasper. At the height of the action, Lt. Bush took a wound and transferred his flag to Jasper.
The gallant sergeant rushed forward to plant the flag high on the enemy's works, but was mortally wounded as he neared the top. Lt. Bush recovered the flag almost immediately and made another effort to rally the faltering troops into the redoubt, only to fall mortally wounded with the blood-soaked flag beneath him.
Jasper's wounded body was recovered from the battlefield by members of the 2nd South Carolina Continentals. He lingered for a few agonizing hours before succumbing to his wounds.
After the battle, Colonel Isaac Hayne recorded the names of those who had died during the assault. Among the names listed was 'The Brave Sgt. Jasper'.
That extraordinary display of honor bestowed by Colonel Hayne illustrated the high level of regard Jasper enjoyed among his contemporaries.
Jasper's remains are thought to lie in an unmarked grave somewhere near the field of battle. But the exploits of the soldier who possessed a patriot's heart and a love of liberty have not been forgotten."
Thomas Gamble wrote: "The state of South Carolina was not unmindful of the service Jasper had given to the American cause. His widow, Mary Wheatley Jasper, probably then had been married the second time."
"An ordinance was passed on March 26, 1784, in conformity with an act passed by the General assembly of South Carolina on March 28, 1778, granting to William Jasper, 'heir at law to Sergeant William Jasper, his heirs and assigns a plantation or tract of land containing 200 acres in the District of Georgetown on the northeast side of the Little Pedee River, on Threadwell Swamp.'"
From the City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser of Charleston, S. C., August 4, 1819, is found the following obituary of William Jr.:
"Died on Friday the 30th ultimo (error, should be 29th, funeral was on July 30th) in the 42nd year of his age, Mr. William Jasper, the son of the gallant Jasper, who so bravely distinguished himself in the defense of Sullivan's Island at the attack made upon it by the British naval forces under the command of Sir Peter Parker during our Revolutionary War.
The subject of these remarks was born on Sullivan's Island in the building, which is now used as an Episcopal Church. At an early period in life Mr. Jasper left his native state on his travels, in the course of which he visited Sicily, Naples, Palermo, and different parts of Asia.
After several years absence he returned to America, and fixed his residence in the Town of Beaufort, N. C., and during the late war with Great Britain was called upon by the unanimous voice of the citizens of Beaufort to take the command of Fort Hamilton, a trust which at once evinced their confidence in him as a man of courage and high honor.
He was modest and unassuming in his manners, sincere and candid in his friendship, and possessed, as he richly merited, the esteem and confidence of all who knew him. As a brother he was most affectionate, as a husband kind and endearing. With a most undaunted spirit he possessed an amiability of temper which gained the approbation of his fellow citizens.
He returned to his native state a few years past, and continuing to practice the virtues, which so eminently distinguished his character, no one lived more beloved than William Jasper. His widow disconsolately mourns the loss of a tender husband, and his sister, a friend and brother."
Thomas Gamble in the Savannah Morning News, Sunday, February 21, 1932, wrote: "At the time of the death of William Jasper (1819) Sergt. Jasper's widow was living on Pinckney street, Charleston, a widow for the second time, she having married Christopher Wagner who died in 1805, and by whom she had a son, Samuel Jasper Wagner, who was a custom house inspector at Charleston.
Sgt. Jasper's son, William, evidently had not returned to Charleston until after 1813, as his name is not in the city directory for that year, but does appear in the directory for 1816. His sister, referred to in the obituary notice, was Elizabeth Brown.
Gen. Kershaw refers to her as Elizabeth Martin Jasper—who was then living on Wentworth Street. This sister survived for many years. In 1844 an act was passed by the South Carolina legislature to give 'Elizabeth Brown, the daughter of Sgt. Jasper, for and during the period of her natural life' a pension of $100 a year, to be paid quarterly, beginning March 1, 1844. As the act was passed December 18, and made to cover the nine preceding months, it is probable that Elizabeth became a widow early in the year.
Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw, in an address at the centennial celebration of the Battle at Fort Moultrie, stated that Elizabeth Jasper was married three times and had three children, all of whom died young."
Thomas Gamble appropriately connects Sgt. William Jasper to the Jasper family of South Carolina (Union District), citing the note of John Hames in Georgia Landmarks that Sgt. Jasper was his wife's brother. Gamble did not know that Nicholas Jasper was Hames' brother-in-law or that they both were from the Grindal Shoals, S. C., area. Nicholas Jasper died in Kentucky and John Hames died in Georgia.
"A monument to William Jasper is located in the center of Madison Square, in Savannah, Georgia. It was erected in 1888, and is fifteen and one-half feet high and consists of a heroic scale bronze statue of wounded Sgt. Jasper, with sword in hand, raising the flag aloft; the bronze is mounted on a granite-stepped pedestal. It has four bas relief bronze plaques.
The entire monument is elevated on an earthwork of unknown composition, which is surrounded by benches. The monument is in memory of Sergeant William Jasper of the Second South Carolina Regiment, who was killed at the Siege of Savannah on 9 October 1779."
(The Jasper Monument, Savannah, Georgia, Sergeant William Jasper, Brother of Nicholas Jasper, Internet, p. 1.)
Eight counties and seven cities and towns throughout the nation are named for this great hero. The Jasper counties are: Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas. The Jasper cities and towns are: Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Minnesota.
South Carolina has a county named for him, but the statue at Battery Park in Charleston, S. C., was erected to commemorate all the heroes of the Battle of Fort Sullivan.
There is a county named for Sgt. John Newton in Georgia but none in South Carolina, his native state.
(Unpublished article of William Jasper by Robert S. Davis Jr., Jasper, Georgia; William Jasper, Wikipedia, Internet.)
There are many who claim that all references in the Weems-Horry book concerning William Jasper are simply from the imagination of Weems. This writer contends that this is not true.
There are those who have contended that the Tory brother is an imagination of Weems, but the historical data from Kentucky disproves this for they even give the Tory's name. He was called Abraham in these sources.
Robert S. Davis, Jr. of Jasper, Georgia, in his unpublished article on William Jasper, has made a statement that is troubling to this writer. He wrote: "Despite contemporary claims of his heroism in battle, however, these honors were bestowed on this Georgian more because of a work of historical fiction than on his real exploits."
It is true that Weems "furnished up the stories a bit". But historical fiction in those days was usually based on true stories or true accounts of events.
Most of this writer's references to William Jasper have been taken from other sources and not the Weems-Horry source to show that he was indeed "The Brave Sgt. Jasper".
Apparently, his son, William Jr. had no children, and the children of his daughter, Elizabeth, died young. South Carolina should be proud of the part she has played in the young man's life, and Union and Cherokee counties should be glad to reflect on the two years that he lived in our midst as a young man preparing with Elijah Clark to be Patriot soldiers.
8. Hannah Jasper. She was born April 12, 1759. She married William Cheney, son of Jeremiah and Naomi Twigg Cheney of Hagerstown, Maryland.
Jeremiah Cheney was a son of Charles and Mary Powell Cheney, of
Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and Naomi Twigg was a daughter of Robert and Hannah Leseure Twigg of Frederick County, Maryland.
William was Jeremiah and Naomi's oldest child and was born April 20, 1754. He had five brothers and six sisters.
They lived at Middleton, Frederick County, Maryland. William replied to a letter that John Jasper Jr. had sent to them on January 12, 1804. His letter was written on April 15, 1804. It was addressed to Brother, & Sister and Mother.
The letter basically deals with a possible settlement of Hannah's father's estate. John had requested that they come to South Carolina in October. William wrote: "It may be that one of us may come at your request next October but if not carry on the business as though we were there."
Hannah wrote a letter to her brother, John, on November 14, 1804, and told of her husband's very sudden death the first of September, 1804. She stated that her husband had left no will and that his father was giving her only a third of the estate. She hoped that there was a possibility of getting her part of their father's estate.
Hannah died after November of 1804. They were both buried in Frederick County, Maryland, and apparently had no children.
9. Nancy Anna Jasper. She was born March 3, 1763. She married James Thomas Moseley, son of John and Ann Abernathy Moseley, in 1781, before the Revolutionary War was officially over. He was born December 24, 1756, in Brunswick County, Virginia.
A John Moseley Jr. was born in Middlesex County, Virginia, in 1727. He married Ann Williams in 1751, in Goochland County, Virginia. She was born in Goochland County, Virginia, in 1733. She died before March 2, 1774, in Warren County, North Carolina. John Jr. died in Warren County, North Carolina, in 1795.
They also had a son, James (Jurist), who married Frances Colclough. He died in Warren County, North Carolina, in 1806. This John and Ann were not James (High Key) Moseley's parents.
John Moseley, father of James (High Key) Moseley, was probably the son of George and Hannah Hartwell Moseley. He was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, circa 1737, and married Ann Abernathy, daughter of David and Ann Liles Abernathy. She was born circa 1735. The writer has records of only three known children: James, Elizabeth and Baxter.
George Moseley was born circa 1700. He married Hannah Hartwell, born circa 1720. He lived on the side of Fountain Creek in Meherrin Parish, Brunswick County, Virginia. He died July 7, 1758, in Brunswick County, Virginia. They had three sons and three daughters. After the death of George, Hannah married Sylvanus Stoker Stokes before 1762. Sylvanus was born circa 1710.
David Abernathy was born circa 1710. He married Ann Liles in 1730. She was born circa 1714. They had eight sons and four daughters. He died in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, in 1783.
In the book, A History Of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, p. 39, by John H. Logan, the following story concerning James (High Key) Moseley and John, his father, is given: "He came originally from Virginia, and settled first on the headwaters of the Yadkin, at the foot of Yellow Mountain.
He was then 14 years of age (1770). Here he was associated for a time with the celebrated Daniel Boone and was preparing to join him in the expedition to Kentucky, when he was prevented by his father (John) on the plea of youth."
John and Ann Abernathy Moseley had moved their family to the Grindal Shoals section of Union District, S. C., before April 2, 1774.
He purchased a tract of 190 acres of land in Ninety Six District, South Carolina, from James and Sarah Mason Huey shortly after moving to South Carolina. This was part of a tract of 600 acres granted to John Clark, father of Colonel Elijah Clark, on September 3, 1752.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 322-323; Deed Book E, pp. 107-111.)
John Moseley sold this land in 1776, and moved his family to Chester County, S. C., the latter part of that year or in 1777. His son, James, had already joined the Spartan Regiment. They must have returned to Union District circa 1780. In his pension application James wrote: "I lived in Union District and in York District (Chester) at the time of my services."
(James Moseley's Pension Application—S9421.)
Ann Abernathy Moseley, James (High Key) Moseley's mother, was living in Union District, S. C., January 26, 1790, when she gave her son, Baxter Moseley, power of attorney, " to Ask, Demand, Recover or Receive all my Right of Legacy of my Father David Abernathy's Estate, lately deceased in Dinwiddie County in Virginia."
(Library of Virginia Accession No. 21440; Author–Abernathy Family; Title– Papers, 1768-1845—Margaret Ogilvie.)
Ann, wife of John, and her son, James (High Key) Moseley, acknowledged the sale of 190 acres to James Mabry by John and Ann Moseley on January 9, 1776.
The land was on the south side of Pacolet River and on both sides of Mill Creek. "Ann Moseley acknowledged the deed in Union County and stated that she saw her husband John Moseley sign the same, and James Moseley acknowledged that he believes the within to be his father John Moseley's writing, 10 July 1797." This indicates that John was deceased possibly before 1797. His wife, Ann, was still living at this time.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book E, pp. 107-111.)
James (High Key) Moseley, in his pension application (S9421), before Judge J. B. O'Neall, on October 10, 1832, states that he entered the service in the then Ninety-Six District in that part of it now called Union, in the month of June 1776, in Captain (Zachariah) Bullock's Company in Colonel John Thomas Regiment under General (Andrew) Williamson, as a volunteer to fight the Cherokee Indians.
The Spartan Regiment of Militia was established September 1775 with Col. John Thomas as Commander. Capt. Zachariah Bullock, a soldier in this regiment, lived very close to James Moseley and probably recruited him.
They fought at Lyndley's Fort on July 15, 1776; Seneca Town on August 1, 1776; Cherokee Towns on August 8-11, 1776; Tamassee on August 12, 1776; participated in the Ring Fight on August 12, 1776; and were at Coweecho River, North Carolina, on September 19, 1776.
(The Spartan Regiment of Militia, established in September 1775, Commander, Col. John Thomas Sr.—Internet.)
The records are strangely silent about his services in 1780. He did receive pay for services rendered while serving under Col. Thomas Brandon.
"He served under General Thomas Sumter in 1781, and fought with him at the Battle of Fort Granby, February 9th. He stated that in March 1781, he served in Col. Thomas Gill's Company, Col. Edward Lacey's Regiment, commanded by General Thomas Sumter.
He was at the Battle of Orangeburg, May 10, 1781. He states that he was with Sumter at the destroying of a Fort on the Eastside of Cooper River, nearly opposite Monks Corner, and several other light engagements."
(Pension statement S9421.)
"He was sent from the High Hills by Thomas Sumter to Col. Thomas Taylor of Columbia, with a valuable express. Taylor's cabin stood on the high hill that (since) overlooked the waterworks and much of the valley of the Broad River. He says that Taylor was sitting at a table when he walked in, his sword by his side."
(A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, p. 39, by John H. Logan.)
In May of 1782, he served a month's tour at Orangeburg in Captain John Thomson's Company and Col. William Farr's Regiment, commanded by General Thomas Sumter. In September, he marched in Capt. John Thomson's Company, under Lieutenant Francis Lattimore, Col. Farr's Regiment, commanded by General Francis Pickens, against the Cherokee Indians.
In his pension application he states: "Under General Sumter, I was frequently with Colonel (William) Washington and (Col. Henry 'Light Horse Harry') Lee before (Col. William) Washington was taken prisoner at the Battle of Eutaw Springs."
The Reverend J. D. Bailey in his book, History of Grindal Shoals, p. 69, states that "his service was principally, that of a scout". In A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, p. 39, by John H. Logan, is stated: "He did much valuable service as a scout—always on foot."
"By orders of General Sumter, I am Directed to give James Moseley a pass to travel into Ninety Six District and do therefore Desire that no person may interrupt the said Moseley on his way going or returning back as he has behaved himself as Becometh a Citizen since he has has been in Camden District." S/Edw Lacey, Col. (Edward Lacey) 24th May 1781.
"This is to Certify that the Bearer James Moseley hath behaved himself True to his Country and hath Done a tour of Duty at the Congaree Fort. Given under my hand May 25th day 1781." S/Thomas Gill Capt.
He referred to "the Reverend Thomas Greer, General Elijah Dawkins, Major Joseph Stark Sims and John Gage Sr. to prove his character for truth and moral deportment".
It is possible that the John Moseley mentioned in the Roster of South Carolina Patriots In the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 706, was the father of James (High Key) Moseley.
"He served in the militia during 1781 and 1782. He was a horseman under General Thomas Sumter and a footman on the Four Holes Expedition under General William Henderson."
In A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, p. 39-40, by John H. Logan, he relates the following James (High Key) Moseley story: "He was a famous hunter and woodsman; his trade that of a blacksmith. A post oak, known as Mosely's Tree, is still standing immediately on the road to the Grindal Shoals ford, just below the house of Garland Meng. Everybody knows it in that country, and no sacrilegious hand would dare touch it.
Moseley was out hunting and having taken a small deer, was returning home with it on his shoulders. The wolves getting a scent of the blood, were soon on his trail; he heard them coming, and knew that he must make an effort to save both himself and meat. The latter he sunk in a neighboring branch, and having climbed up into the post oak, waited their coming.
They bayed him all night. 'Why did you not shoot them, Mr. Moseley? was asked him afterwards.' 'You had your rifle.' 'Because', he said, 'I wanted to kill the leader of the troop, and it was too dark to distinguish him: as soon as light began to appear, they began to enlarge the circle they were constantly making around the tree.' He then singled him out, and shot him. The rest retreated to their dens."
Garland T. Meng mentioned by John H. Logan was the son of Col. James Edward Meng and his wife, Sarah Lewis. James Edward was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Garland married Susannah Thomas.
Before Logan had written his book, Sallie Sims, daughter of Major J. S. Sims, sketched Moseley's Oak in 1844. Her sketch is still in the Union County Museum.
In preparation for his History of Grindal Shoals, the Reverend J. D. Bailey made a picture of Moseley's Oak April 3, 1922, and included it in his book. He wrote: "It stands on the side of the old road leading from Grindal Shoals towards Kelly's Station on the Lockhart branch of the Southern Railway. It is a little more than a mile southeast from Elford's Grove. It must be more than two hundred years old."
Describing the tree, Bailey wrote: "At this writing (1921) 'the venerable tree still stands with only one dead limb on it. It is a post –oak; about thirty-five feet high and twenty-one, or two inches in diameter at the base. It looks to be about the same size as it was when first pointed out to us fifty-two years ago."
Unfortunately, someone who did not know the history of the tree cut it down in the 1930s or 1940s.
In his History of Grindal Shoals, page 68, Bailey wrote: "The house in which the old hero lived is still standing and in a fair state of preservation. In traveling the road from Grindal Shoals towards Union, Sandy Run is crossed at the ancient ford. Proceeding up the hill a short distance, and on looking to the right, a log house is seen standing on a ridge a short distance from the road. A brick chimney is built to the end, with the roof extending out over it. This was the earthly habitation of James Moseley."
The site of the house was revealed to the writer by Mrs. E. D. Whaley Sr. in the early 1980s. The chimney was not standing but a part of the bricks were still cemented together. The floor joists and rock pillows were still in place. The writer has a brick and rock pillow from his house. This site is on the right of Bobby Faucett Road and is .8 of a mile from highway 18.
Bailey in his History of Grindal Shoals wrote: "Moseley was a blacksmith by trade and a sort of neighborhood tooth puller, as there were no dentists in those days.
Barney O'Neal was a good-natured, pestiferous Irishman that depended a good deal on his acquaintances. One day he went to Moseley's and informed him that he had come to get a tooth pulled.
Old Hi-ky went to his blacksmith shop and got an armful of tools, consisting of hammers, tongs, chisels, etc. 'Does it take all them instruments to pull a tooth?' inquired Barney. 'Yes, and sometimes more,' said Hi-ky. I bid you good day, Mr. Moseley,' and Barney was gone. Being an old, experienced soldier and scout, he played this ruse on Barney to get rid of him."
Barney O'Neal was listed in the 1850 Federal Census of Union County, S. C. He was born in Ireland in 1791. His wife was listed as Nancy, born in 1790, in South Carolina. They had two children living with them at this time: Elizabeth, born 1827, and Martha, born 1832.
The tooth-pulling instrument that Moseley made in his blacksmith shop can still be seen in the Union County Museum. He pulled many teeth for his neighbors with this instrument.
Bailey wrote: "He was a good citizen and well thought of by his neighbors. Henry Fernandis, a man of considerable wealth and influence, joined lands with him. One day Fernandis and a distinguished friend rode into the ford at Sandy Run and paused to let their horses drink.
Old Hi-ky was secreted in the bushes near-by fishing and overheard their conversation. Fernandis' friend commented on the fine bottom lands and inquired if they were his. Fernandis said that they belonged to Moseley. 'It looks like you would want them.' 'I had rather have the man than the land,' replied Fernandis, and ever after that Hi-ky would do anything in his power for him."
James and his wife, Nancy Anna Jasper, had at least six daughters and three sons; possible an additional unnamed daughter. Nancy died in 1832.
James Moseley was married a second time to Martha Pickens, daughter of James and Martha ? Pickens. She had never married but had a child, John, born out of wedlock in 1818.
James Pickens purchased 375 acres from Ephraim Fowler on the waters of Sandy Run, a branch of Pacolet River, on November 2, 1797. James Moseley, Robert Martin and Joshua Palmer were witnesses to this transaction.
John McWhorter of the state of Kentucky, County of Lincoln, sold James Pickens, Martha's father, 92 acres on waters of Sandy Run of Pacolet River, for 50 pounds, but Pickens was deceased before McWhorter could give him a deed to the property, so the deed was made to Martha, wife of James, and mother of Martha Pickens, on November 10, 1807. James Moseley and Sherod Jones witnessed the transaction.
(Union County Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, 1811-1820, by Brent Holcomb, pp. 9-10.)
James Pickens was born circa 1770, and died in 1807. Martha Pickens, mother of Mary, Jane, Elizabeth and Martha Pickens, made her will on February 11, 1843, and it was proven by William D. Gault, February 2, 1846. She died circa 1845. Date of Martha's birth is unknown to this writer.
(Union County, South Carolina, Will Abstracts, 1787-1849, Book B, Pp. 382-383, p. 156.)
James Moseley and Martha Pickens were married in the John M. Foster house in November of 1833, about 1 and ½ miles from his residence. The John M. Foster house was on the Tump Smith Road.
(Personal research of Leonarde Andrea, 4204 Devine Street, Columbia, S. C.)
Jane Pickens Foster, was the second wife of John M. Foster; Mary Pickens Foster, was the wife of Frederick Foster; Elizabeth Pickens was the wife of Jordan Johnson; and Martha Pickens was the second wife of James Moseley Sr. They were all sisters and daughters of James and Martha ? Pickens.
John M. Foster was a brother of Jeremiah, Jared, Thomas, Frederick, Nancy and Martha Foster. He was born circa 1788, at Grindal Shoals, S. C.
He was a lawyer and was first married to Catherine Adair, daughter of Gov. John and Catherine Palmer Adair. Gov. Adair was born in Chester, S. C.
On the eastside of Governor John Adair's monument in Frankfort, Kentucky, are these words: "As a Soldier he entered the Revolutionary Army at the age of seventeen (in S. C.) and served through War, first as a private, afterwards as aide-de-camp to General Sumter. Moved to Kentucky in 1789. Participated in Indian Campaigns in 1791-2-4; and the War with Great Britain, 1813-1815."
"When Colonel Sevier was in need of money for provisioning the expedition to King's Mountain, John Adair was the entry-taker who furnished the money and whose patriotic reply to Colonel Sevier on his request for the same has gone down in history."
(Notable Southern Families, Volumes I & II.)
John M. and Catherine Adair Foster were married in Mercer County, Kentucky, on February 22, 1814. She was born July 17, 1792. They had several children: Catherine Adair Foster (born circa 1815, died unknown); Mary Foster (born 1-24-1818, died 5-18-1871); and Thomas J. Foster (born 10-2-1818—according to tombstone records; possibly erroneous—Federal Census records indicate that he was born in 1820; died 2-22-1888).
Catherine Adair Foster married the Rev. Daniel Lewis Gray on March 6, 1857. She was his second wife. His first wife was a ? Boyd, whose mother was a ? Means.
He was born on April 3, 1803, in Abbeville County, S. C., the son of John and Hannah Allen Gray. He attended Union Academy in Abbeville District and studied under Dr. John S. Read. In the fall of 1824, he attended Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, graduating in the fall of 1826.
He was licensed to preach in 1828, and called as pastor of the Fairforest Presbyterian Church, Union District, S. C., in June of 1829. He also served as pastor of the Cane Creek Presbyterian Church in the same district.
He moved to the Western District of Tennessee in 1831, and thence to White River, Arkansas.
He was pastor of the Wattensas Presbyterian Church in Prairie County, Arkansas, when he married Catherine. He died in Prairie County, Arkansas, after 1866. Date of the death of his second wife, Catherine, is not known to this writer.
Mary Foster, daughter of John M. and Catherine Adair Foster, married Robert Charles McWhorter, son of James and Winifred Hames McWhirter. He was born 12-6-1793, and died 3-24-1868. Mary was born January 24, 1818, and died May 18, 1871. She was his third wife.
He was first married to Elizabeth (Betsy) Fowler and then to Keziah Fowler, daughters of Godfrey and Nannie Kelly Fowler. He had three sons and one daugher by his wife, Betsy. There are no recorded children by his second wife, Keziah. He had two sons and four daughters by his third wife, Mary Foster.
Charles and Betsy's son, Shelton, married Jane Moseley, daughter of James and Martha Pickens Moseley.
Charles and Mary were buried in the Bogansville Methodist Church Cemetery in West Springs, S. C. Their graves are marked.
Thomas J. Foster, son of John M. and Catherine Adair Foster, married Emma Kelly, daughter of Thomas Kelly and his second wife, Mary Hames. She was born 7-19-1823, and died 6-24-1892. They had two sons and a daughter.
Thomas was a Confederate Veteran and was a member of the 5th South Carolina Volunteers. Emma's obituary can be found in the book, Union County Death Notices, p. 57.
"Mrs. Emma Foster died at the home of her son, J. H. Foster, in Spartanburg, Thursday, 24 January 1892, from an attack of dysentery. Her maiden name was KELLY. She was the widow of Thomas J. Foster, better known by the name of 'Peter Hawk'. She was buried the next day at Flat Rock Church (Union County) beside her husband." Their graves are marked.
There is a Peter Hawk road today in Union County. The Tump Smith road runs into the Peter Hawk road.
There is a discrepancy in Thomas J. Foster's birthdate. He is listed as 40 in the 1860 Federal Census of Union County, S. C., and if this is correct then he would have been born in 1820 instead of 1818. Since his sister, Mary, was born in 1818, the 1820 date of birth for Thomas seems more feasible.
Thomas J. Foster's mother, Catherine, died in 1820, and could have died from complications from the birth of Thomas. Year of Thomas' birth listed on his tombstone may be erroneous.
Some databases list Thomas J. as the son of James and Jincy Foster from the Pinckneyville area of Union District. Mannie Lee Edwards Mabry in her article on the Foster-Singleton Family, pages 87-88, of the Union County, South Carolna, Heritage book states that James and Jincy's son, Thomas J. Foster, moved to Alabama.
(Union County Cemeteries, Compiled and Edited by Mrs. E. D. Whaley, p. 10 & 45.)
John M. moved back to Union District, S. C., and after his first wife, Catherine, died on November 16, 1820, he married Jane Pickens, daughter of James and Martha ? Pickens, circa 1822. They had children: Nancy Abigail, William A., James, Henry M. and Susan E.
John and Jane's son, Henry, was killed at Second Manassas, and John's sister, Nancy, wife of Edmond Hames, lost two grandchildren, John and Charles Hames, in that battle. They were children of her son, Lemuel and his wife, Nancy Jones Hames.
The story was well written by Alan D. Charles in his Narrative History of Union County, S. C., p. 190:
"Two weeks after Second Manassas, N. B. Eison, home on furlough, took three zinc-lined coffins specially made by John Rogers of Union and traveled from Jonesville, South Carolina, to Manassas Junction by train.
Once there he and a black servant exhumed from shallow battlefield graves the bodies of Eison's brother's-in-laws Captain John Hames and (Sergeant) Charles Hames. Eison's kinsman, Henry Foster, was also exhumed.
John had bled to death from a thigh wound. Charles was killed by a shell, and Henry was shot in the stomach. Eison placed the blanket-wrapped corpses in the coffins and had the coffins soldered shut at Manassas Junction. The deteriorated remains obviously unviewable, the coffins were not opened on arrival at Jonesville, but were buried with due ceremony in Gilead Cemetery."
These soldiers have marked graves in the Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery.
Bailey in his, History of Grindal Shoals, page 70, wrote: "He (James Moseley) was an unusually strong and vigorous man and lived to a great age. He was buried down near the river, not far from the mouth of Sandy Run." He was a blacksmith, tooth puller and knife maker.
Children Of James And Nancy Anna Jasper Moseley
(a). Elizabeth Moseley was born November 30, 1782, in Union District, S. C. "She was married to Mark Fowler, son of Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler, in 1802, at the home of her parents by a Rev. Wheeler, a Methodist minister. The preacher had come to visit her father at hog killing time. Mark was born in May of 1780.
Mark's father, Ellis, was a Patriot soldier and officer in Virginia during the American Revolutionary War. He was mustered in at Albemarle Court House. He moved to South Carolina after the war.
He originally owned 614 acres of land on Sandy Run in the Grindal Shoals community." He sold 100 acres of this land to John Kiger, on Jan. 5, 1795.
John Kiger borrowed $74.90 from Martha Pickens on February 20, 1808, and mortgaged this land, one bay mare four years old, one black mare about 8 years old, and one bay horse colt one year old to her on March 25, 1808. The transaction was witnessed by Henry Farnandis before James Lane, J. P.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book I, p. 467; History of Grindal Shoals by J. D. Bailey, pp. 34-35; Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, 1785-1800, Brent Holcomb, p.149.)
J. D. Bailey in his History of Grindal Shoals, S. C., p. 37, wrote: "Mark Fowler, known as 'Big Mark', was probably the second son of Lieut. Ellis Fowler. He was a soldier in the War of 1812; belonged to Capt. (Samuel) Fawcett's Company and fought behind the Cotton bales at New Orleans.
Being discharged there, he with his brother, Wymac, walked all the way home. It is said that he lived in the White Hill section just above Grindal, but after his death, his family moved nearer to Jonesville. His body is buried in Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery." His grave is marked with no dates.
Elizabeth was a member of the Flat Rock Methodist Church for 60 or more years. She lived to be over one hundred years old. In an article from the Union Times in 1882, is found the following: "The one hundredth birthday of Mrs. Elizabeth Fowler was celebrated today at her home about one half mile west of this place.
Being anxious to see the old lady I went out this morning to see the female Centenarian and enjoy the grand ovation in honor of her age. At about eleven o'clock I arrived at the home of Mrs. Fowler, and found a large crowd who had come with baskets and presents for the aged one and take part in the celebration. The Jonesville Band was present and furnished delightful music, which Mrs. Fowler enjoyed very much."
J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, p. 37, wrote: "It was the pleasure of the writer to be present at the celebration of her hundredth anniversary. She was the only woman we ever saw that had witnessed an hundred winters. As I gazed upon her while sitting by the old fashioned fire-place, she turned her sightless eyes toward a small window and exclaimed: 'Well, I am a hundred years old today, and if it was the Lord's will, I would love to live another hundred.'"
An article from the Jonesville Times, issue of April 13, 1883, stated: "Mrs. Elizabeth Fowler, whose maiden name was Moseley, was born Nov. 30, 1782, and died near Jonesville, S. C., March 4, 1883, being one hundred years old. She retained her mind and was very interested in her conversation to the last. Her health and strength did not fail her until a very short time before her death."
They had three sons and five daughters to grow to maturity and three children to die in infancy. Only two of the children survived their mother: Mrs. Melissa Fowler Horn, wife of Isaac Creighton Horn and Miss Salina Fowler.
Isaac Creighton Horne served with Company B, 18th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry during the War Between the States. He was listed as a Confederate Pensioner in Union County, S. C., in 1899. Melissa died in 1889 and Creighton died in 1904. They were buried in unmarked graves in the Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: From Here to There, ID: 112915, Isaac Crayton Horn, Contact Rose Parks.)
Elizabeth Moseley Fowler had twenty-five grandchildren. She was buried in an unmarked grave in the Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery.
(b) John Baxter Moseley was born in 1784, in Union District, S. C. He married Mary Jane Fowler, daughter of Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler, circa 1806. Mary was born circa 1791.
Ellis Fowler was the son of Godfrey III and Mary ? Fowler of Virginia. He was born in 1746, in Albemarle County, Virginia. He married Catherine Puckett, daughter of Ephraim and Hannah ? Puckett, in 1771, in Albemarle County, Virginia. She was born in 1747, in the same county.
He was mustered into service at Albemarle County Court House, in 1776, and was made a 1st Lieutenant in Capt. Charles Sims Company. He fought through the Revolutionary War in the state of Virginia.
He moved to the Grindal Shoals area of Union District, S. C., right after the war, where he received a grant of 614 acres on Sandy Run Creek on January 7, 1788. He lived near the James Moseley family.
They had 10 children, seven sons and three daughters. Three of their children were born in Virginia. Their daughter, Nancy Keziah, married John Kiger.
His first wife, Catherine, died in 1800, and he married her sister, Mary, in 1803. Mary was listed as Mary Berry in her father's will in 1800. They had no children.
The Reverend J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, S. C., pp. 34-36, wrote: "He (Ellis) was of a large and excellent family, being a descendant of John Fowler, who came to Virginia in 1734 (from England), at the age of twenty four years.
Ellis was a man of powerful stature, great physical endurance, with unflinching courage, of strict integrity, truthfulness, and fidelity in all things confided to his trust. His complexion was fair, and he had a deep heavy voice."
Ellis died on January 20, 1808, and was buried in the Joe Kelly Cemetery in Kelton, S. C. His second wife, Mary, died after 1809.
John Baxter Moseley and his wife, Mary, had at least two known children (possibly other children): (1). Harriet Moseley, born 9-29-1824; died 12-9-1902. (2). Sarah Moseley, born 5-20-1832; died 4-4-1909. They were buried in the Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery and their graves are marked.
Mary joined the Gilead Baptist Church on May 9, 1841, and her daughter, Harriet, was baptized by the Gilead Baptist Church on October 1, 1852. Sarah married Zachariah Reeves Jr., son of Zachariah Reeves Sr. and Cynthia Hodge Reeves. Harriet died at the home of her sister, Sarah Moseley Reeves.
John Baxter Moseley was the great, great grandfather of the writer's wife, Elizabeth Reeves Ivey. Sarah Moseley Reeves was the great grandmother of the writer's wife.
John's wife, Mary, predeceased her husband, dying in the 1840s. She was probably buried in an unmarked grave in Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery.
John Baxter was married on September 21, 1851, to Mrs. Jane Bonds (born in 1820) by Robert V. Harris, Esquire. She was his second wife. John died in May of 1856.
John Baxter Moseley left 16 ½ acres and his home-place to his daughter, Sarah.
(c). Mary Moseley was born in 1785, in Union District, S. C., and married John Duckworth Long, son of Henry and Ann ? Long, circa 1800. He was born in 1784, in Union District, S. C.
John D. Long Sr. witnessed a deed transaction, in Union District, S. C., 1807, between William Spencer and John Kizer (Kigar) and the transaction was proved before James Lane, J. P. on October 3, 1808.
(Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. II: Deed Books G-K, 1769-1811, Deed Book I, P. 498, p. 207, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
John's son, John D. Long Jr., was born at Somerset, Kentucky, on February 14, 1811. So their removal date from Union District, S. C., was between 1808 and 1811.
They moved to within a close proximity of her mother's brother, Nicholas Jasper, who lived in Somerset, Kentucky.
John D. Long Sr. brought his family back to Union District in South Carolina, before 1820, for he was listed in the Federal Census of that year. He died in Union District of South Carolina, in 1824, and was buried in this county.
Mary Moseley Long, wife of John D. Long Sr., remained in Union District until at least 1834, when John D.'s father, Henry, died. Two of Nancy's children, James and John, were listed as purchasers of items in Henry's estate.
John D. Long Jr. was interested in marrying Missindy Fowler, so he stayed in Jonesville, S. C., and did not return to Kentucky with his mother and his other brothers and sisters.
Mary Moseley Long died and was buried in Kentucky before 1839, for she was not listed in her father, James Moseley's will.
John Duckworth Long Jr. married Missindy (Lucinda) Fowler, daughter of Wymac and Susannah Moseley Fowler, his first cousin, in Union District, South Carolina, September 15, 1836.
He fought with W. J. T. Glenn's Company of Sharpshooters and remained in service for four years during the War Between the States. He was a Confederate veteran. He joined the Presbyterian Church in Jonesville, S. C., just before his death. The Rev. A. A. James was his pastor.
Lucinda Fowler Long died September 3, 1879, and John D. Long Jr. died November 27, 1897.
Mary Jasper Long and John D. Long Sr. had the following children: James, Henry, John D. Jr., Gideon, William, Anne, Mary (Polly), Patricia (Patsy), Patience and America Long. Most of their children were born in Kentucky.
(d). Nancy Moseley was born in 1786, in Union District, S. C. She was the second wife of Ephraim Fowler, son of Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler. The databases list his birthdate as 1784, but this is incorrect.
It appears to this writer that Ephraim's father, Ellis, was a son of Godfrey Fowler III and Mary ? Fowler, and grandson of Mark and Marjory ? Fowler, and was born in the early 1740s, in Albemarle County, Virginia. Several birthdates are listed in the databases, but the most likely dates are either 1740 or 1746.
His mother, Catherine Puckett, daughter of Ephraim and Hannah ? Puckett, and granddaughter of Womack and Mabel Walthall Puckett, was born in 1747, in Albemarle County, Virginia.
Ephraim Fowler was named for his grandfather, Ephraim Puckett, and was probably born in the early to mid 1760s. He may have been the oldest child of his parents.
He and his first wife were listed in the 1790 Federal Census. He was listed with three white males 16 and upwards, 5 white males under 16 and 2 white females including heads of families.
He was listed in the 1800 Federal Census with 2 males under 10, 1 male 10 to 15, 1 male 26 to 44 (Ephraim), 3 females under 10, 1 female 10-15 and 1 female 26 to 44 (his first wife).
It is apparent that most of his children were born to his first wife (name unknown).
Through the listings in the Federal Census records we can determine that these children of Ephraim were born before 1800: Jasper Fowler, 1780; Lydia Fowler, 1785; Sarah Fowler, 1789, Milly Fowler, 1798. John Fowler was probably born before 1800, but was not listed in his father's will, so he must have been deceased before 1822.
Ephraim's children born in 1800 or afterwards were: Stephen Fowler, 1800; Ellis Fowler, 1803; Betty Fowler, 1805, Mary Fowler, 1809, and Catherine, 1814.
Birthdates of Mary, Elizabeth and Catherine were from the databases and may be erroneous. Nine of these children are listed in his will in 1822. Several of his children may have been deceased before his death.
(1). Jasper Fowler, born circa 1780. He was listed in the 1810 Federal Census with at least three children. Name of his wife is unknown. He was listed in the 1820 Federal Census with at least four children and unknown wife.
(2). Lydia Fowler, born circa 1785, married Charles Hames, son of William and Elizabeth Moseley Hames circa 1804. He was born in 1782, and died October 7, 1847, in Union County, S. C., and Lydia died in Union County, S. C., on March 31, 1852. They had five sons and six daughters. Elizabeth, Nancy, Sarah, William, Treacy, Coleman, Cynthia Jeanette, Pressley, Joshua, Franklin and Mary Hames were children of this couple.
(3). Sally (Sarah) Fowler, born in 1789, married John M. Hames, son of William and Elizabeth Moseley Hames. He was born October 23, 1788, and was a miller. He died March 26, 1862. They had one son and four daughters. Andrew Jackson Hames, Matilda and Zillah were children of this couple.
(4.) John Fowler, date of birth unknown.
(5). Milly (Melinda) Fowler, born 1798, married James Millwood (born 1798, died December 26, 1894). They were living in the Draytonville Township of Union County, S. C., in 1860, and both died in the area that later became a part of Cherokee County, S. C. She died September 4, 1894. Jackson, Tilman, Jefferson, James, Jane and Nancy were their children.
(6). Stephen Fowler, born circa 1800, and married Letitia, born circa 1821, possibly a second wife. Caroline was born in 1833, and his wife, Letitia, would have been only 12 years old when she was born. Children of Stephen listed in 1850 Federal Census of Union County, S. C., were: Caroline 17; Susan 15; Louisa 10; Marion 3 (son).
(7). Elizabeth (Betty) Fowler, born circa 1805.
(8). Ellis Fowler, born circa 1807. He married Sally Clark, daughter of Winnifred ? Clark. Sally was born circa 1825. They had children: Elizabeth, Martha, Juliet and Jesse (son) listed in 1850 Federal Census of Union County, SC.
(9). Mary (Polly) Fowler, born circa 1809, married Newton Lipsey.
(10). Catherine (Katy) Fowler, born circa 1814.
(1850 Federal Census of Union County, South Carolina, published by Broad River Basin Historical Society, P. O. Box 215, Hickory Grove, S. C. 29717, March 1993, pp. 116, 122, 124, 142, 193.)
There is no record of Ephraim's first wife's death or date of his remarriage to Nancy Moseley Fowler. Ephraim sold land on August 4, 1812, and his wife, Nancy Moseley Fowler, relinquished her dower rights on October 3, 1812, so Ephraim had married Nancy some time before this transaction took place.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project, From Here to There, Contact Rose Parks, Internet; Union County Heritage 1981, Edited by Mannie Lee Mabry, pp. 89-90.)
Ephraim Fowler purchased 100 acres of land on the head of Sandy
Run on February 3, 1790, from Col. Thomas Brandon of Union District, S. C. This land was adjacent to lands claimed by his father, Ellis Fowler.
(Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, 1752-1800, D, pp. 156-157, p. 162, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
Benjamin Crownover sold 200 acres of land on Little Sandy Run in Union District, S. C., to William Johnstone on March 25, 1791, and Ephraim Fowler witnessed the transaction.
(Union County S. C. Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Books A-F, 1752-1800, B, Pp. 442-443, p. 94, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
Ephraim was a member of the Grand Jury in Union District, S. C., January 1, 1795.
(Union County SC Minutes of the County Court, 1785-1799, p. 402, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
Ellis Fowler sold 100 acres of his 614 acre grant (Jan. 7, 1788) on Sandy Run to his son-in-law, John Kigar, on January 5, 1795. This property bordered land belonging to Ephraim Fowler.
(Union County SC Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, D, Pp. 40-41, 1752-1800, pp. 149-150, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
On January 15, 1795, David Puckett of Union District, S. C., sold Ephraim Fowler 100 acres of land on waters of Sandy Run. The transaction was witnessed by Godfrey Fowler and Coleman Fowler.
(Union County SC Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, 1752-1800, D, 151-152, p. 161, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
Graff Edson & Co. brought suit against William Hightower & Ephraim Fowler for indebtedness on January 6, 1795.
(Union County SC, Minutes of the County Court, 1785-1799, p. 410, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
Ephraim served as a member of the Grand Jury in Union District, S. C., on June 1, 1795, and was drawn to serve on the next court on April 1, 1799.
In 1797, Ephraim Fowler sold William Spencer a tract on Hows branch, waters of Big Sandy Run.
(Union County SC Deed Abstracts, Vol. II, Deed Books G-K, 1769-1811, I, pp. 154-155, p. 165, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
Ephraim Fowler sold a tract to James Pickens on waters of Sandy Run on November 2, 1797.
(Union County Deed Abstracts, Vol. II, Deed Books, G-K, 1769-1811, I, Pp. 590-591, p. 221, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
On November 19, 1810, Ephraim Fowler & Godfrey Fowler sold a "tract whereon Ellis Fowler (their brother) now lives on Little Sandy River (Run) adjacent Mrs. Johnson's line" to James Gassaway. This was a tract their father had previously owned before his death.
(Union County Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, 1770-1820, L, Pp. 31-32, p. 5, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
A "tract whereon I now live on waters of Sandy Run" was sold by Ephraim Fowler to James Hill of Lincoln County, N. C., on Aug. 4, 1812. Nancy Fowler, wife of Ephraim, relinquished her dover rights October 3, 1812, before Joseph Gist, Q. U.
(Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, 1770-1820, L, Pp. 236-237, p. 32, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
Ephraim Fowler sold the tract of land where "I now live, on head waters of Sandy Run to Henry Gault on July 15, 1816." Nancy (Moseley) Fowler, wife of Ephraim, relinquished her dower rights on August 10, 1816.
(Union County S. C. Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, N, Pp. 227-228, p. 133, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
Ephraim Fowler wrote his will on February 8, 1822, and it was recorded May 6, 1822. He died between these two dates.
The day he wrote his will he sold his son, Jasper Fowler, 50 acres of land adjacent to lands owned by John Gwinn, John Fowler, John B. Haney and William Gault.
(Union County Deed Abstracts, Vol. IV, Deed Books, Q-S, 1770-1828, R, Pp. 98-99, p. 75, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
In his will he left his sons, Stephen and Ellis, a tract of land where he lived, containing 300 acres. He left his wife, Nancy, a Negro woman, Dorcas, during her widowhood. Betty was left a Negro girl, Jane, a feather bed, cow and calf.
Rest of his estate he left to children: Jasper, Lydia, Sally, Polly, Stephen, Milly, Caty and Ellis. If her husband, Charles Hames, would pay $300.00, Lydia was to receive 300 acres.
If her husband, John Hames, would pay $600.00, Sally and her children were to receive 107 acres called the Warwick place (except the house on the north side of Fanning's Creek). Coleman Fowler and Samuel Moseley were executors of his will.
COLEMAN FOWLER
Coleman Fowler was a very close relative of Ellis Fowler and of his children. He, however, was not the son of Godfrey and Nannie Kelly Fowler as some databases have stipulated.
It is difficult to link him with the family even though it is known that he came with Ellis Fowler and his family to the Grindal Shoals area of South Carolina, right after the Revolutionary War. He had a special relationship with his relative, Ephraim Fowler.
He was born circa 1774, in Virginia. He married Ellender McWhirter, daughter of Robert and Sarah ? McWhirter, circa 1794. The McWhirters were from Albemarle County, Virginia.
He was a farmer and Methodist preacher. He was mentioned in the Methodist Journals of Enoree Circuit as early as 1805. At that time his minister's license was renewed to preach and exhort (evangelize).
In 1810, "a charge was brought against Coleman Fowler for proposing to go away with Hannah Briggs to the western country, and to which he was sentenced by a Committee. The Quarterly Meeting confirmed The Sentence by a large majority."
The 1810 Federal Census showed him livng next to John Briggs, and in 1832, he sold land to James Briggs (son of John). Methodist records in 1813, 1818 and 1828, list him as a lay leader. By 1834, he moved to the Pickens District of South Carolina.
From 1834 to 1844, he was shown in the records for Pickens Circuit, Methodist Episcopal Church, Hoston Conference. This conference was transferred to South Carolina at this same time.
In 1834, "Foullers House" was established and Coleman was listed as an exhorter (evangelist). He gave land for and helped build one of the first churches in Oconee County on Choestoe Creek.
In 1839, the name was changed to Salem Methodist Church and records show that two of Coleman's grandchildren were baptized (William Carlile Fowler, son of Obediah and Polly Fowler; and Leonard Douty Fowler, son of Sarah Fowler).
His son, Obediah Fowler, was listed as one of the first trustees. Records indicate that Coleman served as one of the early pastors of Hopewell Methodist Church near Westminister (orginally called Liles Church).
His wife, Ellender, died in 1841, and he died circa 1855. He and his wife had four sons and one daughter. He was buried on the Sloan Dickens farm.
(Union County SC Will Abstracts, Will Book B, Pp. 71-72, p.107, by Brent H. Holcomb; RootsWeb's World Connect Project: David S. Payne Genealogy, Coleman Fowler, ID: 111865, David S. Payne.)
(The Fowler Family of Oconee and Union Counties, South Carolina, by William A. Lyles, Modified on March 19, 2000, Internet.)
Nancy Moseley Fowler's Life After The Death Of Ephraim
Nancy's husband left her no money and no land in his will.
Databases on the Internet suggest that Jared Foster, son of John and Mary McElfresh Foster, married Nancy after the death of her husband, Ephraim. This data is inaccurate.
Nancy Moseley Fowler was not married to Jared Foster or she would have been censused as Nancy Fowler Foster when the 1830 Federal Census of Union County, S. C., was taken.
Jared Foster, born circa 1795, was possibly married circa 1821, to a daughter of James Moseley, since he was not in the 1820 Federal Census of Union District, S. C. He had two sons that were born in the 1820s.
These two sons were listed in the 1830 Federal Census of McMinn County, Tennessee, as: one male between 10 and 15, and one male between 5 and 10. His wife (name unknown) was probably deceased by 1825-26.
Jared's sons were living with their father in 1830. If they had been his sons by Nancy Moseley Fowler, she would have been reluctant to allow them to live with him while she was still living. Jared was living with Nancy's sister, Dorcas, when the 1830 Federal Census was taken.
In an Internet article entitled: Who Killed John Bass Jones?—Part 2: The Odyssey of Mrs. Ady is found the following: John Foster was born in 1823, in South Carolina, and the boy with an unknown name was born in South Carolina, in 1825. These were Jared's children by his first wife. This information was taken from the Cunningham/ Webster Family Tree on Ancestry.com.
John Foster, son of Jared Foster, married Jane ? , and was living with her when the 1850 Federal Census of Jasper County, Missouri, was taken. This census states that he was born circa 1822, and Jane was born in 1830. They had three children listed in this census: Zachary, Mary and Martha.
Jane died, and he married Julia Ann Margraves, widow of Thomas W. Coffelt, on February 9, 1860, in Jasper County, Mo. She was the daughter of Anthony Margraves and his wife, Ruth Simpson Margraves. She died in Jasper County in 1864, and her husband, John, died in Jasper County, Missouri, after 1870.
Julia Ann first married Thomas W. Coffelt, son of Jacob and Susannah Wyatt Coffelt, on May 3, 1844, in Osage County, Mo. They had two sons and three daughters. He died circa 1856.
Nancy Moseley was listed as Nancy Fowler in the 1830 Federal Census of Union County, S. C. Her household included: 2 males under five years, 1 between 20 and 30; 1 female under five years, 1 between 20 and 30; 1 between 50 and 60 (Nancy).
Nancy was a widow at this time, and she was probably living with one of her married children, which included the husband, wife and three grandchildren.
Benjamin Hodge's Federal Census records in Union County, S. C., 1830, list: 2 males 5 under 10; 1 male between 10 and 15; 1 male between 15 and 20; 1 male between 30 and 40 (Benjamin); 3 females under 5.
Dorcas, Nancy's sister, left her husband, Benjamin Hodge, and moved to Tennessee with Jared Foster circa 1827-28 and became his common law wife.
Benjamin Hodge and Nancy Fowler were living together some time after the 1830 census was taken. They had a son, Jasper Hodge, born in 1831, in Union County, S. C., when Nancy was 44 or 45 years old. She was Benjamin's common law wife.
Benjamin and Nancy may have moved to Tennessee on or before 1840, for there is a Benjamin Hodges listed in the 1840 Federal Census of Bradley County, Tennessee.
Benjamin and Nancy were living in Ozark County, Missouri, when the 1850 Federal Census was taken. Their son, Jasper, was living with them at this time and was age 19.
Benjamin was listed in the 1860 Federal Census of Douglas County, Missouri. His son was not living with him at this time. Nancy died in Ozark County, Missouri, in 1854, and Benjamin died in Douglas County, Missouri, in the 1860s.
(e). James Thomas Moseley Jr. was born in 1790, in Union District, S. C. He married Lydia Crocker of Spartanburg County, S. C. She was the daughter of Arthur Crocker Jr. and his wife, Dorcas Poole. She was born in 1792, and was the granddaughter of Arthur Crocker Sr. and his wife, Mary Ann Bryant.
Some sources indicate that James was a soldier in the War of 1812.
They had six children:
(1). James Thomas Moseley, born February 11, 1817. He married Fannie Mariah Foster in 1840. She was born June 1, 1825. He died March 31, 1898, in Union County, S. C., and she died October 11, 1906. They had four sons and three daughters. They were buried in the Corinth Baptist Church Cemetery, Cherokee County, S. C.
(2). Arthur Moseley, born circa 1819.
(3). William Baxter Moseley, born circa 1822. He married Nancy Newberry, born circa 1830, daughter of Henry Hahn and Linda Harris Newberry. He and his wife had two sons and a daughter.
He was a Confederate soldier and was enlisted August 29, 1861, at Union, S. C., by Capt. C. W. Boyd, in the 15th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers. He was killed and left on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pa., on July 2, 1863.
Nancy was living in Union County, S. C., when the 1880 Federal Census was taken. Her mother, Malinda, and her son, Franklin, were living with her at this time. One source states that she moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where she applied for and received a widow's pension.
According to tradition, Malinda Harris Newberry's husband, Henry, was the grandson of the woman of that name made famous by the novel, Horse Shoe Robinson, who aided in the capture of 9 soldiers.
(4). Terrell Moseley, born circa 1825, and married Elizabeth ? in 1849. She was born circa 1820.
(5). Dorcas Moseley, born circa 1827.
(6). Jane Moseley, born circa 1830.
James Thomas Moseley Jr. died in 1839, and Lydia Crocker Moseley died in 1859.
(Compilation of Moseley Material in Spartanburg Library; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: The Medders Family Tree, Nancy Newberry, ID: 123784, Richard Medders; RootsWeb's; WorldConnect Project: A few family lines in my file, Henry H. Newberry, ID: 145602, Johnny;)
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: From Here to There, Fannie Mariah Foster, ID: 112971, Rose Parks; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: SafeBulletin-Board, James Thomas Moseley Jr., ID: 11147, Terrell Moseley, ID: 12329, Warren Forsythe;)
(f). Susannah Moseley was born August 10, 1792. She married Wymac Fowler, son of Lt. Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler, on February 7, 1808. He was born February 3, 1785.
J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, p. 36, wrote: "Wymac was a soldier in the War of 1812. He belonged to Capt. (Samuel) Fawcett's Company, which was organized and camped for a while at Lipsey's Old Field near Adamsburg (Union County, S. C.)
He fought under Gen. Andrew Jackson at New Orleans and after that memorable victory was honorably discharged and walked all the way back to his home in South Carolina. There is a family tradition that on this return trip, he in company with his brother, Mark, and some others, left Columbia, S. C., late one evening and all ate breakfast at home near Jonesville the next morning.
He was a stone mason by trade, and helped to do the stone work on the old Courthouse at Union, S. C., which was demolished some years ago. It is said that the key-stone of the arch at the entrance was fitted and put there by his hands." They had four sons and four daughters.
Their daughter, Missindy, married John D. Long Jr., son of John D. Long Sr. and his wife, Mary Moseley Long.
Wymac died August 2, 1849. He was buried in the Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery, Jonesville, S. C. His stone has no dates. Susan
nah died May 27, 1887, and was buried at Gilead in an unmarked grave.
(The Legacy of Father James H. Saye, 1808-1892, Edited by Robert J. Stevens, p. 406.)
(g). Rhoda Moseley was born in 1796, in Union District, S. C. She married William Fowler, son of Godfrey and Nancy Kelly Fowler, circa 1818. Godfrey was the son of Lt. Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler.
William Fowler was born in 1795, in Union District, S. C. This couple had no children listed in the databases.
William died after 1850, in Union District, S. C., and Rhoda died in Jonesville, S. C., after 1870.
(h). William Tracy Moseley was born in 1798, in Union District, S. C. He died after 1854, in Union District, S. C. He apparently never married. He was still living when Jane Pickens Foster made her statement March 3, 1855.
(i). Dorcas Moseley was born in 1801, in Union District, S. C. She married Benjamin (Berry) Hodge, son of John Hodge. He was born in 1796, in Union District, S. C. Name of his mother is not known. She died when her children were very young.
His grandparents were William Hodge Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Cook Hodge. They came to the Grindal Shoals, S. C., area from York County, Pennsylvania, with William's widowed mother, Margaret Cook Hodge (wife of William Hodge Sr.), and Elizabeth's mother, Sarah Fulton Cook (widow of John Cook). Margaret had two children and Sarah had seven.
On August 27, 1784, John Hodge and John Grindal appeared before J. Thompson, J. P., and "stated that they saw John Beckham of Ninety Six District in the year 1775 or 1776, deliver to William Hodge of Pacolet River, a lease and release for 400 acres, being the plantation on which said William Hodge now lives." Records were destroyed when Tarleton burned his house and new records had to be established.
(Union County, S. C., Miscellaneous Record Book 1 & 2, pp. 137-138, Recorded September 3, 1792.)
William Hodge Jr. was a Patriot soldier during the Revolutionary War. William Jr. and Elizabeth Cook Hodge's daughter, Margaret, married Capt. Alexander Chesney, noted Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War. Alexander and Margaret were married on January 3, 1780.
(History of Grindal Shoals by J. D. Bailey, p. 54; Journal of Capt. Alexander Chesney, Edited by Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 17.)
Adam Goudelock
Adam Goudelock was a neighbor and friend of William Hodge Jr. He
was the son of William and Anne Duncan Goudelock, and his wife, Hannah Stockton, daughter of Davis and Sarah Anthony Goudelock Stockton. He and his family moved to the Carroll Shoals (later Grindal Shoals) area from Rock Fish, Albemarle County, Virginia, circa 1765.
He had served in a company of rangers in guarding the frontiers of the colony against the Indians in 1756-1757 (French and Indian War). He owned 1400 acres of land in that area and sold the last of his Virginia property in September of 1764.
(Adam & Hannah Goudelock by Daniel S. Goudelock—GenCircles.)
His historic cabin in Cherokee County, S. C., was moved in recent years from near the Goudelock Family Cemetery on Splawn Road to the back of the Elijah Dawkins (Goudelock) house. The present owner of the cabin and Dawkins house is Jim Poole.
There is an article about Sallie Goudelock in Bailey's History of Grindal Shoals, pp. 40-41: "She had known many notable characters of the times, both Whig, British and Tory, for her father was a lame man, a non-combatant; so it followed, his house was frequented by all parties.
She had visited Morgan (General Daniel) at his camp at Grindal ford, in company with her father and sister, and was escorted home by Col. William Washington and Col. Howard (John Eager)." The girls were not married nor were the officers, so one can imagine that the officers and girls had a good time at the old Goudelock cabin."
In his will, Adam Goudelock requested that four Bibles be purchased at Charleston, S. C., and given to his daughters, Ann Saffold, Elizabeth Johnson, Prudence Stockton and Hannah Blakey.
(Union County Will Abstracts, 1787-1849, by Brent Howard Holcomb, pp. 36-37).
J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, pp. 54-55, wrote: "After the battle of Blackstock in November, 1780, (Gen. Thomas) Sumter retreated towards King's Mountain by way of Grindal Shoals."
The wounded General Thomas Sumter was taken to the Adam Goudelock house at Grindal Shoals, S. C., where a doctor gave him a sedative and dressed his shoulder.
(Gamecock, The Life and Campaigns of General Thomas Sumter by Robert D. Bass, p. 108.)
The Henry Smith Family Of Smith Ford
Jonathan and Henry Smith Jr., sons of Henry and Amelia Hampton Smith, guided the soldiers, who were protecting the wounded Sumter from the Goudelock cabin to their father, Henry Smith Sr.'s cabin at Smith's Ford, where he stayed for three days until he was able to travel.
(Virginia Family Group Sheet for the Henry Smith Family—Internet.)
Jonathan and Henry fought under Sumter at the Battle of Blackstocks. Their grandfather, Capt. John Smith, a British office, was captured in the Massacre at Fort Vause (French and Indian War) on June 25, 1756, and two of his sons, John and Joseph, lost their lives in the fray.
(Massacre at Fort Vause, Augusta County, Virginia, Genealogy—Internet; Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, p. 878, by Dr. Bobby Moss.)
Sumter was taken from Smith's Ford to Col. Samuel Watson's home on Sugar Creek. Robert D. Bass, in his book, Gamecock, p. 112, wrote: "Soldier Tom waited on him and the militia of the New Acquisition stood guard, and the Gamecock passed the crisis."
All of the sons of Henry and Amelia Hampton Smith were Patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War and at least two were officers, Abraham and Gideon. Their son, Daniel, was killed at the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779, and their son, Gideon, was wounded in this battle. Henry, Jr. was "appointed to serve his brother, Daniel, until he died in 'Old Barracks Hospital' in Charleston, S. C."
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Brian Liedtke's Family 18—Gideon Smiith–Internet; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: This Is The New Tree of George Moss 8-8-2009—Abraham Smith–Internet; Southern Campaign American Revolutionary Pennsion Statements & Rosters–Henry Smith. Transcribed by R. Neil Vance, W2183–Internet.)
Gideon died before August 23, 1783, from wounds received in one of the battles in which he was engaged. Henry Sr.'s son, Henry Jr., was General Daniel Morgan's pilot and led the General to the Pacolet River where Morgan and his men established an encampment at Grindal Shoals on December 25, 1780.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Brian Liedke's Family 18—Gideon Smith–Internet; Pension Application of Henry Smith, W 2183–Internet.)
COL. BANASTRE TARLETON
J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, p. 54, wrote: "Tarleton (Col. Banastre) followed in pursuit (of the wounded General Sumter) and encamped for a night at the house of Jack Beckham on Sandy Run."
"When Tarleton encamped at the Beckham home, Mrs. Beckham first saw him while standing in the yard ordering his men to catch her poultry for supper. She spoke civilly to him and hastened to prepare supper for him and his suite, as if they had been honored guests.
When about to leave in the morning he gave the house up to pillage, and ordered it to be burnt; but because of her earnest remonstrances, he recalled the order."
(History of Grindal Shoals by J. D. Bailey, p. 25.)
"He (Tarleton) took all the bedding, except one quilt, and soon afterwards, a party of tories came and took that; hence when the war was over, he (Beckam) had little, or nothing left." (History of Grindal Shoals by J. D. Bailey, p. 24.)
"The next morning a little after sunrise he (Tarleton) and his army came to Hodge's house and made him a prisoner. His provisions and provender were seized, his stock shot down, and his house and fences burned to the ground.
On pages 54-55, Bailey wrote: "Jack Beckham, the noted scout, was sitting on his horse eating breakfast from a window (at William Hodges) when Tarleton came up. Dashing off towards the (Pacolet) river he eluded his pursuers by plunging over a precipice and swimming the stream."
John H. Logan, in his History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, p. 39, wrote: "He (Beckham) survived the war and lies buried on Hodge's Plantation." This was where Beckham first lived when he moved to Carroll Shoals (later Grindal Shoals).
"When starting off, Tarleton told Mrs. Hodge that her husband should be hung to the first crooked tree on the road, but instead of hanging him, he was carried to Camden where he was put in prison and came near starving to death.
He was taken prisoner in November 1780, and did not escape from prison until April 1781, when Hodge with Daniel McJunkin and some others, succeeded in cutting the grating out of the prison widows and made their escape."
(History of Grindal Shoals, by J. D. Bailey, pp. 54-55.)
William Hodge And His Three Sons, All Patriot Soldiers
During William Hodge Jr.'s imprisonment, the Battle of Cowpens was fought with three of his sons participating in the American service during the battle: William, John and Samuel.
J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, on page 57, wrote: "Samuel was at the battle of Cowpens, and it is said that he fought a hand to hand battle. The powder-horn that he carried on that occasion is still in the hands of one of his descendants, and has a rough plan of the battle carved on it."
In his pension statement (November 20, 1832, Madison County, Georgia—W4233), William Hodge III wrote: "On the 16th Capt. (John) Thompson and his company joined (Gen. Daniel) Morgan, marched up to the Cowpens near the line of North Carolina, and there prepared for battle.
On the 17th we had an engagement where Col. (William) Washington & a few of us run the British to old Gandilocks (Adam Goudelock's) & then returned back to Morgan." They were chasing Banastre Tarleton after the Battle of Cowpens.
J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, p. 39, wrote: "At the time of the Revolution (Adam) Goudelock was too old and infirm to take any active part in that struggle, but was a Whig sympathizer. Tarleton being defeated and routed at the Cowpens, with a few, horsemen, was fleeing with all possible haste to Cornwallis' camp on Turkey Creek in York District for safety.
Not being acquainted with the country, he stopped at Goudelock's and forced the old man (Adam) to go along with him as a pilot to Hamilton's Ford on Broad River. A few minutes after Tarleton's departure, Col. (William) Washington and a squad of his cavalry came dashing up in hot pursuit.
He asked Hannah how long Tarleton had been gone. Fear for the safety of her husband, in case the pursuit was continued, got the better of her patriotism, and she replied: 'Almost three hours'. This answer caused Washington to give up the chase and return to Cowpens."
William Hodge III fought with Capt. John Thompson and Col. Thomas Brandon's Regiment at Cowpens.
(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 451.)
John Hodge, father of Benjamin Berry Hodge, was apparently William Hodge's twin brother. They were born April 1, 1762.
John, in his pension statement (October 11, 1832, Union District, S. C.–S21825), wrote: "I was at the Battle of Cowpens."
John Hodge joined the First Spartan Regiment in 1776, and fought in the Cherokee Indian Expedition under Col. John Thomas and Capt. Zachariah Bullock, joining forces under General Andrew Williamson.
He was probably recruited by Capt. Zachariah Bullock, who lived very close to him.
(The Spartan Regiment of Militia, established September of 1775, Col. John Thomas, Sr. Commander—Internet.)
After this, for three or four weeks, he was stationed at Grindal Shoals, building and guarding a fort.
Following the Battle of Kings Mountain, in the latter part of October in 1780, he joined the Second Regiment under Col. Thomas Brandon and fought under Lt. Col. William Farr, Capt. John Thomson and Lt. Francis Lattimore.
He fought under General Thomas Sumter at the Battle of Blackstock's on November 29, 1780.
In December of 1780, he joined with General Daniel Morgan's forces at Grindal Shoals, and while bivouaced there fought under Col. William Washington at the Battle of Hammond's Store.
John Hodge fought in the Battle of Cowpens and afterwards spent time guarding prisoners and the baggage wagons. He guarded prisoners under Capt. John Thomson at the Block House and Neal's Mill.
(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, pp. 450-451.)
John began receiving a pension in Union District, S. C., on October 11, 1832, at the age of 70.
James Moseley Sr. witnessed his application. "He stated that he had seen John Hodge guarding prisoners at the Block House on Fairforest Creek in Union District, S. C., during the war, and that he had good reason to believe that John was engaged in the American service during the Battle of Cowpens."
William Jr. gave his sons John, Samuel and William, 400 acres of his land on January 8, 1787. The transaction was proved by Mesheck Inman on March 22, 1790. This was the land he purchased from John Beckham.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. II, Deed Books G-K, Deed Book H, Pp. 24-25, p.63, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
William Hodge Jr. sold 100 acres on the north side of Pacolet River on February 25, 1811, to Henry Crittendon, and Elizabeth, his wife, signed her right of dower. Elizabeth died while they were living in Union District, S. C.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, 1811-1820 Deed Book L, Pp. 69-70, p.11, by Brent H. Holcomb.)
He sold his remaining lands to his three sons in 1820 and 1821 before moving to Georgia. A part of this land had originally been granted to Joab Mitchell.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. IV, Deed Books, Q-S, Pp. 17, 31, 54 by Brent H. Holcomb.)
"For and in consideration of the great care and attention paid me in my infirm state & in which I have been for many years, to my son, William Hodge Junr., all the horses, cows, hoggs & other stock, as well as household & kitchen furniture, carpenter and joiners tools."
(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. IV: Deed Books Q-S, 1779-1828, Book Q, P. 403, p. 54, Brent H. Holcomb.)
William Jr. moved to Madison County, Georgia, in 1822, and lived with his son, William III and his wife, Anne Saye Hodge. William Jr. died in Madison County, Georgia, in June of 1830. William III died in Madison County on December 19, 1836, and his wife, Anne, died there May 25, 1840.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Petree and Associated Families, ID: 11446, 11447, William and Anne Lay Saye Hodge, Contact: Aleta Jean Pope Hudson, Internet.)
John Hodge died circa 1835, and was probably buried in an unmarked grave in the Hodge Family Cemetery, Union County, S. C.
To find the location of the cemetery one must travel 2.5 miles on the Jerusalem Road toward Pacolet, S.C., and turn right on Country Side Drive. The cemetery is .4 of a mile on the right.
(John Hodge, Family of Sherry Ford, GenCircles—Internet.)
A few databases list Henry Hodge as the son of Benjamin, but this is incorrect. Henry Hodge was a son of John Jackson Hodge and his wife, Martha (Patsy) Fowler, daughter of Wymac Fowler and Susannah Moseley. His grandparents were Samuel Hodge and Martha Wright Hodge.
Benjamin Hodge was listed in the 1820 Federal Census with: 3 males under 10; 1 male 16-25 (Benjamin); 2 females under 10; and 1 female 16-25 (his wife).
If all of the above children belonged to Benjamin, he may have had a previous marriage. His wife, Dorcas, was not born until 1801.
Dorcas and Benjamin had a daughter, Sarah, born October 11, 1826.
Dorcas left Benjamin, her husband, and moved to Bradley County, Tennessee, with Jared Foster, circa 1827 or 1828, thus leaving Benjamin with a small child.
The writer believes that Cynthia Hodge Reeves, wife of Zachariah Reeves, and sister of Benjamin, raised Sarah. Sarah did not move with her father when he left the area, perhaps in the latter 1830s.
Sarah married Isaac Haile, son of John and Rachel Harris Haile, and grandson of Capt. John Haile and Ruth Henderson Haile. He was born August 17, 1818, in Union County, S. C. Sarah was living with the Reeves family at the time of her marriage.
Out of appreciation for what his wife's aunt and uncle had done for Sarah, Isaac Haile, on September 8, 1858, gave 50 acres of land to Zachariah and his wife, Cynthia Hodge Reeves, with the understanding that the land was to belong to their children after this couple's death. Isaac and Sarah were residents of Texas at this time.
Isaac died on March 3, 1892, and Sarah died January 23, 1906. They were buried in Hoover's Valley Cemetery, Burnet County, Texas.
When his father and mother died, Zachariah Reeves Jr. purchased the 50 acres of land from his sisters.
(Internet—Re: Isaac S. Haile—S. C. to Llano TXpre 1860; Roots Web's WorldConnect Project: ID: 12121, Contact Mark; Isaac Haile—Ancestry.com; Union County Heritage 1981, Mannie Lee Mabry, Editor, p. 233.)
After moving with Dorcas to Tennessee, Jared Foster fought in Elliott's Company with the Tennessee Militia in the Cherokee War at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, April 2, 1838. They captured 45 Indians.
Jared and Dorcas were living together in Bradley County, Tennessee, when the 1840 Federal Census was taken. She had four children at this time by Jared from 1828 to 1840: Lucinda J., born in 1828; Sarah, born in 1830; Martha E., born in 1836; and Elizabeth born in 1840.
He was granted land in Jasper County, Missouri, for services rendered during the Indian War, and moved his family to Missouri in 1846-47.
When the 1850 Federal Census was taken, they were living in Jasper County, Missouri, in Jackson Township. They had two additional children: Andrew Jackson, born in 1842, and Francis Marion, born in 1846.
Jared and Dorcas were still living in Jasper County, Missouri, Jackson Township, when the 1860 Federal Census was taken. Three of their children were living with them at this time: Elizabeth, age 20; Andrew Jackson, age 18; and Francis Marion, age 14.
Jared, Dorcas and their sons, Andrew Jackson Foster and Frances Marion Foster were living in Kansas when the 1865 Kansas State Census was taken. Dorcas died in Kansas after 1865.
Jared was living in Montgomery County, Kansas, with his youngest son, Francis Marion Foster, when the 1875 Kansas Territorial Census was taken. He is thought to have died in Montgomery County, Kansas, after 1875, where he was buried.
Greg Foster, of Canada, indicated to the writer, that "on the papers that his great grandfather, Andrew J. Foster, signed to enter an Old Soldiers Home, he listed his father as Jared Foster and his mother as Dorcas Moseley."
All of the databases state that Jared Foster was married to two of James Moseley's daughters, Nancy and Dorcas, but this is inaccurate. He was not married to Nancy, and Dorcas was his common law wife. It is possible that Jared's first wife (name unknown) was a daughter of James Moseley.
At least a part of Jared's children were included in James (High Key) Moseley's will.
Andrew Jackson Foster, son of Jared and Dorcas, fought as a Union soldier in the 2nd Kansas Battery of Light Artillery during the War Between the States. (Greg Foster's notes.)
(j). Daughter possibly born circa 1803 or before. Her name is unknown. She is believed to have married Jared Foster circa 1821. Leonardo Andrea in his research of 1965, sought to make a list of James Moseley's children. In his list he refered to "the deceased wife of Jared Foster", thus indicating that she had died before her father's death.
Child Of James And Martha Pickens Moseley, Jane Moseley
(k). Jane Moseley was born December 31, 1835, in Union District, S. C., and was the only child of James and Martha Pickens Moseley. James was 79 years old and Martha was about 40 years old when their daughter was born. Martha died suddenly October 2, 1839, and James Moseley died May 19, 1840. Their daughter was only five years old when her father died.
She married James Shelton McWhorter, son of Robert Charles and Kezia Elizabeth Fowler McWhorter, on July 16, 1850, in Union District, S. C. He was born March 15, 1823, in Union District, S. C. They were married and living with his parents when the 1850 Federal Census was taken.
Robert Charles McWhorter was the son of James Robert McWhorter and his wife, Winifred Hames McWhorter. Kezia Elizabeth Fowler was the daughter of Godfrey and Nancy Kelly Fowler.
Jane and Shelton had seven sons and one daughter all born in Union District, S. C.
"On April 29, 1856, Jane McWhorter in Union District, S. C., (formerly Jane Moseley) filed an affidavit stating that she is the daughter and only minor child of James Moseley, a revolutionary war pensioner of the United States; that she was born at her father's residence in Union District on the 31st day of December 1835;
And was married to her husband, Shelton McWhorter, on the 16th day of July 1850; that her father died at his residence in Union District on May 19, 1840, and left no widow, her mother (Martha Pickens Moseley) having died about the 2nd day of October 1839; she made this affidavit in pursuance of her claim for a bounty land entitlement."
Testimony received in Jane's request for bounty land:
"John Foster and his wife, Jane Foster, stated that James Moseley resided within 1 ½ miles of their home.
Mrs. Jane Foster, the wife of J. M. Foster on 3 March 1855, testified that she was a full sister of Martha Pickens, who married James Moseley as his 2nd wife, and that James Moseley and Martha Pickens were married in the Foster home in the fall of 1829 (1833), she thinks.
Martha Pickens Moseley had been married once before, and by her 1st marriage had a son named John Pickens and that John Pickens was a small boy (15 years old) when his mother married James Moseley, and that John Pickens lived with Mr. Moseley until his mother died."
(Part of this sworn statement was erroraneous. Martha Pickens had the child, John Pickens, out-of-wedlock. She had never been married. James Moseley, in his will, stipulates that John Pickens was born out-of-wedlock.)
"Mrs. Jane Foster testified 31 March 1855, that James Moseley was married before and that by his first wife he had several children and the youngest child by the first wife is now past the age of 45 years. Some of the children by the first wife are dead.
These are still alive however: William Moseley; Elizabeth (the wife of Mark Fowler); Wymac Fowler is a son-in-law (He was deceased, but his wife, Susannah was still living); John B. Moseley; the wife of Berry (Benjamin) Hodge (Nancy, common law wife); Rhoda Fowler; Jared Foster (and his common law wife Dorcas); were still living.
John Pickens stated that he was the legal guardian of his half sister, Jane Moseley (daughter of James Moseley by 2nd wife, Martha Pickens), and served as her guardian until she married Shelton McWhirter. The land warrant as a Revolutionary Bounty was issued to Jane Moseley, now the wife of Shelton McWhirter of York County, S. C."
(Pension statement of James Moseley—S9421.)
Shelton and Jane moved with five of their eight children to Hunt County, Texas, in 1875. They lived six and one half miles southeast of Wolfe City, Texas. He was a farmer and a rancher.
He died July 1, 1892, in Hunt County, Texas, from a stroke of paralysis, and Jane died in 1900, while living in Hunt County. They were buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery, South Sulphur, Hunt County, Texas. Shelton and his wife, Jane, were Methodists.
Shelton, his sons and many of his grandsons belonged to the Masonic Order. His daughter, Janie, was an Eastern Star.
(k). John Wylie Pickens (out of wedlock child of Martha Pickens, and James Moseley's stepson) was born on January 7, 1818, in Union District, S. C.
He was twenty-one years of age when his stepfather, James Moseley, died. He was unmarried, but about seven months later he married Elvira McWhirter, daughter of John Allen and Mary Fowler McWhirter, December 24, 1840, in Union District. She was born in 1824.
She was the granddaughter of James Robin McWhirter Sr. and his wife, Winifred Hames, and granddaughter of Godfrey and Nannie Kelly Fowler.
She died February 7, 1848, and was buried in the Kelly Cemetery in Union County, S. C. He and Elvira had three daughters. She was his first wife.
He next married Nancy Shell. She was born circa 1819, and married John Pickens before 1850, for she was listed as his wife in the 1850 Federal Census of that year. They had two sons and two daughters.
His third wife was Nancy Barnette from Spartanburg County, S. C. She was born in December of 1828, and died the night of December 31, 1903, of cancer.
John Wylie Pickens died at the home of his daughter, Hattie Harmon, wife of Golden Harmon, on April 7, 1909, after a long illness. Services were held at the New Hope Methodist Church in Jonesville, S. C.
Abstract of James Moseley's Will
He wrote his will on October 4, 1839. He left his youngest child, Jane, "the land whereon I now live known as the Home Place." He left half the land he received from his late wife, Martha, to John Pickens, her out of wedlock son.
"Since my last wife, Martha, inherited a considerable estate from her father, and Martha died some six months ago, she and I planned to make a deed of one half of her estate to her son, JOHN PICKENS, which she had before she married me."
He left his son, John Baxter Moseley, "the tract known as the Berry tract, 100 acres except 15 acres where William Fowler now lives". He left his son-in-law, Mark Fowler, "the tract whereon said Mark Fowler now lives, 50 acres".
He left his daughter, Rhoda Fowler, "tract whereon she now lives".
He left his son-in-law, Womack Fowler, "all of my blacksmith tools".
He stated that his son-in-law, Berry (Benjamin) Hodge "has been provided for and has demeaned himself unkindly to me. I give him one shilling."
He stated that his deceased son, James, has "all ready been given all that I am able to do". "I give to each of his children one shilling." I give to "Jared Foster's children one shilling". He gave "to his son, William, the old rifle". He left his son, John Baxter, "the small shot gun".
"All my pocket and hunting knives are labeled and I want each knife to be given to whomsoever it is labeled for." (This seems to indicate that he was a knife maker.)
James Moseley did not mention the children of his daughter, Mary, who married John D. Long Sr., in his will. Mary and her husband were both deceased before Moseley's will was written, though his grandson, John D. Long Jr., was still living in Union County, S. C., and had already married his grandaughter, Missindy Fowler, daughter of Wymac and Susannah Moseley Fowler.
He also did not refer to any of Nancy's children by Ephraim Fowler.
When he wrote his will, he was fully aware that Dorcas had left her husband, Benjamin Hodge, and gone to Tennessee with Jared Foster. He left Jared's children one shilling each.
Benjamin Hodge and his daughter, Nancy, had a son, Jasper Hodge, before the will was written.
Major Joseph Stark Sims was to act as his executor and guardian of "my minor child, Jane".
The will was witnessed by William B. Hames, Jordan Johnson and John M. Foster. William B. Hames was the grandson of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames.
It was proven by Jordan Johnson and John M. Foster on June 6, 1840. Johnson and Foster married sisters of Moseley's second wife, Martha.
"Sims having renounced, letters of administration, with the will annexed, was granted to John Pickens." Pickens was James Moseley's stepson and his daughter, Jane, stayed with Pickens for about ten years until she married Shelton McWhorter.
(Union County South Carolina Will Abstracts, 1787-1849, p. 143.)
Brother of James (High Key) Moseley, Baxter Moseley
Baxter, son of John and Ann Abernathy Moseley, was born circa 1760, in Brunswick County, Virginia.
He married Henrietta Fowler, daughter of Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler, circa 1790, in Union District, S. C. She was born circa 1775.
Her father, Ellis, born in Albemarle County, Virginia, was the son of Godfrey III and Mary ? Fowler. When Ellis Fowler first moved to Union District, S. C., he lived in the Grindal Shoals section. His sons sold a part of his land on Little Sandy Run Creek in 1810.
Henrietta and Baxter had the following children: Samuel, John, Lemuel, Henrietta, Mary and Daniel.
Baxter made his will on October 29, 1820, and it was recorded November 6, 1820. He left his estate to his wife, Henrietta, for herself and the small children "until the youngest son, Daniel shall arrive at the age of 21".
At her death or marriage the estate was to be converted to the use of their children. William Henderson and Edmund Hames were to be his executors, but they refused to qualify. His brother, James Moseley, witnessed his will.
(Union County, S. C., Will book B, pp. 60-61.)
Daniel Moseley, their youngest child, was born in 1814, and married Biddy ? . She was born circa 1820. They had at least seven children: Samuel James, Mary, Damon, Martha, Sarah, John and Henry.
Daniel died on Saturday, March 3, 1894, and was buried at Gilead Baptist Church on Sunday. "He fell ten days before his death and 2 or 3 ribs were fractured and from this he took pneumonia, which soon ended his life.
He was in his 81st year of age and had lived near Jonesville nearly all of his life. He pulled teeth, bled people and horses and made walking sticks." His grave is unmarked.
(Union County, South Carolina, Death Notices From Early Newspapers, 1852-1914, compiled and abstracted by Tommy J. Vaughn, p. 68; 1850 Federal Census of Union County, South Carolina.)
Henrietta Fowler Moseley's death date is not known to this writer.
Sister of James (High Key) Moseley Elizabeth Moseley Hames
Elizabeth, daughter of John and Mary Abernathy Moseley, was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, on July 31, 1763.
She married William Hames, son of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames, circa 1780. William was born on February 6, 1759.
She and William had five sons and two daughters. He died in Union District, S. C., on September 23, 1823, and she died in Union District in 1839.
10. Charity Jasper. She was born on February 1, 1765. She married John Hames, son of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames, in 1781.
Charles Hames was the son of William Hames Jr. and his wife, Winifred Fann Hames. Catherine Krugg Hames was the daughter of John and Mary Krugg of Karlsruhe, Germany. Catherine was born in Germany.
Two deeds prove that John Hames was the son of Charles and Catherine Hames.
On August 25, 1798, Charles Hames sold 175 acres on the north side of Pacolet River to his son, John, for 50 pounds sterling. It was part of a tract surveyed for Charles Brandon on the north side of Pacolet in the fork of the Mill Pond. The land was in what is now Cherokee County, S. C.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book F, pp. 250-252.)
John Hames, of Union District, sold his tract of 175 acres to George Foster on March 4, 1805, for $350.00. It was part of a tract surveyed for Charles Brandon on the north side of Pacolet River on Mill Creek in the fork of the Mill Pond at the upper corner of Brandon's Old Field. Charity Hames, wife of John, relinquished her dower claims on March 5, 1805.
John Hames built his cabin on the north side of Pacolet River in what is now Cherokee County, S. C. He lived beside his father-in-law, John Jasper.
William C. Lake, in an unpublished article entitled: "Jasper Born in Union County", wrote: "The Jasper house stood beyond the old John Hames place, on the right hand side of the new road leading from Union to Gaffney."
There is a significant problem with the age of John Hames. In his Revolutionary War Pension statement (S16409) on the third day of September 1832, he declares that he was born in Mecklenburg County (Lunenburg County, Virginia, until 1765), April 28, 1752.
John is listed in his father's Bible record as being born April 28, 1764, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, (Lunenburg County until 1765).
If he was not born in 1752, then he would have been 12 years old when he volunteered for service in the Continental Army. When he left the service in 1781, he would have been 17.
In Dr. Bobby Moss' article on John Hames in Roster of South Carolina Partiots in the American Revolution, p. 404, he states that he was both a private and brevet-major. If he was born in 1764, as the Bible record declares, he possibly would have been a brevet-major at the age of 17.
John seems to have been a bit confused about his age in the 1850s. A later addenda to his pension records in 1855, refers to his age as 119.
An article in the Abbeville Banner, Thursday, March 12, 1757, refers to John Hames as the "Oldest Man in America". The article states that he was ten years old when Washington was in his cradle.
This writer believes that he was either born April 28, 1752, according to his pension records, or he was born April 28, 1764, according to the Bible records. His war records seem to substantiate a birth of 1752.
However, the Bible records state that Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames were married May 8, 1757, so if the Bible records are correct, he would have been born in 1764.
(South Carolina Bible Records, Pinckney District Chapter, S. C., Genealogical Society, Edited by Dorothy Harris Phifer, pp. 106-107.)
Either the pension records are wrong or the Bible records are wrong. Charles was born in 1732, and Catherine was born in 1735, and they could have given birth to a child in 1752, if they were married earlier than the Bible records indicate, or John Hames was born to this couple before they were legally married.
The writer has no way of knowing when John Hames was born, but if we accept the sworn pension statement of John, then he was born in 1752, and the Bible records are inaccurate. Sometimes Bible records are assimilated much later and thus can contain errors.
From the Revolutionary War Pension application (S16409) of John Hames in Hall County, Georgia, on September 3, 1832, the following information was abstracted:
"John Hames joined the First Spartan Regiment under Col. John Thomas, Commander, in 1776. Thomas Brandon was a major and Zachariah Bullock was a captain. Capt. Bulllock probably recruited Hames. He also served under Capt. Robert Montgomery.
He fought the Cherokee Indians under General Andrew Williamson in 1776. He joined the 2nd Spartan Regiment, commanded by Col. Thomas Brandon in 1777, and served under Capt. John Thompson and Major Benjamin Jolly.
He was in the following battles:
(1). The Battle of Briar Creek on March 3, 1779.
(2). The Siege of Savannah on October 9, 1779.
(3). The Siege of Augusta, Georgia, on September 14-18, 1780.
(4), The Battle of Blackstocks on November 20, 1780.
(5). The Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781.
(6). The Battle of Guilford's Courthouse on March 15, 1781.
(7). The Battle of Fort Granby on May 15, 1781.
(8). The Battle of Ninety Six on May 22 to June 19, 1781.
(9). The Battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781.
He was at the Siege of Savannah, where his future brother-in-law, Sgt. William Jasper, was killed.
He tells of fighting under General Sumter at the Battle of Blackstocks, and of the General being wounded in the shoulder.
He tells of building a Block House on Fair Forest Creek and of spending three months at a place called Four Holes.
He tells of marching towards Charleston to a place called Monks Corner, where 'the enemy heard that we were coming and left the place before we got there.'
He speaks of their taking Fort Granby. He fought under Col. "Light Horse Harry" Lee, General Robert E. Lee's father, in this battle.
He states that he was in two skirmishes or engagements under the command of General Francis Marion. He was with him "at the massacre of the Tories on the Pedee River".
He states that he was a Brevet Major for two years under Col. Thomas Brandon. He states that he served as major at the Battle of Choy Old Fields against the Cherokee Indians.
He tells of being encamped with General Daniel Morgan at Grindal Shoals before the Battle of Cowpens.
He tells of being "called out by Col. William Henderson, Capt. John Thompson and Lt. Francis Lattimore and marching to Cambridge (Ninety Six)".
He tells of fighting at Eutaw Springs under General Nathanael Greene. Here Col. William Henderson (his neighbor) was badly wounded, and "I carried him on my back to General Green's Camp."
He states that he was "honorably discharged at Edisto being with the entire company to which I belonged".
(The Encyclopedia of the American Revolution by Mark M. Boatner III; Touring South Carolina's Revolutionary War Sites by Daniel W. Barefoot; and lists of the First and Second Spartan Regiments–Internet.)
In the Revolutionary Pension application of John Whelchel of Hall County, Georgia, (W6498), John Hames tells of living in the same neighborhood with John Whelchel in Union District, S. C., and of serving with him in Col. Thomas Brandon's Regiment.
He tells of being in engagements with him at Blackstocks, at the Cowpens, where John Whelchel "received a severe wound on the head by the cut of a sword", and at Cambridge (Ninety Six) and Eutaw Springs.
On September 4th and 5th, 1787, John Hames sold Robert Gault 100 acres of a 200 acre tract between John's Creek and Pacolet River, that he had receive by grant on January 21, 1785.
He sold the other 100 acres of the grant to his brother, William Hames, on December 24th & 25tk, 1787.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book, B, pp. 76-79.)
He purchased 200 acres on Little Sandy Run Creek from William Wofford of Burk County, North Carolina, on September 15th & 16th, 1788.
John Hames lived on the north side of the Pacolet River on his father's land, which he purchased from him in 1798, and sold to George Foster in 1805.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book F, pp. 250-252; Deed Book H, pp. 291-292.)
He moved his family to Pendleton District, S. C., circa 1805, but had moved back to Spartanburg County, S. C., by 1808, when he sold 150 aces of land to Edmond Chapman and John Lucas for $320.00 on December 22, 1808. His wife, Charity, renounced her dower rights on the same date.
(Spartanburg County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Books A-T, 1785-1827, p. 395.)
John witnessed a land transaction between Ephraim Fowler and Henry Gault in Union District, S. C., on July 15, 1816.
(Union County, S. C., Deed Book N, pp. 227-228.)
He and his wife, Charity, joined the Scull Shoals Baptist Church. (Church Records of Scull Shoals Baptist Church.)
Children of John and Charity Jasper Hames
(a). Charles Hames was born circa 1782, in Union District, S. C. He first married Catherine Brandon, daughter of Charles and Sarah Cook Brandon, circa 1805. She was born circa 1775. Catherine's mother, Sarah, was the daughter of John and Sarah Fulton Cook, both from Ireland.
Catherine's first husband was William Kilpatrick, son of Alexander and Judith Clarke Kilpatrick, of Spartanburg District, S. C. William was born circa 1770, and they were married circa 1794. Three children were born to this couple: Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah. He died circa 1800.
Charles Hames and Catherine had a daughter, Nancy Hames, born August 8, 1806. Catherine died December 25, 1840, in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama.
After the death of Catherine, Charles Hames married Elizabeth Howell. She was born October 11, 1810, in South Carolina.
Charles died July 20, 1854, in Bedford County, Tennessee. Elizabeth Howell Hames died August 5, 1860.
(b). Polly Hames was born circa 1783, in Union District, S. C. She married Thomas Cook Jr., son of Thomas and Ann ? Cook, in 1802, in Union District, S. C. He was born circa 1780.
Thomas Cook Sr.'s parents, John and Sarah Fulton Cook, came to this country from Ireland. After John died his widow, Sarah, moved from York County, Pennsylvania, to the Ninety Six District of South Carolina. Sarah's daughter, Elizabeth, married William Hodge Jr.
Martha, Charity, John, Thomas and Hugh were children of Thomas Cook Jr. and Polly Hames. After the death of Polly, Thomas Cook Jr. married her sister, Sarah Hames, in 1813. She was born circa 1797. They had thirteen children.
(c). Daughter (name unknown) was born circa 1785, in Union District, S. C. She married Churchwell Tucker, born circa 1780.
(d). Mary Hames was born circa 1787, in Union District, S. C. She married Timothy Haney, son of Robert and Elizabeth Bailey Haney. He was born April 15, 1787, in Rutherford County, North Carolina, and died after 1838, in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Date of death of Mary Hames Haney is unknown.
(e). Patti Hames was born circa 1789, in Union District, S. C. She married ? Hood.
(f). John Hames Jr. was born circa 1795, in Union District, S. C. He married Harriett ? . They had children: John, Lura, Wade and Theoplis Hames.
(g). Thomas Henry Hames was born July 9, 1796, in Union District, S. C. He married Annis Robinson February 8, 1818. She was born circa 1800.
They had seven sons and three daughters. They had a son named, Jasper Hames.
Annis died May 6, 1844, in Lylerly County, Georgia, and was buried in Lylerly Cemetery.
Thomas father, John Hames, lived with his son, Thomas, after he lost his second wife. They were living in Murray County, Georgia, when his father died. Thomas worked in the gold mines.
Thomas died March 18, 1874, in Bedford County, Tennessee.
(h). Sarah Hames was born circa 1797, in Union District, S. C. She was the second wife of Thomas Cook Jr. He married Sarah circa 1813, his first wife's sister.
They had twelve children. He died in DeKalb County, Georgia, in the 1840s. Sarah also died in DeKalb County.
(i). Rebecca Hames was born in Union District, S. C., circa 1802. She married Elijah Wade on December 30, 1823, in Hall County, Georgia.
They had five sons and four daughters. Elijah died in Marshall County, Alabama, and his wife, Rebecca, died there in the 1860s.
John Hames and Charity Jasper Hames followed the gold rush to Georgia before 1820, and were living in Hall County, Georgia, on March 24, 1826, when Charity died. She was buried in White Path Cemetery, Gilmer County, Georgia.
(Union County Heritage, 1981, article on John Hames by Mrs. Roy E. Hames, pp. 124-125.)
John Hames Sr. married Martha Pierce on August 17, 1826, in Hall County, Georgia.
She was the widow of James Harrison Pierce, who died in South Carolina, in the early 1820s. He was born circa 1760 in New Hampshire.
James Pierce served one hundred sixty-seven days in the militia during 1781 and 1782. He was living in Edgefield District at the time.
(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, pg. 773.)
James and Martha had eight children, all born in Edgefield District, in South Carolina. Six of the children were: Elizabeth M., Nancy, John, Hampton, Levi and Ruben Harrison Pierce.
Their daughter, Elizabeth, married James R. Russell, son of Richard Anthony and Margaret Black Russell, in 1818. She was the mother of the Russell brothers, William Greeneberry Russell, Joseph Oliver Russell and Levi Jasper Russell, who found gold in Colorado and started the settlement that became Denver, Colorado.
Martha ? Pierce Hames was born circa 1770, in North Carolina, and died in Lumpkin County, Georgia, in the 1840s.
(Research of Charles Dorman Thomas of Arlington, Texas, a great-great grandson of Reuben Harrison. Submitted by Dorman Thomas on March 4, 1999; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Phillips and Allied Familes of the South—Martha ? Pierce.)
John Hames died October 9, 1860, in Murray County, Georgia, and was buried in the Sardis Cemetery, a very old cemetery in the Woods of Murray County, Georgia. His coffin was constructed by John Shannon, and Henry Bemis dug the grave. Shannon married John's granddaughter. Depending on which birth date is utilized, he was either 108 years old or 96 years old.
He was re-interred in the Federal Cemetery at Marietta, Georgia, on July 11, 1911. The grave is located in Section D, gravestone #10390, with his name, John Hames Sr., S. C.
(Hames Heritage, pp. 233-234; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Crabtree-Osburn—John Hames.)
11. Lydda Jasper. She was born in February of 1769. She never married, but from the 1790 Federal Census it appears that she came to Union District with her parents, John and Mary Herrington Jasper in 1779.
She died sometime in the 1790s. When her father's will was written in September of 1799, she was not included thus indicating that she was deceased.
FAMILIES THAT JOINED THE WAGON TRAIN TO KENTUCKY IN 1796
John McWhorters (possibly 13)
George McWhorters (possibly 8)
John Portman Sr. (1)
John Portmans Jr. (possibly 5)
Nicholas Jaspers (possibly 10)
John Jaspers Jr. family (son of Nicholas—possibly 5)
Andrew Jasper family (son of Nicholas—possibly 3)
William Purdy family (Robert & John Chesney's uncle—possibly 6)
Robert Chesneys (possibly 9)
John Chesneys (possibly 4)
POSSIBLE TOTAL 64—In addition there was a slave and her child thus increasing the number to 66. There were possibly other slaves who traveled with them.
admin Horse Shoe Robinson, Robertson 9 Comments
James Robertson and the Book Horse Shoe Robinson
James (Horse Shoe) Robertson, was the son of David and Frances Burchfield Robertson, the grandson of Israel and Sarah (Williams ? ) Robertson, and the great grandson of Nicholas and Sarah Marks Robertson. Sarah Marks Robertson was the daughter of Matthew and Mary Somes Marks.
Israel Robertson received an inheritance from his grandfather, Matthew Marks.
(Internet—The Robertson Genealogy Exchange; Will of Matthew Marks was dated August 15, 1719, and probated at Merchants Hope October 13, 1719; Virginia Historical Archives.)
James' great grandfather, Nicholas Robertson, and his great-great grandfather, Matthew Marks, were founding members of the first Baptist Church to be established in the state of Virginia in what is now Prince George County. Robert Norden was pastor of the church.
Matthew Marks and Nicholas Robertson had their homes legally declared "public meeting houses". When Matthew Marks died he gave the Reverend Norden the privilege of living in his house for what proved to be the remainder of Norden's life.
(The Baptists of Virginia by Garnett Ryland, pp. 2-5.)
David's father, Israel, received a 670 acres grant in Brunswick County (Mecklenburg) on the westside of Smith's Creek on Roanoak River, September 28, 1728. He received a grant of 640 acres of land on the eastside of Little Creek in Granville County, N. C., on March 25, 1749. This land was surveyed on March 10, 1748.
(RootsWeb's World Connect: Ancestors of Robert Fillmore LaNier Inside Heavens Gate, ID: 111390, Israel Robertson.)
Israel had moved from Mecklenburg County to Granville County, North Carolina, by the early 1750s. He was an ensign in the Granville County, North Carolina Militia. Commander of the regiment was Col. William Eaton. Israel and his sons, Matthew (Sergeant), Israel Jr., John and Nicholas were listed on the General Muster roll on October 8, 1754. They served in Captain Richard Coleman's Company.
(North Carolina Colonial and State Records, Vol. 22, p. 372-373.)
According to the records of Bristol Parish, Prince George County, David Robertson was born on August 19, 1728, the fourth son of Israel and Sarah Robertson.
(RootsWeb's World Connect: Head-Cook, Montgomery, Alabama, ID: 120559, David Robertson.)
He married Frances Burchfield, daughter of Adam and Mary ? Burchfield. She was born on March 13, 1724. The Burchfields were originally from Wales and settled first in Baltimore County, Maryland.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Barker and Bergmark Families, ID: 18047, Frances Burchfield; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Paige / Page Family Ancestry, ID: 19273, Adam Burchfield; Baltimore County Families, 1659-1759, by Robert Barnes, p. 83.)
David received a grant of 392 acres in Lunenburg County (later Mecklenburg County), Virginia, on the north side of Smith's Reedy Branch from King George II on December 15, 1749.
Before receiving this land, he lived with his father in Lunenburg County (later Mecklenburg).
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Vermont's Seeds, ID: 147349, David Robertson; Virginia Patent Book 29, 1749-1751, pp. 21-23.)
In his will of December 4, 1758, Israel Robertson bequeathed "five shillings sterling" to his son, David. Israel died August 12, 1760. (Internet—The Robertsons of Tennessee: Myth and Reality.)
David and his wife, Frances, sold their Lunenburg County, Virginia, land to William Davis on February 5, 1762.
(Lunenburg County, Virginia, Deed Book 7, pp. 281-282.)
David purchased 128 acres of land from Joseph John Alston in Granville County, North Carolina. He and his wife, Frances, sold this land to Joseph John Williams on January 13, 1764.
(Granville County, N. C. Deed Book E, pp. 3, 70.)
He received a grant of 400 acres of land on the north side of Broad River and waters of Turkey Creek in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, September 26, 1766, on "both sides of wagon road including (John) Wade's old store house". James Robertson was 7 years old when his father moved the family to what later became South Carolina.
(Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Records; File No. 2167; Gr. No. 226; Bk. 23, p. 121; North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina, by Brent Holcomb, p. 107.)
He sold the Turkey Creek land to William Glover Bishop in June of 1769, and purchased land and a grist mill from Joab Mitchell on both sides of Mill Creek in Tryon County, North Carolina. The Turkey Creek and Mill Creek lands became a part of South Carolina in 1772.
(Tryon County, North Carolina, Deed Book 1, pp. 178-179; pp. 52-53; Internet–The Robertson's of Tennessee: Myth and Reality, p. 6.)
This transaction included a grist mill that had belonged to John Clark, father of General Elijah Clark. The creek was first called Clark's Mill Creek. (Tryon County, North Carolina, Deed Book I, pages 518-519; Upper Broad River Basin Pioneers, 1750-1760, Item No. 295-E, Compiled by Miles S. Philbeck; Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. I: Deed Books A-F, 1785-1800, Compiled by Brent H. Holcomb, p. 54.)
David purchased a tract of 400 acres of land on both sides of Thicketty Creek from Jacob Widner on October 25, 1770. It was originally granted to Honas Balm and later joined John Nuckolls' tract. John Clark, father of General Elijah Clark, assisted in surveying the Balm grant in 1752. This land became a part of South Carolina in 1772. (Tryon County, North Carolina, Deed Book I, pp. 306-307.)
He apparently was in process of purchasing this property in 1767. On August 8, 1767, when John Nuckolls had a survey made for his grant of 400 acres, records state that the tract was bounded by lands of Stephen Jones and David Roberson. (Mecklenburg County, File No. 2375; Gr. No. 135; Bk. 23, p. 205; North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina, Compiled by Brent Holcomb, p. 100.)
John Nuckolls led a group of neighbors on February 9, 1771, to form a company to protect the settlers from the Cherokee Indians. He was chosen captain. A partial list of other neighbors serving were: William Marchbanks (Lieutenant), Patrick Moore (Ensign), Adam Burchfield (Sergeant), Phillip Coleman (Sergeant), Thomas Cole (Corporal), Hugh Moore, Matthew Robinson (James Robertson's brother), John Goudelock, Samuel Clowney, Hugh Means, George Story and William Coleman. (The Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol. XIII, by William L. Saunders, p. 517.)
David Robertson operated the grist mill until three days before he made his will. (Tryon County, North Carolina, Deed Book 1, pp. 518-519.)
His will was written on July 8, 1771, (probably composed by Vardry McBee Sr.). His wife, Frances, his son-in-law, Irby Dewberry, and his neighbor, William Marchbanks, were his executors. Two of the witnesses to the will were Vardry McBee Sr. and Adam Burchfield.
A part of the will read: "and as touching the Estate of my Brother Charles Robertson that I have obtained by execution I Give to George Robertson the youngest of my Brother Charles that is to say after the said Estate pays to my Wife Seventy Pounds Virginia Money and Discharges the Execution and attachment…that I stand bound for my Brother Charles Robertson then the remainder to return into the hand of the said George Robertson the younger son of my Brother Charles Robertson and if he should die I Give the same to the next Youngest Brother of his to him and his heirs and my will and desire that such Estate Remain the hand of my Brother Charles Robertson till such Son comes of Age…" (It was recorded in Tryon County, North Carolina, Will Book, I, 1774-1779, p. 304.)
"This (part of the will) related to his brother Charles' legal entanglements with the British authorities due to his regulator activities. It essentially amounts to the fact that David attempted to use his will to so complicate the handling of his bequest with the financial affairs of his brother Charles that it would delay perhaps forever the Brits' confiscating Charles' property." The will was rejected and the rule of primogeniture was enforced. (RootsWeb's WorldConnect: Head-Cook, Montgomery, Alabama, ID: 120559, David Robertson.)
Adam Burchfield witnessed the will of Frances' husband, David, who died in 1771, when James was 12 years old. He was possibly a brother of Frances. According to Dr. Bobby Moss' Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, p. 122, Burchfield served under Capts. Vardry McBee, John Mapp and Col. Benjamin Roebuck during 1781 and 1782.
Frances later remarried James Terrell, son of James and Margaret Watkins Terrell, a Patriot and Captain during the Revolutionary War. He served as a lieutenant under Cols. Thomas Sumter, John Purvis and William Bratton and was wounded in 1780. He also served as a captain in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon. (RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Our Research, ID: 15826, James Terrell; Spartanburg County Deed Abstracts A-T, 1785-1827, by Albert Bruce Pruitt, p. 333; Deed Book K, pp. 471-473; Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 922.)
In his Revolutionary War Pension application (S14341), James Robertson stated that he was born in North Carolina, in October of 1759. He stated that his parents moved the family from North Carolina to South Carolina and settled in Ninety Six District. (It was later called Union District and is now a part of Cherokee County. Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama by Thomas M. Owens; Internet–Pension Statements of the American Revolution by Will Graves.)
According to his pension statement, James Robertson joined with the Patriots in 1776, and was assigned to the 6th South Carolina Continental Regiment of Provincials. Col. Thomas Sumter was Commander of the Regiment, and William Henderson was Major. Henderson was commissioned major under Lt. Col. Thomas Sumter on February 29, 1776. He lived within five miles of Robertson and possibly recruited him. Henderson's plantation was about one mile on the left from the Jerusalem Road toward Gilead Baptist Church. He sold the land to his brother, John. There is a large clump of trees that contain the graves of John Henderson, his wife, Sarah Hinton Alston, and their son, William. They are marked with field stones.
Robertson's first captain was William McClintock. (Nothing But Blood and Slaughter, Vol. One, 1771-1779, by Patrick O'Kelley; Internet—The American Revolution in South Carolina.)
"Captain Thomas Pinckney wrote his sister on June 8th, 1776, that Colonel Thomas Sumter and his riflemen were guarding the city. General Charles Lee countered Sir Henry Clinton's move by sending Thomson's Rangers, Sumter's Riflemen and some scattering units of infantry and artillery to repel any crossing from Long Island.
While Sumter and his (160) riflemen watched enviously, the defenders of Fort Sullivan on June 28th, 1776, were killing some two hundred sailors and wounding many others, including Commodore Parker and Lord Cornwallis.
A shot cut away the staff of the Second Regiment's blue flag with a silver crescent. 'Colonel,' exclaimed Sergeant William Jasper, (James Robertson's former neighbor) 'don't let us fight without our flag!' He then sprang from the rampart, seized the bunting, and returned unharmed through shot and shell. Tying the flag to a sponge staff, he hoisted it again above the fort." (Gamecock by Robert D. Bass, pp. 36-37; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project, From Adam to Me, ID: 108974, John Andrew Jasper.)
He fought under Col. Thomas Sumter against the Cherokees. This battle was called the Cherokee War of 1776 or the Second Cherokee War. (Internet—Cherokee War of 1776; James Robertson's Pension statement.)
"On August 12, (1776), Colonel Sumter drew 1,500 pounds for recruiting and then set the Second Regiment of Riflemen on the long march to the Keowee. On September 3, Captain Tutt reported that Colonel Sumter was trying to collect thirty beeves and three thousand pounds of flour before advancing to the frontier. Eight days later Sumter reached Fort Prince George with the ammunition, beeves and flour. But he had only three hundred and thirty men, 'many of whom, by the fatigue of the march from Charleston rendered incapable to proceed into the nation, were left in the fort.' With two hundred and seventy effectives on September 12, he marched into General Williamson's camp at Essenecca." (Gamecock, Robert D. Bass, pp. 38-39; Internet—Cherokee War of 1776.)
Robertson's captain, William McClintock, died June 24, 1778. Captain Alexander Boyce replaced Capt. McClintock. Col. Thomas Sumter resigned as Lieutenant Colonel of the Sixth Regiment on September 23, 1778, and William Henderson was promoted to Lt. Colonel at that time. (Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Moss, pp. 603, 908; Internet–Pension Statements of the American Revolution by Will Graves; Internet–The American Revolution in South Carolina.)
He fought with the Sixth Regiment under Lt. Col. William Henderson at the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. They had 164 men. Alexander Boyce was captain at this time. (Nothing But Blood And Slaughter, Vol. One, 1771-1779, by Patrick O'Kelley.) He fought under Lt. Col. William Henderson at the Siege of Savannah on October 9, 1779. Capt. Alexander Boyce was severely wounded in this battle and died of his wounds in November of 1779. Capt. Benjamin Brown replaced Boyce.
Robertson's former neighbor, Sergeant William Jasper, was killed in this battle while attempting to plant the Second Continental flag on the parapet of Spring Hill Redoubt. (Nothing But Blood And Slaughter, Vol. Two, by Patrick O'Kelley; Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Moss, pp. 89, 105, 495.)
The 6th Regiment was greatly diminished in numbers and became nearly extinct. On February 11th, 1780, Robertson was assigned to the 1st South Carolina Continental Regiment, and Col. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney became his commander. Charles Lining was his captain.
Lt. Col. William Henderson was transferred to the 3rd South Carolina Regiment (Rangers) under Col. William Thomson at this time.
(Internet–The American Revolution in South Carolina.)
The 6th South Carolina Regiment was consolidated with the 2nd South Carolina Regiment in February of 1780.
(Internet—6th South Carolina Regiment—Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia; Internet–Pension Statements of the American Revolution by Will Graves; The Southern Strategy by David K. Wilson.)
At the Siege of Charleston on May 12th, 1780, James Robertson, his commander, Col. Charles Pinckney, and Capt. Charles Lining were captured while fighting the British and incarcerated at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island. Col. Pinckney had 231 men in this battle.
(Nothing but Blood and Slaughter, Vol. Two, by Patrick O'Kelley.)
Robertson escaped after a month's confinement. Capt. Charles Lining was exchanged in June of 1781, and Col. Charles Pinckney was exchanged in February of 1782.
(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Moss, pp. 571, 774, 821.)
The book, Horseshoe Robinson, begins with the Fall of Charleston, S. C., and ends with the Battle of King's Mountain. J. P. Kennedy in this book tells of Robertson's escape from Charleston and states that Horse Shoe had orders from Col. Pinckney to bring Major Butler from Virginia to Georgia.
(Horse Shoe Robinson by J. P. Kennedy, pp. 19-23.)
James Robertson later joined Col. Thomas Brandon's Regiment and served under Capt. John Thompson until the end of the war.
(Internet—American Revolution Pension Statements, James Robertson, Transcribed by Will Graves.)
Dr. Bobby Moss states that he possibly fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain and was in the Battle of Cowpens. James tells in his pension statement that he participated in the Battle of Cowpens.
The reason Dr. Moss stated that he possibly may been in the Kings Mountain Battle was because he fought under Col. Thomas Brandon, who was in this battle. J. P. Kennedy states in his book, Horseshoe Robinson, that Robertson fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain (page 587).
(See Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, page 821, The Patriots at Kings Mountain, page 289, and The Patriots of Cowpens, pp. 202-203.)
His brother, Matthew Robertson, was a blacksmith in the militia and provided corn for the Continental Line. He lost a wagon and team in service during 1779. After the Fall of Charleston, S. C., he fought with the militia under Cols. Thomas Brandon, Benjamin Roebuck and Capt. Vardry McBee Sr.
His Brother, Isaac, was enlisted in the First Regiment on November 27, 1775. He fought under Col. Charles Pinckney at the Battle of Fort Sullivan. He was discharged on December 1, 1778, and reassigned to the Sixth Continental Regiment under Lt. Col. William Henderson. He fought with this unit at the Siege of Savannah. He served as a corporal under Capt. Alexander Boyce.
After the Fall of Charleston, S. C., Isaac served under Cols. Benjamin Roebuck, Thomas Brandon and Capt. Vardry McBee Sr.
His brother, Israel, served in the Light Dragoons under General Thomas Sumter, Col. William Hill and Capt. William McKenzie. After the Fall of Charleston he served as a private and lieutenant in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon.
(See Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, pp. 821, 822, 823, 824, by Dr. Bobby Moss.)
James Robertson married Sarah Morris Headen, daughter of William and Jane Beavers Headen, on June 4, 1782. She was born July 17, 1763, and was the twin sister of Jane Headen who married his brother, David.
(RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Reineckes / Robertsons and Other Famous People, ID: 103934, Sarah Morris Headen; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: 24505, ID: 1047, Contact Carolyn Henderson, Jane Headen.)
William Headen Sr. was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and served eighty-nine days as a horseman in the militia under Capt. Joseph Dickson and Col. Benjamin Roebuck.
His son, William Jr. served at various times under Capts. Vardry McBee Sr., Jeremiah Dixon, John Mapp and Cols. John Thomas, Benjamin Roebuck and William Farr.
His son, John, served as a horseman in the militia under Capt. Anthony Colter and Col. Benjamin Roebuck.
(See Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 431.)
When the Gosher (Goucher) Baptist Church purchased one acre of land in Spartanburg County, S. C., (now in Cherokee County, S. C.) from Philip Martin on August 6, 1789, John Headen, son of William Headen Sr., was listed as a trustee. So the Headen family could possibly have been members of this church.
(Spartanburg County / District, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Books A-T, 1785-1827, Compiled by Albert Bruce Pruitt, p. 36.)
William Headen Sr. moved his family from Spartanburg, S. C., to Pendleton District, S. C., and then to Jackson County, Georgia, where his will was probated on April 1, 1808.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Keene—Gregory & Related Ancestral Family Trees, ID: 120419, William Headen.)
James' mother, Frances, gave her son, Matthew, her part of David Robertson's land (133 1/3 acres). Matthew sold the land to John Waters on March 10, 1786.
(See Union County, S. C. Deed Abstracts, Book A, pages, 519-522.)
From the book, Settlement of Pendleton District, 1777-1800, p. 30, is found the following: "The General Assembly passed an Act in 1778, reserving certain lands for the soldiers of South Carolina who served in the Revolutionary War. The territory between the Keowee and Tugaloo rivers was set aside for this purpose.
No grants in this section were legal until after the war and all soldiers had received their portion. Each soldier was to be granted two hundred acres including the one hundred acres allowed by Congress, and the transfer was to be made free of expense to him. The grant was a title in fee simple and was a reward for his service."
The same book indicates that James Robertson took advantage of this law and was granted 200 acres.
James Robertson received a state grant for a tract of 200 acres of land on Chauga Creek, in Pendleton District on January 21, 1785, from Governor Benjamin Guerard and 150 acres in the Thicketty Creek area on June 5, 1786, from Governor William Moultrie.
(See Pendleton District and Anderson County, South Carolina, Wills, Estates, Inventories, Tax Returns and Census Records Complied by Virginia Alexander, Coleen Morse Elliott and Betty Willie p. 196; and Union County, S. C. Deed Abstracts by Brent Holcomb, Vol. I, Book C, pp. 29-30.)
James found himself in legal trouble with the Union District authorities in September of 1790. Charges mentioned were malicious mischief, larceny and killing a horse. The writer does not have information on the outcome of the trial or trials. John Hogan and John Thompson were also charged.
(Union County, South Carolina Minutes of the County Court—1785-1799, Compiled by Brent A. Holcomb, 1790, pp. 272-274; 276-278.)
He sold his Thicketty Creek land to Elizabeth Hogan on October 2, 1790, and moved his family to Pendleton District to the Chauga Creek tract.
(Union County, S. C. Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, p. 98.)
His step-father, James Terrell, and his mother, Frances, sold their last tract of land (496 acres) in the Thicketty Creek area on the South Fork of Gilkie's Creek to John Leek on January 26, 1792, in what is now Cherokee County, S. C., and moved to Pendleton District.
This land had been granted to James Terrell by the Governor of South Carolina (date not given).
(Spartanburg Deed Abstracts, Books A-T, 1785-1827, by Albert Bruce Pruitt, p. 333, Book K, pp. 471-473.)
The book, Pendleton District, S. C. Deeds, 1790-1806, page 45, indicates that James Robertson and his family were living in Washington County, Georgia, in 1792. They possibly sold or leased their Chauga Creek lands on the waters of Tugaloo River, to James Terrell, Robertson's step-father, on December 1, 1792.
James later returned to South Carolina and apparently repurchased or repossessed the tract he had made available to his step-father.
(Pendleton District and Anderson, South Carolina, Wills, Estates, Inventories, Tax Returns and Census Records, p. 196.)
There was a curve on Chauga Creek that ran through Robertson's land and his neighbors began to call him Horse Shoe.
(Southern Literary Messenger—May 1835—Edgar Allan Poe.)
In the Mills Atlas of Pendleton District, surveyed by Scribling in 1820, James Robertson's house was listed as the plantation of Horse Shoe Robertson.
James Robertson and his wife, Sarah, were friends and neighbors of John Harrison Sr. and his wife, Naomi, in the Pendleton District. James son, John, married, Celia Harrison, daughter of John and Naomi, in 1811.
(Internet–John Harrison Sr. Family.)
In the Introduction to the 1852 edition of the book, Horse Shoe Robinson, John P. Kennedy wrote: "In January of 1819, I was riding my horse in Pendleton District. A lad, apparently not above ten years of age, mounted bare back on a fine horse, suddenly emerged from the wood about fifty paces ahead of me, and galloped along the road in the same direction that I myself resolved to take.
I quickened my speed to overtake him, but from the rapidity of his movement, I found myself, at the end of a mile, not as near him as I was at the beginning. Some open country in front, however, showed me that I was approaching a settlement. Almost at the moment of making this discovery, I observed that the lad was lying on the ground by the road-side.
I hastened to him, dismounted, and found him sadly in want of assistance. His horse had run off with him, thrown him, and dislocated, as it afterwards appeared, his shoulder-joint. While I was busy in rendering such aid as I could afford, I was joined by a gentleman of venerable aspect, the father of the youth, who came from a dwelling-house near at hand. We lifted the boy in our arms and bore him into the house. The gentleman was Colonel T—–.
The boy was laid upon a bed in the room where we sat, suffering great pain, and in want of immediate attention. The mother of the family happened to be absent that night. There was an elder son, about my own age, who was playing a fiddle when we came in, and there was a sister younger than he, and brothers and sisters still younger. But we were all alike incapable. The poor boy's case might be critical, and the nearest physician, Dr. Anderson, resided at Pendleton, thirty miles off.
In the difficulty of the juncture, a thought occurred to Colonel T., which was immediately, made available. 'I think I will send for Horse Shoe Robinson,' he said. 'Get a horse, my son, and ride over to the old man, and tell him what has happened to your brother; and say, he will oblige me if he will come here directly. At the same time, a servant was ordered to ride to Pendleton, and to bring over Dr. Anderson. I heard him privately instructing a servant to go for the lady, and to tell her that the boy's injury was not very severe."
*Gen. Robert Anderson, a Patriot officer, lived in Pendleton, S. C. and according to John H. Logan's, A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, p. 49, "was a good physician, practicing gratis among the poor". He died in 1813, but may have taught his son, Robert Jr., some of his medical skills. There was no medical college in South Carolina at this time.
"In less than an hour there was a sound of hoofs coming through the dark—a halt at the door—a full, round, clear voice heard on the porch—then the entrance into the apartment of a woodland hero. This was our expected counselor, Horse Shoe Robinson. What a man I saw. With near seventy years upon his poll, time seemed to have broken its billows over his front only as the ocean breaks over a rock. His homely dress, his free stride, as he advanced to the fire; his face radiant with kindness; the natural gracefulness of his motion; all afforded a ready index to his character. Horseshoe, it was evident, was a man to confide in.
'I hear your boy's got flung from his horse, Colonel,' he said, as he advanced to the bed-side. 'Do you think he is much hurt?' 'Not so badly as we thought at first, Mr. Robinson,' was the reply. 'I am much obliged to you for coming over tonight. It is a great comfort to have your advice in such times.'
'These little shavers are so venturesome—with horses in particular,' said the visitor; 'it's Providence, Colonel, takes care of 'em. Let me look at you, my son,' he continued as he removed the bed-clothes, and began to handle the shoulder of the boy. 'He's got it out of joint,' he added after a moment. 'Get me a basin of hot water and a cloth, Colonel. I think I can soon set matters right.'
It was not long before the water was placed beside him, and Robinson went to work with the earnestness of a practiced surgeon. After applying wet cloths for some time to the injured part, he took the shoulder in his broad hand, and with a sudden movement, which was followed by a shriek from the boy, he brought the dislocated bone into its proper position.
Horse Shoe came to the fireside, and took a chair, saying, 'I larnt that, Colonel, in the campaigns. A man picks up some good everywhere, if he's a mind to.'
Horse Shoe determined to remain all night with the family. We had supper, and after that, formed a little party around the hearth. Colonel T. took occasion to tell me something about Horse Shoe; and the Colonel's eldest son gave me my cue, by which he intimated I might draw out the old soldier to relate some stories of the war.
'Ask him,' said the young man, 'how he got away from Charleston after the surrender; and then get him to tell you how he took the five Scotchmen prisoners.'
We were all in good humor. The boy was quite easy, and everything was going on well, and we had determined to sit up until Mrs. T. should arrive, which could not be before midnight. Horseshoe was very obliging, and as I expressed a great interest in his adventures, he yielded himself to my leading, and I got out of him a rich stock of adventure, of which his life is full.
The two famous passages to which I had been asked to question him—the escape from Charleston, and the capture of the Scotch soldiers—the reader will find preserved in the narrative.
A more truthful man than he, I am convinced, did not survive the war to tell its story. Truth was the predominant expression of his face and gesture—the truth that belongs to natural and unconscious bravery, united with a frank and modest spirit. He seemed to set no especial value upon his own exploits, but to relate them as items of personal history, with as little comment or emphasis as if they concerned any one more than himself.
It was long after midnight before our party broke up; and when I got to my bed it was to dream of Horse Shoe and his adventures. I made a record of what he told me, whilst the memory of it was still fresh, and often afterwards reverted to it, when accident or intentional research brought into my view events connected with the items and scenes to which his story had reference.
The reader will thus see how I came into possession of the leading incidents upon which this 'Tale of the Tory Ascendancy' in South Carolina is founded.
It was first published in 1835. Horse Shoe Robinson was then, a very old man. He had removed into Alabama, and lived, I am told, upon the banks of the Tuskaloosa. (He lived in Tuscaloosa County on the banks of Black Warrior River near Sander's ferry.) I commissioned a friend to send him a copy of the book. The report brought me was that the old man had listened very attentively to the reading of it, and took great interest in it.
'What do you say to all this?' was the question addressed to him, after the reading was finished. His reply is a voucher, which I desire to preserve: 'It is all true and right—in its right place—excepting about them women, which I disremember. That mought be true too; but my memory is treacherous—I disremember.'"
Dr. J. B. O. Landrum in his book, History of Spartanburg County, p. 459, wrote: "In Mr. Kennedy's famous novel, 'Horse Shoe Robinson,' the colonel referred to is Obadiah Trimmier, father of William, who was the father of Colonel T. G. Trimmier. The absent lady referred to was Lucy Trimmier, wife of Obadiah. She was a Stribling. Her grandfather was a Watson.
The violin boy was William Trimmier, mentioned herein; the boy thrown from the horse was Thomas, brother of William. The two small boys mentioned were Obadiah Watson and Marcus Tullias, sons of Obadiah and Lucy Trimmier, who were living on Toxaway. Horse Shoe Robinson lived on Chauga in Pickens County." (Oconee County, S. C.)
James Robertson and Obadiah Trimmier both lived in the Thicketty Creek section of what is now Cherokee County, South Carolina, in the latter 1780s. Trimmier had been a member of the Louisa County Militia in Virginia, and was appointed an Ensign on February 12, 1781.
(See Historical Record of Virginians in the Revolution by John Gwathmey, 1987, p. 782.)
Obadiah Watson Trimmier was the son of William and Lucy Watson Trimmier and was born in Louisa County, Virginia, November 1, 1759. He married Lucy Stribling, daughter of Thomas Stribling Jr. and Nancy Ann Kincheloe Stribling, in Spartanburg District on November 24, 1785.
The 1790 U. S. Census of Spartanburg County, S. C., indicated that Trimmier and William Headen lived close to each other.
Trimmier sold 174 acres of land on the North Fork of Thicketty to Joseph Champion on December 4, 1798, and 100 acres of land on the North Fork of Thicketty Creek to John Champion on January 28, 1800. Obadiah Trimmier moved his family to Pendleton District shortly after this.
(Spartanburg County, S. C. Deed Abstracts, Books A—T, pp. 374-375; 39-40.)
Obadiah Trimmier's land was shown on Mills Atlas of Pendleton District in 1820. James Robertson and Obadiah Trimmier's residences in Pendleton District were only a few miles apart.
Obadiah was referred to as a colonel in the above story and may have joined the South Carolina militia, where he received a commission as colonel. One record states that he fought in the Battle of Cowpens.
In 1786, he performed marriages in Spartanburg District, South Carolina, as Justice of the Peace. After moving to the Pendleton District, he served in the legislature. He died in Pendleton District January 22, 1829, and was buried in the Toxaway Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Chaffin, Contact Lane Chaffin, ID: 1189, Obadiah Trimmier.)
J. B. O. Landrum, in his History of Spartanburg County, page 407, wrote that "James Turner, Sr., was a brother-in-law of Horse Shoe Robinson, the hero of Mr. Kennedy's famous novel of the same name, both of whom were scouts during the Revolution and a terror to the Tories.
Some time after the close of the Revolution James Turner, accompanied by his little son Samuel, visited Horse Shoe Robinson, who resided in what was then Pendleton District, S. C. It is stated that they sat up all night discussing their ups and downs, but that Mrs. Robinson made them lie down while she was preparing breakfast.
James Turner, Sr. was a pious and consecrated Christian, and for many years a deacon of Buck Creek Baptist Church."
In an unpublished manuscript on the life of Joseph Starke Sims: A Nineteenth Century Upcountry Planter, Politician and Business Entrepreneur of South Carolina by Edwin Thomas Sims, he wrote: "When John Pendleton Kennedy was gathering material for His book, Horse Shoe Robinson, he was the guest of Sims." The writer's source was an unpublished History of Grindal Shoals by Carol Fernandez Robertson.
In an article entitled, Old Grindall Shoals, and published in the Piedmont Headlight, Spartanburg, S. C., on October 21, 1898, the writer states: "Those who have read that delightful historic romance, Horse Shoe Robinson by John P. Kennedy, need only visit Grindall to be convinced of the truth of his narrative.
In fact, Miss S. A. Sims, who has written up the history of Grindall Shoals, tells me that Mr. Kennedy, after his interview with HorseShoe Robinson, went himself over the entire route that Major Butler and Horse Shoe traveled from Virginia to Musgrove's mill, in order to verify his narrative and by interviewing other old Revolutionary soldiers, secure exact data for his book."
In the 1820s or early 1830s John Pendleton Kennedy returned to South Carolina and retraced the journeys of James (Horse Shoe) Robertson. Kennedy probably came back to South Carolina after Horse Shoe had moved to Alabama in 1821, to examine the scenes of Robertson's encounters in the Revolutionary War.
This was probably when Kennedy secured information on "Wat Adair". "Wat Adair, I have heard it said in Carolina, died a year after the battle of King's Mountain, of a horrible distemper, supposed to have been produced by the bite of a rabid wolf. I would fain believe, for the sake of poetical justice, that this was true." (Horse Shoe Robinson by J. P. Kennedy, p. 598.)
In the book, A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, pp. 59-60, by John H. Logan, was printed the following letter:
"Alexander Shaw writes from Horn Lake, Miss., Sept. 27, 1858: 'Says he lived near the Indian line of S. C., near Col. Cleveland's.' I became acquainted with Horse Shoe Robinson, who lived on the farm called Horse Shoe, on a creek called Changee (Chauga).
I traveled many hundred miles with him about the year 1825 (Shoal Creek/Chauga Baptist Church records state that Sarah Headen Robertson 'moved away in disorder in 1821'. (S. C. Baptist Historical Collection at Furman University). We both moved to Alabama, near Tuscaloosa. There he died, leaving three (six) sons, who were steady, sober, consistent citizens.
I have heard Robinson relate many things that are now set forth in the novel called, Horse Shoe Robinson, and many others also. So that work is founded on fact, and is truly characteristic of him. General Pinckney visited our region, had a farm there, and recognized Robinson as an active soldier at the siege of Charleston and a ready bearer of dispatches. Pinckney paid great attention to Robinson."
Alexander Shaw was born May 26, 1774, in Antrim County, Ireland, and died at College Hill, Mississippi, on November 1, 1860. He and his wife, Susan Hardin, had thirteen children, four sons and nine daughters.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Quick 2011 Revision, ID: 1013755, Alexander Shaw.)
The 1850 Federal Census of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, shows that James Robertson's grandson, Jesse, son of David, was born there in 1821, so the family was living in Alabama at this time.
In an article copied by Joan Keith from an unknown Alabama Newspaper, circa 1891, is found the following account: "The recent decease of our venerable fellow citizen, Daniel Cribbs, probably breaks the last link which connected our generation directly with the generation that lived during the Revolutionary war.
Mr. Cribbs was well acquainted with Maj. James Robinson, commonly known as 'Horse Shoe Robinson', who spent many years of his life, and lies buried in the Robertson cemetery near Sanders' Ferry in Tuskaloosa County.
Horse Shoe Robinson was a gallant soldier of the Revolution in South Carolina, his native state. His exploits as a soldier, in the days that tried men's souls have been woven by John P. Kennedy, of Maryland, into the famous novel 'Horse Shoe Robinson'.
Mr. Cribbs knew 'Horse Shoe' well. Many a time in the early days of Tuskaloosa, the two hunted deer together, then 'Horse Shoe' was a hale old man, and Mr. Cribbs was still in the vigor of early manhood."
(Article copied by Joan Keith from a story published in an unknown Alabama newspaper circa 1891.)
Daniel C. Cribbs was born in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on May 18, 1803, and died in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, on October 27, 1891. He and his wife, Amy Lee Lavergy, had three children, two sons and a daughter.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Michael Krebs Family, ID: 1285, Daniel C. Cribbs.)
The following is taken from Flag of the Union, published at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, January 17, 1838.
Alexander Meek, a local reporter wrote: "The old gentleman (James Robertson) gave us a partial history of his Revolutionary adventures, containing many interesting facts respecting the domination of the Tory party in the south during the times of the Revolution, which Mr. Kennedy has not recorded in his Book.
But it will chiefly interest our readers, or to that portion of them at least to whom the history of the old hero's achievements as recorded by Mr. Kennedy is familiar, to be assured that the principal incidents therein portrayed are strictly true. In the old veteran's own language: 'There is a heap of truth in it, though the writer has mightily furnished it up.'
Before the close of the war, he says, he commanded a troop of horse, so that his military title is that of Captain Horse Shoe, although in infirm health, bears evident marks of having been a man of great personal strength and activity.
He is now afflicted with a troublesome cough, which in the natural course of events must in a few years wear out his aged frame. Yet, not-withstanding his infirmities and general debility, his eye still sparkles with the fire of youth, as he recounts the stirring and thrilling incidents of the war, and that sly, quiet humor so well described by Kennedy may still be seen playing around his mouth as one calls to his recollection any of the pranks he was wont to play upon any of the 'tory vagrants', as he very properly styles them.
The old Gentleman received us with warm cordiality and hospitality; and after partaking of the Bounties of his board and spending a night under his hospitable roof we took leave of him, sincerely wishing him many years of the peaceful enjoyment of that liberty which he fought so long and so bravely to achieve.
It will not be uninteresting, we hope, to remark that the old hero still considers himself a soldier, though the nature of his warfare is changed. He is now a zealous promoter of the Redeemer's cause as he once was in securing the independence of his country."
The word 'Major' is on his tombstone and may have come from a later field commission or a title of respect by his neighbors or his children. He was called, Sergeant, in the book, Horse Shoe Robinson, but Dr. Bobby Moss' in his book, Roster of South Carolina Patriots, lists him as a private.
Judge A. B. Meek, a fine literary critic, stated that "Mr. Kennedy, the author of Horse Shoe Robinson, has in that inimitable 'tale of the Tory Ascendancy' in South Carolina proved the suitableness of American subjects for fictitious composition of the most elevated kind.
Although in his incidents and characters he has done little more than presented a faithful chronicle of facts, using throughout the veritable names of persons and places as they were stated to him by his hero himself, yet such is the trilling interest of the story, the vivid pictures of scenery, manners, customs, and language, the striking contrasts of characters and the pervading beauty and power of style and description through the work, that we think we do not err in saying that it is not inferior in any respect to the best of the Waverly series."
(Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama by Thomas M. Owen, p. 105.)
In the Cambridge History of American Literature, Book II, Chapter VII, is recorded the following:
"Kennedy depended, as he had done in Swallow Barn, on fact not invention for almost all his action as well as for his detail of topography and costume. Indeed, he founded the career of Horse Shoe Robinson upon that of an actual partisan with such care that the man is said later to have approved the record as authentic. Decidedly Kennedy's gift was for enriching actual events with a finer grace and culture than many of the rival romancers could command. His style is clear, his methods always simple and rational."—Carl Van Doren.
Edgar Allan Poe, in Review of Horse Shoe Robinson, published in Southern Literary Messenger, May 1835, wrote: "Horse Shoe Robinson is a tale, or more properly a succession of stirring incidents relating to the time of the Tory Ascendancy in South Carolina, during the Revolution.
Horse Shoe Robinson, who derives his nick-name of Horse Shoe from the two-fold circumstance of being a blacksmith, and of living in a little nook of land hemmed in by a semi-circular bend of water, is fully entitled to the character of 'an original'. He is the life and soul of the drama—the bone and sinew of the book—its very breath—its every thing which gives it strength, substance, and vitality. Then the ardent, the eager, the simple-minded, the generous and the devoted Mary Musgrove! Most sincerely did we envy John Ramsay, the treasure of so pure and so exalted an affection!"
Jesse Lewis Orrick, in his article on John Pendleton Kennedy, published in the Library of Southern Literature, 1909, Vol. 7, page 2899, wrote:
"Mr. Kennedy had encountered the prototype of the character Sergeant Galbraith (alias Horse Shoe) Robinson in life, and not only conveyed a portrait of the original to the pages of his novel, but utilized the actual adventures of this rough-and-ready soldier of the Revolution as the web and woof of the plot."
In the Cyclopedia of American Literature, 1856, written by Evert A. and George L. Duyckinck, is found the following statement:
"The story (Horse Shoe Robinson) was founded on the personal recollections of its hero, an old soldier of the Revolution…its leading incidents being transcripts of the old man's veritable adventures."
Edward M. Gwathmey in his book, John Pendleton Kennedy, 1931, wrote:
"Kennedy has sacrificed the plot of Horse Shoe for historical accuracy. He might have made a better story if he had been less attentive to historical detail. His efforts to establish the authenticity of certain events often led him into tiresome digressions and marred the unity of his plot."
"Based on John P. Kennedy's historical romance, Horse Shoe Robinson: a Tale of the Tory Ascendancy, a play was originally adapted by Charles Dance in 1836 and presented in National Theater, New York, on November 23, 1836, and Park Theater, New York, March 2, 1841.
C. W. Tayleure, presented the play at Holliday Street Theater, Baltimore, April, 1856, with James K. Hackett in the title role, and Hackett played the role for several seasons. Whether Clifton W. Tayleure made his own version (1856) or simply revamped Dance's is unknown, for Tayleure's alone survives. It is a lively piece, filled with colorful characters. In one form or another, the play remained popular especially at lower-class houses, well beyond the Civil War."
Edward M. Gwathmey in his book, John Pendleton Kennedy, 1931, mentions an experience of Kennedy:
"On May 5, 1856, I went the other night to see the new drama of Horse Shoe Robinson fabricated by Mr. Tayleure of the Holiday Street Theatre out of my novel. It was the first performance of it. A great crowd was there and greeted it with vehement applause. It is amazingly noisy and full of battles, and amuses the gallery hugely. Mr. Ford was very kind in giving me a private box in which to witness it. It has had a most successful run since that night for a week."
(Encyclopedia.com; Representative Plays by American Dramatists by Montrose J. Moses, 1925, Vol. II, pp. 765-823; John Pendleton Kennedy, 1931, by Edward M. Gwathmey.)
"The principle incidents of the book are true." "There is a heap of truth in it though the author has mightly furnished it up." "It is all true and right—in its right place—excepting about them women, which I disremember. That mought be true, too, but my memory is treacherous—I disremember." These expressions by Meek and Robertson attest to the truths contained in the book.
The author of the article, Old Grindall Shoals, printed in The Piedmont Headlight stated: "So far as the love scenes and romance of "Horse Shoe Robinson" are concerned, it is pure fiction. But the historic incidents and even names given, are absolutely true and correct."
The writings of Kennedy indicate that he had knowledge of the places mentioned in the book and gave a very good description thus indicating that he had visited the scenes himself.
Readers are sometimes puzzled because the author called James Robertson, Galbraith Robinson, and Edward Musgrove, Allen Musgrove. Some writers state that he was trying to protect his characters that were then living. This is indicated by his reference to Col. T (Obadiah Trimmier).
This writer believes that Horse Shoe did not always give Kennedy complete names. Thus Kennedy had to invent first names. He did not give the author his age or the place where he lived in his younger days so these too are inventions by Kennedy.
The writer of the book took the principal stories that Robertson related to him and "mightly furnished them up". Thus the book is called a novel even though it is based upon true accounts of Horse Shoe's war experiences.
Residents of what is now Cherokee County and then Ninety-Six District were aware over one hundred and seventy years ago that a part of the setting for the story of Horse Shoe Robinson was in their area.
Kennedy indicates that the stories of Horse Shoe's escape from Charleston and the capture of the Scotch soldiers were given to him the night he spent with Horse Shoe.
Robertson's pension records state that he was a prisoner in Charleston and escaped in about a month. Both Kennedy and William Trimmier, son of Obadiah, attest to the truth of the Scotch soldiers capture by Horse Shoe and the Ramsey lad.
Major Butler was with Horse Shoe when he crossed the Broad River. In the book he is referred to as Arthur. If Robertson did not give Kennedy, Butler's first name, then it was probably fictitious.
Dr. Bobby Moss in his Roster of South Carolina Patriots, page 129, lists "a Butler who served as a lieutenant in the militia on horseback from 19 September to 27 October 1779, and a Butler who served as major under Col. Moultrie in 1780."
According to Kennedy, Butler and Horse Shoe crossed the Broad River at Adair's Ferry. During the Revolutionary war, William Tate had two ferry crossings, about one mile apart. It was a consensus of the early settlers that these men crossed at the lower Tate's Ferry. The Adair mentioned as the keeper of the ferry would not have been the owner, but the employee of Tate. It is doubtful that his first name was Wat or Walter.
William Tate was a patriot soldier at this time. According to Dr. Moss, he was a lieutenant in the Fourth Regiment in 1779, and was taken prisoner at the Siege of Charleston in 1780. He was not exchanged until October of 1780, so he was still incarcerated when Butler and Robinson crossed at his ferry.
(South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 916.)
J. D. Bailey in his book, History of Grindal Shoals, page 13, states:
"The ferry was about one hundred and fifty yards above where the Southern Railway now crosses the Broad river. Westward from the ferry, one-fourth of a mile distant, stood a commodious log dwelling with the chimneys running up on the inside." Kennedy gives an apt description of the house so he must have seen it.
In Revolutionary War Pension Application No. S16866 of Malcolm Henry is found the following:
"It was understood that Ferguson lay at Tate's Ferry about 16 miles off. In the evening Colonel Graham and Colonel Shelby came to me and told me to prepare my company to march that night to Ferguson's encampment.
Accordingly I with my company and the company commanded by Captain Janus Shelby marched about 10 o'clock in the night with orders to attack Ferguson at Tate's Ferry and to keep up the engagement with them until the whole Army came up. On reaching Tate's Ferry about daylight we discovered that Ferguson had gone."
In the book, The Barrons of Western York County, South Carolina by Elmer Oris Parker is recorded the following:
"John Barron and wife Margaret and their family moved form Maryland to York County, SC, near Tate's Ferry and the mouth of Buffalo Creek. John Barron was a Captain in the Revolution, and his son, James, was a Lieutenant of the Bullock's Creek Horsemen. In 1787, they sold out and moved to Tennessee."
William Tate died in 1792, and willed the lower ferry to his wife and son, James Tate. He and his wife were living in the house described by the Reverend J. D. Bailey when he died.
(Spartanburg County S. C. Will Abstracts 1787-1840, compiled by Brent Holcomb, p. 102.)
Thomas Dare, son of John and Catherine Thomas Dare, purchased the lower ferry and dwelling house from Elizabeth Hester Tate and James Tate on December 22, 1803.
(Spartanburg S. C. Deed Abstracts A-T, p. 269, by Albert Bruce Pruitt.)
In the book, Statues at Large, 1813, No. 2040, is found the following:
"Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the ferry heretofore established and vested in William Tate, and the term of which is now expired, be re-established, and vested in Thomas Dare, his heirs and assigns, for the term of seven years."
The Reverend J. D. Bailey thought that Thomas Dare and the Adair mentioned in the book, Horseshoe Robinson, were related. However, genealogical databases do not show a kinship. This information indicates that Thomas Dare's father, John, died in Orange County, Virginia, in 1781.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Hester, Fails, Perry, McDavid Line, ID:15148, John Dare.)
If John Dare was the Adair mentioned in the book, then the databases are wrong.
There were Adairs living in Chester County, S. C., not far from Fish Dam Ford during this time. Adair's wife was a Crosby according to Kennedy's book.
Mary's mother was Hannah Fincher Musgrove, but she was deceased and her father's third wife, according to John H. Logan, in his book, A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, page 79, was Nancy Ann Crosby from Fish Dam Ford.
(See Fincher in the U. S. 1683-1900 by Evelyn Davis Fincher and Ann Wilson Fincher, p. 323; A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina by Logan, p. 79.)
In the book, More Marylanders to Carolina by Henry C. Peden, Jr., page 96, he states that Nancy Ann Crosby of Fish Dam Ford, was Edward Musgrove's third wife.
Most all Genealogical databases list Nancy Ann Crosby as his third wife.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: The McLaurin – McMahon Family Research Page—ID: 129072—Nancy Ann Crosby.)
Nancy Ann Crosby Musgrove was Mary Musgrove's step-mother, and in the book, Horse Shoe Robinson, Mary referred to Peggy Crosby Adair as her aunt, thus indicating that she was her step mother's sister.
(Horse Shoe Robinson by J. P. Pendleton, p. 160.)
Old Mrs. Crosby, mother of Peggy Crosby Adair, was listed in the book as 80 years of age in 1780. "Peggy" may not have been her daughter's real first name.
(Horse Shoe Robinson, by J. P. Kennedy, p. 150.)
A database refers to old Mrs. Crosby as the wife of William Crosby. He was born in 1696. Mrs. Crosby's birthdate was listed as circa 1700, in Berkley County, S. C.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Gregg Bonner's Genealogy Database, Version 22, ID: 1125514, William Crosby.)
Thomas Crosby was listed as an executor of the estate of Edward Musgrove in his will written August 25, 1790. According to the will, Thomas was from Broad River.
(South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, Fall of 1978, No. 4, p. 224; Laurens County, S. C. Estate Book A-1, p. 224.)
Thomas was the son of Dennis and Hannah Revels Crosby. Like Nancy Ann Crosby Musgrove of Fish Dam Ford, Dennis and his son, Thomas, were also from the same area.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Welcome to My World, ID: 1363, Thomas Crosby.)
It is possible, though not fully proven, that Thomas Crosby was Nancy Ann Musgrove's nephew. If he was, then Nancy Ann, Peggy ? , Dennis and possibly William could have been siblings.
According to most databases, Dennis Crosby's father was William Crosby.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Loessin / Merker / Clark Family Tree, ID: 132209, Dennis Crosby.)
Dr. Bobby Moss, in his book, South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, page 219, lists a William Crosby, married to a Susannah Benton, serving as a patriot soldier from February 1779 to July 1783, and fighting under Gen. Francis Pickens and Capt. William Baskins. This William was probably a brother of Dennis.
It is possible that the first name of the "old Mrs. Crosby" in the book will never be discovered.
Dennis Crosby was born in the Fishdam Ford section on December 11, 1724, and died there on October 11, 1771.
His wife, Hannah Revels, was born circa 1728, and died August 12, 1785, in the same area. In 1781, she furnished forage and supplies to the Colonial Militia.
(RootsWeb's World Connect Project: Hammers, Clements, Thompson and Anderson Families, ID: 125757, Hannah Revels.)
Dennis listed six children in his will: Richard, Thomas, Lydia, William, Mary and John.
(Internet: Antecedents and Descendents of Dennis Crosby.)
One source states that Nancy Ann Crosby Musgrove was Dennis' daughter, but she is not listed in his will though she was living when Dennis died.
Nancy Ann Crosby Musgrove was probably born in the latter 1730s. She survived till 1824, "to a very advanced age".
(A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, by John H. Logan, p. 79.)
Thomas Crosby, son of Dennis and Hannah, was born in the Fishdam Ford section in 1751, and died there March 4, 1791.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Welcome to My World, ID: 1363, Contact Jacquelyn Kyler, Thomas Crosby.)
His wife, Margaret Davis, was born December 17, 1751, and died February 18, 1825.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Welcome to My World, ID: 1364, Margaret Davis.)
According to Dr. Moss, Thomas was a patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War and fought under Gen. Andrew Pickens after the fall of Charleston, S. C.
Dennis died before Edward Musgrove. Though his son, Thomas, was still living when Edward Musgrove died, he was not able to fulfill his responsibilities as executor of the will. He died about six months after the will was written.
In the book, Mary Musgrove warned Horse Shoe and Major Butler not to go by way of the Dogwood Spring.
(Horse Shoe Robinson by J. P. Kennedy, p. 172.)
Capt. H. P. Griffith, co-principal of Cooper-Limestone Institute, 1881, and several years following, in a welcome speech to the South Carolina Baptist Convention that met in Gaffney in 1899, stated: "One mile away is the big Dogwood Spring celebrated in romance and story; nearby beautiful Limestone."
(See Dr. Bobby Moss book, Climaxing a Century of Service, First Baptist Church, Gaffney, South Carolina, p. 37.)
A Historical Sketch of Limestone College was published on pages 22-24 of the 1920 Calciid and contains this statement: "Indian legends still cling around the loveliest spot in Cherokee—the site of the beautiful Dogwood Springs of Revolutionary days, the Limestone Springs of Confederate history."
William Ragland Lipscomb in his A History of Limestone published in the September 28, 1894, issue of The Gaffney Ledger states:
"Just north east of the spring it is said three British soldiers are buried who were wounded at the famous Cowpens battle ground, twelve miles north of the springs."
The Reverend J. D. Bailey knew many of the ancestors of the old families living around Grindal Shoals at this time. Two of these families were the Sims and Nott families. From them he learned where Horseshoe and Butler were captured and where the Tory camp was located.
He included a picture of the camp in his book, History of Grindal Shoals, page 15. It was the site of the old store building once operated by John Henry Littlejohn and later by Napoleon Eison. He knew both of these men personally.
Napoleon Eison was the grandfather of Ed Aycock who showed the writer the location of the old store.
In Kennedy's account of the arrival of Major Butler and Horse Shoe at Grindal Shoals he said:
"It was just at the closing in of night, when a party of ruffianly looking men were assembled beneath a spreading chestnut, that threw forth its aged arms over a small gravelly hillock, in the depths of the forest that skirted the northern bank of the Pacolet within a short distance of Grindall's ford. The group who now occupied the spot consisted of some ten or twelve men under the command of Hugh Habershaw. A small fire of brushwood had been kindled near the foot of the chestnut."
(Horse Shoe Robinson by John P. Kennedy, pp. 192-193.)
John Hodge, son of William and Elizabeth Cook Hodge, was a Patriot soldier and in his Revolutionary War Pension application No. S21825, states that he "entered into the service of the United States as a volunteer in an Indian expedition under Capt. Zachariah Bullock and General Williamson & was stationed about three or four weeks near the Grindal Shoals where he was employed in building & guarding a fort."
The author of the sketch, Old Grindall Shoals, published in The Piedmont Headlight on October 21, 1898, stated that: "The late Mr. Sims (Joseph Stark Sims) said that he had seen the stump of the old chestnut beneath which these Tories camped."
Kennedy would not have known about the gravelly hillock if he had not visited the site. This hill can still be seen today. It is covered with natural gravel. The name Hugh Habershaw was probably fictitious. Robertson may not have given the name of this leader to Kennedy. Early members of the Habershaw family were found in England, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, but of course one of them could have been in South Carolina.
The site of Christie's Tavern is still known today. From Gaffney, S. C., the driver turns right off the Gaffney Highway on to Robinson Farm Road. After crossing Mill Creek, a left turn is made at Parks Farm Road. Ruins of the tavern can still be seen through the woods on the right just after turning on Parks Farm Road.
The building was destroyed by fire in the early to mid 1990s. Kennedy probably visited this site. The Coleman branch still runs by the side and in front of where the tavern stood. The old settlers knew Christopher Coleman quite well. He was both a Patriot and a Loyalist soldier during the Revolutionary War.
In an article on the Coleman's, published in the Union County Heritage, 1981, edited by Mannie Lee Mabry, page 52, is found the following story:
"In Virginia, a wagon train was formed, their destination, Charleston, S. C. Things were going well for the train until Christopher's wagon broke down while crossing a branch on Mill Creek of the Pacolet River. He decided, then and there, to settle on the spot.
He immediately set about to build a tavern where travelers could get food, drinks and lodging. The Tavern was known as Christie's Tavern. It was said that he would turn no man away, even during the American Revolution.
If the Tories were coming to rest and water their horses, the Whigs would scamper down a ramp built over the creek and hide in the woods. In 1780, when Hugh Habershaw brought Horse Shoe Robinson to Christie's Tavern he escaped probably over the ramp.
Christie's Tavern has been mentioned in the books, The History of Grindal Shoals, Horse Shoe Robinson, Heroes of Kings Mountain and Drapers of Virginia."
The writer of the above sketch was Margaret C. Gault.
The author of the article, Old Grindall Shoals, included a part of Kennedy's story of the escape and wrote:
"The Tories made a rush to the rack for their horses, when they discovered that the bridles were tied in hard knots in a manner such as to connect each two or three horses together. James Curry was the first to mount, and set off in rapid pursuit, followed by two others. After a half-hour the two privates returned.
In a short time after, Curry came in with one side of his face bleeding from a bruise, his dress disarranged, and his back covered with dirt. The side of his horse was tainted with the same soil. Curry stated that he had pursued Robinson until he came in sight of him, when the fugitive slackened his gate, as if on purpose to allow him-self to be taken.
In his haste Curry left his sword behind him, and when he came up with Robinson laid his hand upon his bridle. But by some sudden slight, which he had taught his steed, 'Horseshoe' contrived to upset both Curry and his horse down a bank on the roadside. 'Horse Shoe' then bade Curry good-bye, saying he had an engagement which forbade him to remain any longer in his company. This is a true story, and the hill where 'Horseshoe' overthrew Curry is pointed out by the citizens around Grindall."
There is a database account of a James Corry Curry who was married to Mary Copeland. He died in South Carolina in 1780.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: febo5min, ID: 15239, James Corry Curry.)
After escaping from Christie's Tavern, Horse Shoe fled to Musgrove's Mill. Traditional accounts state that Mary hid him in the cavern to the left of the falls of Cedar Shoals Creek, feeding him and furnishing him with information concerning the activities of the Tories. This may be a fable but one would still have to believe that Mary did hide him and bring him food.
Mary was born circa 1763. In Kennedy's book she states that she was seventeen. This appears to be a correct date. She also states that she was engaged to John Ramsay.
In Dr. Bobby Moss book, Some South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, p. 799, he lists a John Ramsey who served in the militia two hundred days during 1780.
In the book, Mary sends Horse Shoe to the home of John Ramsey, her fiance, and there he met Mrs. David Ramsey, his mother, who had just had her chickens and ducks stolen by the Scotchmen. These men were captured by Horse Shoe and Mrs. Ransey's young son.
This incident was included in the book. Kennedy indicates that this was a true story. So the record of the engagement of Mary to John Ramsey was also probably true. There was a Ramsey family living in Laurens, S. C., during this period.
Other histories state that Edward Musgrove's house was constantly visited by Tories, and this fact is also mentioned in the book, Horse Shoe Robinson.
It is impossible to know exactly where the line is drawn and where and how Kennedy adds the fictitious to the stories related to him by Robertson.
Two errors have been perpetuated concerning Mary Musgrove. She did not die as a teenager. This was probably her sister, Susan, for Susan was not mentioned in Edward Musgrove's will. Mary was listed in his will as Mary Berry.
She married George Berry, son of William and Usley ? Berry circa 1788, and would have been about 25 at the time. She definitely could have been engaged to someone else before this.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: The McLaurin – McMahon Family Research Page, ID: 120898, George Berry.)
George and Mary Musgrove Berry had the following children: Rebecca, Lurana Phillips, Elizabeth, William, Mary and Robert Goodloe Harper Berry. Mary died circa 1803, following the birth of Robert.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: The McLaurin – McMahon Family Research Page, ID: 129064, George Berry; Abstracts of early Records of Laurens County, 1785-1820, complied by Sarah M. Nash, 1982.)
After the death of Mary, George married Edith Ligon, daughter of Robert and Edith Watkins Ligon. They had one child, Edith, who was listed as deceased when George died in 1806. George Hutchinson was administrator of George Berry's estate.
(Laurens County Will Book A, 1784-1840, p. 56.)
Another error lists Mary's last two children: Mary (Polly) Berry and Robert Goodloe Harper Berry as children of George and his second wife, Edith Ligon. The Laurens County Guardian Returns indicate that Edith Berry was appointed guardian for Mary (Polly) M. and Robert G. H. Berry. Edith filed a return on April 25, 1812, and June 5, 1815, so Mary and Robert were the children of George and Mary Musgrove Berry.
(1810 Equity Petitions of Laurens County, S. C., Package 8, Box 27; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: My Main Tree, ID: 157839, Edith Ligon.)
Edith Ligon Berry, widow of George Berry, next married Andrew Wray. She and Andrew moved to the Cherokee Springs—Buck Creek area of Spartanburg County. She retained custodial care of Mary and Robert, children of George and Mary Musgrove Berry, and raised them in this area.
Edith and Andrew had two children of their own: Eliza Wray and Mary Jane Wray.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Our Family and Then Some—ID: 102838, Edith Ligon.)
Mary Musgrove's granddaughter, Edith Hines, married James Turner Jr., the nephew of James (Horse Shoe) Robertson.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Our Family and Then Some, ID: 102856, Edith Hines.)
"On September 7, 1792, Charles Cotsworth Pinkney of Charleston, late Brigadier General of the Armies of United States, and Mary, his wife, sold a square tract of 60 acres on waters of Brushy Creek, branch of Saluda River (from their Pendleton District tract) to General Andrew Pickens, Col. Robert Anderson, Captain Robert Maxwell, Mr. John Bowen, Major John Ford and Mr. John Hallum of Washington District."
(Pendleton District and Anderson County, South Carolina Wills, Estates, Inventories, Tax Returns and Census Records compiled by Virginia Alexander, Colleen Morse Elliott and Betty Willie, 1980.)
Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Horse Shoe's old commander, probably visited him in Pendleton District, South Carolina before 1821. In the Settlement of Pendleton District, 1777-1800, by Frederick Van Clayton, p. 69, Charles Pinckney is listed as possessing land on Chauga Creek. The Mills Atlas shows a plantation owned by Col. Pinckney in 1820. Pinckney died on August 16, 1825.
(Internet: Encyclopedia of World Biography on Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.)
James Robertson moved his family to Alabama in 1821. The home in South Carolina, where he and his family lived for over twenty years, is still standing in Oconee County a few miles from Westminister.
(Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama by Thomas M. Owen, page 105; The Seneca Journal, July 22, 1964.)
James applied for a pension for services rendered to his country during the Revolutionary war on October 13, 1832, before Anderson Crenshaw, Judge of the Circuit Court of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. His character witnesses were: Samuel M. Meek, a clergyman, and William Dunlap.
He was enrolled on October 29, 1833, under act of Congress of June 7, 1832. Payment was to date from March 4, 1831. Annual allowance was $80.00.
(Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama by Thomas McAdory, p. 102.)
The author of the article written in the Flag of the Union on January 17, 1838, wrote:
"It is a pleasure to know that this fine old hero was a real personage! And although his exploits may have been colored in a measure by the pen of the romancer, there still remains a rich stock of adventures, which were undoubtedly true, and the picture of a nature frank, brave, true and yet full of modesty."
Sarah Morris Headen Robertson died January 7, 1838, and James Horse Shoe Robertson died April 26, 1838.
Horse Shoe and Sarah were buried in the Robertson Family Cemetery, Romulus Community, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, located on the banks of Black Warrior River near Sanders Ferry.
(See the book, Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama, by Thomas McAdory Owen, p. 102.)
The inscription on his stone reads: "Major James Robertson, a native of S. C., died April 26, 1838, aged 79 years, and was buried here. Well known as Horse Shoe Robinson, he earned a just fame in the War for Independence, in which he was imminent for courage, patriotism, and suffering. He lived fifty-six years with his worthy partner, useful and respected, and died in hopes of a blessed immortality. His children erect this monument as a tribute justly due a good husband, father, neighbor, patriot and soldier."
James Robertson and his wife, Sarah Morris Headen Robertson, were charter members of the Grant's Creek Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and also members of the first recorded Sunday School Class in Alabama.
(Samford University Baptist Historical Collection.)
Robert J. Stevens in his article, "Horse Shoe Robinson Revisited", states that John Pendleton Kennedy spent the winter (1818-1819) teaching school in Seneca, South Carolina.
(The Bulletin, Chester District Genealogical Society, Vol. XVII, No. 4, Dec. 1993.)
An article on Gleanings From Horse Shoe Robinson, written by Mary Cherry Doyle of Clemson, S. C., and published in Historic Oconee in South Carolina, 1935, states that John P. Kennedy was staying at the Old Steel place later known as the Phinney place, which is about half-way between Seneca and Walhalla, on the old road ."
In an Internet article entitled, Documenting the American South, Armistead Lemon gives a summary of the book, Horse Shoe Robinson, in which he states:
"Kennedy attempts to counterbalance the novel's romance with accurate references to battle movements, military outposts, and the geography of the Carolinas, while also offering brief but realistic character sketches of major generals, particularly Frances Marion and Charles Cornwallis.
Thus despite his tendency toward melodrama, Kennedy provides an insightful perspective on the fratricidal nature of the American Revolution, unwittingly foreshadowing in Horse Shoe Robinson the strife that lay ahead in the American Civil War."
Numerous articles were published in The Gaffney Ledger that related to the book, Horse Shoe Robinson.
"The Ledger was presented, a few days ago, with a wrought iron nail which was imported from England before the Revolution and used in the old residence building at Gaffney's Ferry, then known as Adair's Ferry and made famous by J. P. Kennedy in his Horse Shoe Robinson, a story of Revolutionary War times with many of the scenes laid in what is now Cherokee County. The nail, which is about the size of what is known now as a ten penny, is in a good state of preservation and looks as if it could put in another century of good service."
(See Cherokee County Calendar, December 17, 1901, by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 73.)
A history of the old house was published on January 21, 1902, in The Ledger. It read: "There was until a few days ago a dwelling house in Cherokee County the building of which antidated the knowledge of traditions in the possession of the oldest citizens.
It was situated on the John G. Gaffney farm on Broad River, at Gaffney's Ferry. Tradition leaves it plain that it was built before the war of the Revolution and tradition and history prove that it was occupied during the war by a widow lady, Mrs. Tate, who was in good circumstances at which time the ferry was known as Tate's Ferry.
Mrs. Tate lived in it till several years after the war when she sold it to a Virginian by the name of Thomas O'Deer who owned and lived in the house for a number of years, when the ferry was known as O'Deer's Ferry, and then traded it to one Abner Benson who afterwards sold the property to Michael Gaffney, who with some of his sons, has owned the property for a little over a hundred years (eighty years).
This old house, unlike most houses of its time, was a framed one made of very heavy timbers, mortised and pioned together and well weather-boarded and ceiled with plank which had been well dressed on one side and hewed on the other. The nails used were hand made. The chimney was of first class brick, was made on the inside of the building and had very large fireplaces. This old house was in a good state of preservation and from what we can learn has been occupied all the time of its long existence.
The property was recently sold for partition and Mr. T. G. McCraw bought the 'old house place'. He has moved it to another site and will remodel it and use it as a barn.
Because of its antiquity, many regret this disposition of the old house, but the old must give place to the new, and this old Revolutionary relic has been no exception to the rule."
J. D. Bailey in his History of Grindal Shoals, page 14, stated: "Henry Gaffney, Esq., who lived to an advanced age, told the writer that there was no doubt about this being the original Watt Adair house."
Other articles from The Gaffney Ledger are given below:
"Much of the action in the American Revolution takes place in Cherokee County and the surrounding area. Therefore, in an effort to reach the people from this area who had moved westward after the War Between the States, the following ad appeared in The Gaffney Ledger on February 23 1906:
Upon receipt of $1.50 or for that amount deposited in either of the Gaffney banks to my credit, I will deliver (postpaid) a copy of Horse Shoe Robinson by J. P. Kennedy, to any address in the United States. Signed J. L. Strain, Wilkinsville, S. C."
(See Cherokee County Calendar by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 163.)
In the October 26, 1906, issue of The Gaffney Ledger is recorded the following:
"The thrilling historical novel, Horse Shoe Robinson, will run in serial form in the columns of The Ledger beginning next Friday. This is a story of the Tory ascendancy in South Carolina. The story should prove of interest to Ledger readers because the setting of the story is in our own midst.
Horse Shoe Robinson is said to have ridden through Limestone Springs—then a crossroads settlement—along the old road that used to run through present day Gaffney just in rear of Mrs. L. V. Gaffney's residence, across the Southern Railway at Mr. Ollie Kendrick's, through Dr. J. F. Garrett's lot at corner of Buford and Limestone Streets and on to Limestone. Of course there was no railroad here then."
Another Gaffney Ledger article was published on November 11, 1906, and read:
"The exploits of Horse Shoe Robinson, now being republished by The Ledger, is creating as much interest among its readers as that thrilling story produced seventy years ago while many of the survivors of the Revolutionary War were living to verify the statements made in the book. Many of the scenes are laid in what is now Cherokee County. That the famous Dogwood Spring is within the corporate limits of Gaffney, there is not the shadow of a doubt, and other places mentioned are recognizable."
"The Daniel Morgan Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a marker on the trail to Dogwood Spring made famous in John P. Kennedy's book, Horse Shoe Robinson. It was placed on a two-ton boulder erected in the parkway of Victoria Avenue (now College Drive).
The boulder was a huge stone taken from Draytonville Mountain (Gilkey Mountain) and was presented to the chapter by D. B. Wood of Gaffney, S. C. Transportation of the boulder from Draytonville to its resting-place was accomplished through the courtesy and assistance of J. H. Curry and E. Wright Jolly, Cherokee County Supervisor.
Members of the chapter who were active in making arrangements included: Mrs. J. C. Jefferies, the regent; Mrs. W. J. Wilkins, vice regent; miss Mayme Jefferies, historian and chairman of the marking committee; Mrs. Eliza Carson, treasurer; Mrs. Pratt Pierson, registrar; and Mrs. B. R. Brown.
Dr. R. C. Granberry (president of Limestone College) delivered an address in which he said: 'The book, Horseshoe Robinson, recites a delightful love story based upon historical facts which we have reason to believe are accurate.
In this volume we catch the stalwart spirit of the days of 1780, and we also look upon an accurate picture of life in this general section during that interesting period in the history of our country.'"
(The Gaffney Ledger, October 24 & October 31, 1925.)
The marker was moved several years ago to the side of College Drive (formerly Victoria Avenue) and placed in the Oakland cemetery.
The Gaffney Ledger of October 26, 1925, states: "The Dogwood Springs were a short distance east of Victoria Avenue, in the rear of the residence of R. O. Ballenger."
There are many critics and few defenders of the book, Horse Shoe Robinson, and that in spite of the fact that Kennedy said: "I have been scrupulous to preserve the utmost historical accuracy in my narrative." Many of the book's critics are James Robertson's fellow South Carolinians.
One writer speaks of Horse Shoe as a "colorful figure who sprang from the imagination of John Kennedy". This writer states that "much of the action is based on actual episodes, Horseshoe and a boy capturing a squad of Scots Regulars by hoodwinking them—a trick actually performed by Samuel Otterson and one other soldier."
(The Narrative History of Union County, South Carolina by Allan D. Charles, p. 47, first edition.)
In Memoirs of Major Joseph McJunkin, Revolutionary Patriot, by Rev. James Hodge Saye, is found the following story of Major Samuel Otterson on p. 41, (limited editon):
"Major Samuel Otterson being on his way to join Morgan at Cowpens, was followed by a few badly mounted volunteers. Finding on his approach to the place that the battle was begun he determined to halt his men near a cross road, which he knew the enemy would take on the return, and wait either to make prisoners in case of their defeat or to attempt the rescue of our men who might be prisoners in their hands.
It was not long before a considerable body of the British horsemen were discovered in full speed coming down the road. They appeared evidently to have been defeated. Major (then Captain) Otterson now proposed to his men to follow the enemy and attempt to make some prisoners, but found only one man willing to join him.
Toward dusk Capt. Otterson and his companion pushed their horses nearer the enemy and when it was dark dashed in among them with a shout, fired their arms and ordered them to surrender.
The darkness prevented the enemy from knowing the number of those by whom they were surprised and they surrendered at once. They were required to dismount, come forward and deliver up their arms, which they did. Being all secured and light struck, nothing could exceed the mortification of the British officer in command when he found that he had surrendered to two men."
This story is a bit exaggerated in comparison with the story Samuel Otterson related in his Pension Application (No. S25344). "That he with several others about thirty were sent out as spies some days before the engagement at the Cowpens & from some cause did not arrive until the battle was over but in his attempt with the party under his command to regain Morgan's army he learned the defeat & retreat of Tarleton & his forces & pursued about a hundred of them in their retreat until night at which period all of his men had fallen off by their horses giving out except ten men when we overtook the enemy & killed one, took twenty two white prisoners & twenty seven negroes, sixty head of horses, 14 swords & 14 braces of pistols."
Horse Shoe captured four Scotsmen and an ensign with a boy while Samuel Otterson captured twenty-two British with ten soldiers. This writer does not think that these two stories are comparative. Kennedy states that the story of Horse Shoe's capture of the Scots was a true story.
In the book, Kings Mountain And Its Heroes, by Lyman C. Draper he tells the story of Samuel Clowney and a negro, Paul, who captured five Tories at Kelso's Creek about five miles from Cedar Springs near Spartanburg, S. C. (See page 137).
Samuel Clowney was serving in the Spartan Regiment under Col. John Thomas at this time (before the Siege of Charleston). James (Horse Shoe) Robertson was serving with the Continental forces in the low country until their defeat at Charleston in 1780, and would not likely have known about Clowney's capture of the five men.
If Samuel Otterson and Samuel Clowney could use similar tactics to capture British soldiers and Tories, why is it not possible that Horse Shoe used the same tactic?
In an article entitled, Horse Shoe Robinson Revisited, Robert J. Stevens wrote: "It is important to take careful note of the fact that Robertson mentioned nothing remotely connected to any of the facts presented in Horse Shoe Robinson." Apparently, he failed to read the first chapter concerning their surrender in Charleston on May 12th, 1780; the story of Horse Shoe's escape; and information concerning Col. Charles Pinckney.
Stevens wrote: "By his own sworn statement, he was in Charleston during the time of many of the events in which he was named in the book." Again, he failed to read the first sentence of the book, "It was about two o'clock in the afternoon of a day towards the end of July, 1780…"
If Horse Shoe was imprisoned May 12th, 1780, his escape would have occurred about June 12th. "It was a little over two months," said Robinson, "since I got away from them devils…" This statement would also have placed the time frame at the end of July. The events in the book would have occurred after his escape and through the Battle of Kings Mountain.
Stevens also wrote: "Logan had actually known Horseshoe Robinson and had accompanied him on a trip to Alabama in 1822."
There is a quote in Logan's History of the Upper Country of South Carolina that states: "I became acquainted with Horse Shoe Robinson who lived on a farm called Horse Shoe…I traveled many hundred miles with him about the year 1825."
This is actually the words of Alexander Shaw who traveled with Horse Shoe to Alabama. John Henry Logan was born in Abbeville District, S. C., on November 5, 1822, and it would have been impossible for Logan to have traveled with Horse Shoe.
(The Bulletin, Chester District Genealogical Society, Vol. XVII, December 1993, Number 4, "Horse Shoe Robinson" Revisited, by Robert J. Stevens.)
Thomas W. Christopher, in his article, What Happened to Horseshoe Robinson?, wrote:
"James Robertson called, Horseshoe, was a live person, flesh and bone. The evidence is beyond question.
His name and memory have been followed with much hard luck and with a flow of unfavorable (and undeserved) articles and reviews and indeed with flawed scholarship.
A virtual campaign has been in progress in the last several decades to demote the character, Horseshoe, in the novel from a leading role as a hero and a dominant figure to that of a faceless walk-on.
There is an assertion that the ex-soldier had little or no input in the novel, a harsh claim that is not justified, for it is clear that James Robertson in person, his war tales and experiences, and his charisma and image made substantial contributions to and was centrally important for the novel."
John P. Kennedy penned a letter to a friend and fellow novelist, Gilmore Simms, in 1852: "I have given a little personal adventure in the introduction…which is a true history of my acquaintance with the Hero."
"It seems both reasonable and logical to accept the claim by Mr. Kennedy that he made important use of the tales and war experiences he had heard from or about James Robertson. The tangible evidence and ordinary reasoning go that way. To take the other choice is to accuse author Kennedy, poet Alexander Meek, James Robertson, Mr. (Alexander) Shaw, and a multitude of Horseshoe's neighbors of playing with a web of deceit and untruth.
Mary Musgrove is an important character in the novel, with the feminine lead, so to speak. And as with Horseshoe, it is now asserted that she is pure fiction, created by the author. 'Horseshoe is the constant associate of the fictitious character Mary Musgrove…the author's creation.'
This assertion that Mary Musgrove was a creation of the novelist is erroneous; the facts are easily available. There was a miller's daughter by the name of Mary Musgrove, and she appears to have been a remarkable person, a supporter of the Whigs, and she lived in the middle of the war activities out from Cross Anchor.
Edward Musgrove, Mary's father, a magistrate and an important person in the community, operated a grist mill, naturally known as Musgrove's Mill, on the South side of Enoree River, between Cross Anchor and Clinton, South Carolina. He died at the age of 76 around 1792 (1790)."
(A copy of his last will, dated August 25, 1790, is on record in the Laurens County, S. C. Court House, Will Book A-1, pp. 28-29.)
*See What Happened to Horseshoe Robinson? by Thomas W. Christopher, published in The South Carolina Review, Vol. 28, p. 73, Fall 1955; and Kennedy's Horse Shoe Robinson: Fact or Fiction?, American Literature, Vol. IV, pp. 160-166, March 1932—January 1933 by J. R. Moore.
The Reverend J. W. Daniel in an article entitled Horse Shoe Robinson published in Southern Christian Advocate (page and date not given) wrote: "The book is a classic and ought to be in every home in Piedmont Carolina; yet it may be doubted that fifty copies could be found in all the counties of South Carolina.
A Marylander wrote it, and the facts worked into the plan were confirmed by Thomas P. Clinton, an Alabamian. The old hero had lived one-third of a century on the soil of Carolina unnoticed except by the legislature which donated to him the tract of land lying close up to the Blue Ridge, as a recognition of his daring deeds in the winning of independence.
Shame on the people who were the beneficiaries of the heritage he helped so heroically to win for them, that they have not cherished the memory of the uncultured old patriot and that some South Carolinian, himself, did not record his thrilling deeds in the histories of our commonwealth."
James and Sarah Morris Headen Robertson had seven children:
1. David Robertson. He was born August 20, 1784, while the family lived in the Thicketty Creek area of what is now Cherokee County, S. C. He married Sarah W. Thomas on July 12, 1810, after the family had moved to Pendleton District, South Carolina. She was born November 15, 1792, in Franklin County, Georgia. They had five sons and one daughter.
He died February 4, 1853, in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, and was buried in the Robertson Cemetery in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She died July 21, 1870, in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, and was buried in an unknown Caradine Cemetery, Clay County, Mississippi.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Keller—Lorance—Hardman—Robertson—Aycock, ID: 10849, David Robertson; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: William L. Braziel Family, ID: 1560735928, Sarah (Sallie) W. Thomas.)
2. John Robertson was born in 1788, in the Thicketty Creek area of South Carolina. He married Celia Harrison, daughter of John and Naomi ? Harrison, circa 1811, while the family lived in Pendleton District, S. C. She was born in 1794. They had six sons and three daughters.
He died in 1872, in Romulus, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, and she died in Romulus in 1873. They were buried at the original site of the New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery in Romulus, Alabama, about 12 miles west of Tuscaloosa.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: CA Love Tree, ID: 1437, John Robertson; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Robertson, ID: 1792, Celia Harrison; A Collection of Upper South Carolina Genealogical & Family Records, Vol. I, Rev. S. Emmett Lucas.)
3. William Robertson was born December 16, 1794, in Pendleton District, S. C. He married Jane (Jennie) Clemmons on June 3, 1819, in Pendleton District. She was born in Georgia, on May 26, 1803. They had four sons and two daughters.
Jane died August 15, 1853, and he was remarried to Sarah Arnett on June 18, 1860. He died November 11, 1861, in Romulus, Alabama. He and his first wife were buried in the Robertson Cemetery, Romulus, Alabama.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Before Me, ID:112224, William Robertson; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Before Me, ID: 112372, Contact Kathy Carroll, Jane (Jennie) Clemmons; Ancestry.com—William Robertson; Family Tree Maker—Descendants of James Robertson–Internet.)
4. Sarah Elizabeth Robertson was born in 1795, in Pendleton District, S. C. She married William Dunlap in Pendleton District. He was born in 1795.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: 24505, ID: 11448, Contact: Carolyn Henderson, Sarah Elizabeth Robertson.)
5. Abner Robertson was born in 1797, in Pendleton District, S. C. He married Sarah ? in Pendleton District. She was born circa 1800.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Harley Bennett, ID: 1506457151, Abner Robertson; RootsWeb's World Connect Project: 24505, ID: 11456, Contact Carolyn Henderson, Sarah.)
6. James Robertson was born December 16, 1799, in Pendleton District, S. C. He married Mary Louisa Holland on November 14, 1825, after the family had moved to Alabama. She was born November 29, 1805. They had three sons and two daughters.
She died in 1868, and he married Sarah A. He died November 23, 1873. James and Mary were buried in Greenwood Cemetery, in West Point, Mississippi.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: All the Info Tree, ID: 14421, Contact Michael Cressler, James Robertson; RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: All the Info Tree, ID: 14547, Mary Holland; Family Tree Maker—Descendants of James Robertson—Internet.)
7. Thomas Robertson was born circa 1801, in Pendleton District, S. C. He died in November of 1850, in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi.
(RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: William L. Braziel Family, ID: 1560735933, Thomas Robertson.)
David, John, William and Abner Robertson with William Dunlap sold James Robertson's Tuscaloosa County lands to James Robertson, Jr. on July 7, 1838, for $3,350.00. There was ½ acre reserved for a cemetery.
(Deed Book O, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.)
James (Horse Shoe) Robertson spent more than fifty years of his life as a resident of South Carolina. However, there is not one Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and not one Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in this state named for him.
The West Point Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Mississippi and the Sons of the American Revolution in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, were named for him.
Thomas Christopher wrote that he had a burning curiosity and a vague urge that kept him searching, looking for an old soldier from the American Revolution and his memory.
This writer has felt the same way as he has spent many hours in research and writing, seeking to give a truer account of the life of James Robertson and the book, Horse Shoe Robinson.
The following tribute to "Horseshoe Robinson" was extracted from a poem, entitled 'The Day of Freedom,' by Alexander B. Meek, and delivered as an oration at Tuscaloosa on the 4th of July, 1838:
"Valoriously He bore himself, and with his youthful arms Chivalrous deeds performed, which in a land of legendary lore had placed his name, Embalmed in song, beside the hallowed ones of Douglass and Percy; not unsung Entirely his fame.
Romance has wreathed With flowering fingers, and with wizard art That hangs the votive chaplet on the heart, His story, mid her fictions, and hath given His name and deeds to after times.
When last This trophied anniversary came round And called Columbia's patriot children out To greet its advent, the old man was here, Serenely smiling as the autumn sun Just dripping down the golden west to seek His evening couch.
Few months agone I saw Him in his quiet home, with all around Its wishes could demand—and by his side 'The loved companion of his youthful years'—This singing maiden of his boyhood's time; She had cheered him with her smiles when clouds Were o'er his country's prospects; who had trod In sun and shade, life's devious path with him, And whom kind Heaven had still preserved to bless, With all the fullness of material wealth, The mellowing afternoon of his decline.
Where are they now?—the old man and his wife? Alas! The broadening sun sets in the night, The ripening shock falls on the reaper's arm; The lingering guest must leave the hall at last; The music ceases when the feast is done; The old man and his wife are gone, From earth, Have passed in peace to heaven; and summer's flowers, Beneath the light of this triumphant day, Luxurious sweets are shedding o'er The unsculptured grave of 'Hoseshoe Robinson.'"
(Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama by Thomas M. Owen, pp. 101-102.)