The photo was taken in August 1969 when I received an MA from the University of Oklahoma. Pictured are, left to right, Mansel Grant Armstrong (1897-1977), Edward Arthur Alvis (1926-2003), Evelynne (Armstrong) Alvis (1926-2017), Kathy (Alvis) Patterson (born 1947), Malcolm Howie Patterson (born 1941), George Orville Alvis (1901-1983); seated, Ethel (Light) Armstrong (1900-1991) and Mary (Pedigo) Alvis (1905-1982).
16 William Henry Harrison ALVIS. Born on 11 Jan 1832 in Missouri. Married 14 Dec 1856, Madison Co IL. Died 17 Apr 1874 at Brighton, Macoupin Co IL. Listed in census as a teamster, died of cerebrospinal meningitis.
17 Frances BROOKS. Born on 17 Jan 1837 in Fosterburg, Madison Co IL. Married #2 Martin Harkey (ca 1803-1893), 5 Jul 1883, Nokomis Twp, Montgomery Co IL. Died 13 Jan 1917, Irving, Montgomery Co IL. Frances and William’s third child—after earlier twin daughters—and first son was Edward Amandus Alvis, who lived in Dickinson Co KS, Custer Co OK, and Howell Co MO.
18 George EYSTER. Born on 18 Apr 1815 in Adams Co PA. Married 22 Nov 1855, Carlisle, Cumberland Co PA. Died 10 Apr 1893, Abilene, Dickinson Co KS. Elder in the Brethren in Christ Church.
19 Margaret RAMP. Born on 24 Feb 1834 in Cumberland Co PA. Died 26 May 1904, Thomas, Custer Co OK. She became ill on a train trip to California; the train stopped in a town where several of her children lived so she could get off to be with them, and she died there. She was buried beside her husband in Abilene, Dickinson Co KS. Margaret’s second child and second daughter was Anna Margaret Eyster, who moved with her family to Custer Co OK at the same time her brothers and others of the community did.
20 Berry Rowlett PEDIGO. Born on 12 Mar 1842 in Hart Co KY. Married 27 Jul 1866, Hart Co KY. Died 5 Apr 1923, Bridgeport,Caddo Co OK. Son of Elijah Pedigo and first wife, Frances HARPER. He was hit by an unscheduled train. Minister, farmer, flour miller, hotel keeper. Pastor of Missionary Baptist Church of Hinton OK. Civil War 21st KY Cavalry, GAR 1861-1866.
21 Martha Jane GOSSETT. Born on 4 Jan 1846 in Barren Co KY. Died 29 Aug 1837, Bridgeport, Caddo Co OK. She was her husband’s first cousin once removed. Martha’s seventh child of 13 and fourth son was Joshua Abraham Lincoln Pedigo, who followed his parents to Oklahoma about 12 years later. Two of the children older than Lincoln died early as did three who followed him, so growing up he had one older sister, three older brothers, one younger brother and two younger sisters. All of Berry and Martha’s surviving children were in Oklahoma at least for a time.
22 William Rush ATWELL. Born on 15 Apr 1854 in Metcalfe Co KY. Married Susan M “Sudie” Nunn, 15 Dec 1876, Metcalfe Co KY. Married #2 Jane Cynthia “Jinny” Huff, 24 Dec 1882, Metcalfe Co KY. He was a bee keeper. Censuses always listed him as a farmer and manual farm laborer.
23 Jane Cynthia HUFF. Born in 1866 in Hart Co KY, called Jinney. Died between 1891 and 1893 in Horse Cave, Hart Co KY. When she married Rush Atwell, she became stepmother to a two-year-old and to a two-month old, both boys. She gave birth to four children, two boys and two girls, Lucy being her third child and second girl. Lucy was very close to her sister Mary for her entire life, perhaps because they lost their mother at such a young age.
24 John ARMSTRONG Jr. Born on 31 Dec 1819 in Livingston Co NY. He married Susannah Moran, in 1842 in Illinois. He married #2 Nancy Ann Morris, 15 Dec 1852, in Mason Co IL. He was a farmer and a Republican. He died 22 Jan 1890, Bethany, Harrison Co MO.
25 Nancy Ann MORRIS. Born on 21 Sep 1829 in Adams Co OH. She died 27 Aug 1891 in Bethany, Harrison Co MO. Nancy’s third child and second son (her husband’s sixth child) was John Franklin Armstrong, who moved to the frontier in Oklahoma and lived in Foss, Washita Co; he died at the age of 85. Other than their daughter Jennie, who died at age 22, all of Nancy’s twelve children lived long lives, from one who died at 65, then another at 68, several who lived into their 70s, more living into the 80s, and at least three into their 90s. The daughters of John’s first wife lived to be 54, 60, and 72.
26 Reuben Webster TURNER. Born on 1 Feb 1829 in Fayette Co IN. Married Margaret Ellen Parker, 20 Dec 1861, Vigo Co IN, and divorced 25 Oct 1883, Worth Co MO. He died 10 Nov 1905 or 1915 in Foss, Washita Co OK. He was an oculist and a merchant. He served in the Civil War in Capt. Wesley Sanders Company, Indiana Volunteers, Co G, 78th IN Infantry. After Margaret’s second divorce, they apparently shared a home, although no second marriage record has been found. One granddaughter wrote that they lived 7 miles or so apart.
27 Margaret Ellen PARKER. Born on 7 Nov 1843 in Vigo Co IN. She married #2 Stewart Benjamin McCord, 11 Mar 1893, Worth Co MO, and divorced 24 Seo 1901, Grant City MO. She died 27 Apr 1926, at Foss, Washita Co OK, just a month before she would have met her new great-granddaughter, Evelynne Maurine Armstrong. Margaret had eight children with her first husband and none with the second. The fourth child and third girl—the first boy died young—was Anna Samantha. There were four later children. In all, six of the children grew up and married. It has been stated that she must have loved flowers since her daughters were named Florence, Lillian, Samantha, Roza, and Violet. And Mable means “loveable.” Samantha may be related to the Hebrew name Samuel, but it more likely from the Greek word “antha,” meaning flower.
28 Oliver Perry LIGHT. Born on 7 Apr 1828 in Clermont Co OH. He married Nancy Jane Prather, 6 Sep 1853, Shelbyville, Shelby Co IL. Died 28 Mar 1904, Wymore, Gage Co NE. He was a Methodist minister and served as chaplain during the Civil War, in the 7th Minnesota Regiment from 1862 to 1864 and probably participated in the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889. He preached the first sermon in El Reno, Canadian Co OK, after the town was settled.
29 Nancy Jane PRATHER. Born on 12 Sep 1833 in Clark Co IN. Died 4 Aug 1895, Wymore, Gage Co NE. Before her marriage, she was a schoolteacher. As a minister’s wife, she was active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Her fourth child, the second to survive infancy, was her first boy, William Russell Light. Her children were educated by her at home, and William attended Northwestern University, receiving both a BA and later an MA degree.
30 Augustus DORSEY. Born on 30 Dec 1841 in Somerset Co PA. Died 2 Jul 1924, Conway Springs, Sumner Co KS. He served in the Civil War, particpating in the Battle of Gettysburg on Co K 18th Regiment of the PA Cavalry. He was a prisoner at Andersonville. After the War, he moved west, marrying in Illinois, settling first in Nebraska, and then moving with his second wife and family to Kansas. He married first, Frances Minerva Shultz, on 22 Oct 1868, Dixon, Lee Co IL, and second, Ersula Frye, 3 Aug 1879 in Lincoln, Lancester Co Co NE.
31 Frances Minerva SHULTZ. Born on 1 Apr 1849 in Somerset Co PA. Died 8 Jun 1878 in Lincoln, Lancester Co NE. Her third child and second daughter was Mary Ellen, called Dolly. She died a few days after the birth and death of her fourth child. Died 8 Jun 1878 in Lincoln, Lancester Co NE.
32 James Woodson (or Woodford) ALVIS was born in 1808 in TN. He died, probably in Missouri between 1844 and 1850. Son of Shadrach and Nancy (Hail) Alvis.
33 Leatha/Luvina Merrick PULLIAM. Born in 1808 in TN. Died ater 1880. Daughter of Alsey and Frances (McClendon) Pulliam. In Illinois she later married Martin Dial, Edward King and Charles Cavender. All marriage records have been located.
34 Asa BROOKS. Born in 1792 in Buffalo, area outside Ft Niagara, NY. Died 6 Feb 1849 in Fosterburg, Madison Co IL. Almost certainly son of Michael and Elizabeth (Boughton) Brooks.
35 Anna JOY. Born in 1795 in Putney, Windham Co VT. Died between 1845 and 1848 in Fosterburg, Madison Co IL. Daughter of David and Mary (Dickinson) Joy.
36 Jacob EYSTER. Born on 28 Nov 1789 in Hanover, York Co PA. Died 22 Oct 1839, Bendersville, Adams Co PA. Son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Reiff) Eyster.
37 Catherine WENTZ. Born on 9 Feb 1794 in PA. Died on 4 Jan 1855, Bendersville, Adams Co PA. Probably daughter of John Philip and Maria Magdalena (Bilger) Wentz.
38 Samuel RAMP. Born on 20 Sep 1793 in Berks Co PA. Died on 20 Apr 1868, Mifflin Township, Cumberland Co PA. Son of Philip and Elizabeth (Albrecht) Ramp.
39 Elizabeth WORST. Born on 3 Dec 1794 in Cumberland Co PA. Died on 23 Mar 1868, Mifflin Township, Cumberland Co PA. Daughter of Jacob and Catharine (Wax) Worst.
40 Elijah PEDIGO. Born on 3 May 1809 in Patrick Co VA. Died possibly 1906, Polk Co MO. Son of Levi and Mary Blakey (Edens) Pedigo.
41 Frances HARPER. Born before 1810 in Hart Co KY. Died between 1848 and 1850 in Hart Co KY. Daughter of James and Mary (Woosley) Harper. William Meredith, son of her first marriage, wrote a letter from California gold fields to his uncle, Willis Harper, thus giving us the names of her parents.
42 Henry GOSSETT. Born on 4 Dec 1818 in Martinsville, Henry Co VA. Died 2 Jun 1912, Hart Co KY. Son of Cavin and Mary (Phifer) Gossett.
43 Elizabeth PEDIGO. Born on 23 Nov 1824 in Barren Co KY. Died 2 Mar 1861, Hart Co KY. Daughter of William and Elizabeth (Cliff) Pedigo.
44 Benjamin ATWELL. Born on 24 Nov 1807 in NC. Died 3 Feb 1895, Horse Cave, Hart Co KY. Son of John Atwell Jr and his first wife, who was probably Anne Lewis.
45 Susan ERWIN. Born on 24 Jan 1815 in Green Co KY. Died 4 Aug 1893, Horse Cave, Hart Co KY. Daughter of William (Jr) and Sarah (Forbis) Erwin.
46 Lorenzo Dow HUFF. Born on 12 Oct 1839 in Wayne Co KY. Died 17 Dec 1912, Crail Hope, Hart Co KY. Son of George Washington and Malinda (Denton) Huff.
47 Laura Frances GENTRY. Born on 25 May 1844 in Hart Co KY. Died 13 Feb 1911, Green Co KY. Daughter of Benjamin and Emily (Martin) Gentry.
48 John ARMSTRONG Sr. Born after Feb 1787 [prob ca 1789] in NJ. Died 1852, Grand River, Ontario. Son of John Armstrong and Bathsheba (Coleman) Moore.
49 Mary BARRON. Born in 1801 in NY. Died 1879, Clayton Co IA. Daughter of William and Margery (Wilkinson) Barron; they were the latest of my ancestral lines to come to America, ca 1800.
50 George MORRIS. Born in 1790 in Lexington, Fayette Co KY. Died 1 Jun 1861, Mason Co IL. Son of Jesse Morris and wife, Elizabeth Jones, or less likely, Jesse’s brother, Thomas Morris and his wife, Susannah Appleton.
51 Elizabeth HURD. Born in 1807 in Adams Co OH. Died ca 1859, Mason Co IL. Daughter of Caleb and Martha (Oursler) Hurd.
52 Greenville Person TURNER. Born on 15 May 1797 in Franklin Co VA. Died 8 Oct 1877, Putnam Co IN. Son of Wilson and Elizabeth (Doss) Turner.
53 Deborah WEBSTER. Born on 11 Jun 1796 in Franklin Co VA. Died 22 Nov 1836, Putnam Co IN. Daughter of Samuel and Susannah (Bagby) Webster.
54 Greenberry PARKER. Born in 1810/1815 in SC. Died between 1844 and 1850, Vigo Co IN. Son of William and Candace (Austin) Parker of Wilkes Co NC and Morgan, later Putnam Co IN.
55 Elizabeth WILLOUGHBY. Born in 1813 in TN, prob Greene Co TN. Died 1900, Worth Co MO. Daughter of Elijah and Susannah (Leachman) Willoughby.
56 David LIGHT. Born on 5 Sep 1800 in Clermont Co OH. Died 16 Sep 1888, Edgar Co IL. Son of Jacob and Catherine (Harmon) Light.
57 Harriet DICKINSON. Born on 20 Nov 1802 in Wyoming, Ontario Co NY. Died 26 Jan 1873, Edgar Co IL. Daughter of David and Anna (Gilbert) Dickinson.
58 James Russell PRATHER. Born on 17 Nov 1807 in Clark Co IN. Died 25 Jan 1850, Jefferson Co IA. Son of Lloyd Benton and Nancy (Redman) Prather.
59 Louvica Caroline VEACH. Born in 1806/1810 in KY. Died 15 Jul 1841, Harrison Co IN. Daughter of Jacob and Mary (Hilton) Veach.
60 Lloyd DORSEY. Born on 12 Mar 1813 in Somerset Co PA. Died 3 Jun 1873, Somerset Co PA. Son of William Cumming and Mary (Black) Dorsey.
61 Sarah Ann MOSER. Born on 27 Mar 1813 in Berks Co PA. Died 8 Dec 1870, Somerset Co PA. Daughter of Michael (Jr) and Maria Magdalena (Frey) Moser.
62 Joseph SHULTZ. Born on 30 May 1819 in Somerset Co PA. Died 22 Aug 1902, Dixon Lee Co IL. Son of Conrad and Catherine (Kooser) Shultz.
63 Catherine HANNA. Born on 10 Nov 1819 or 13 Apr 1820 in Somerset Co PA. Died 24 Jun 1862, Somerset Co PA. Daughter of Alexander and Julianna (Berkey) Hanna.
64 Shadrach Alvis. Born ca 1788 in Goochland Co VA. He died after 1860 in Jefferson Co IL. Son of Ashley and Elizabeth (Knollings/Nowlin) Alvis.
David Dickinson of Ashburnham and Shelburne MA
Note: December 2017, autosomal DNA evidence links this writer, 4th great-granddaughter of David Dickinson Jr, to a number of descendants of Concord, Massachusetts, relatives of David Sr. For example, there are matches to several descendants of Sarah Meriam of Concord. She was a first cousin of David’s, a granddaughter of Timothy and Abigail (Munroe) Wheeler, and her other grandparents were also both related to the families from which this David descends.
These are the reasons I believe our David Dickinson is the David Dickinson, Jr, of Ashburnham, Massachusetts.
All of these families had branches in the Hudson River valley about the time of the Revolutionary War, but I did not find a David of the right age, who might have gone to western NY at the time ours did. I have published my Dickinson gedcom at Rootsweb.com under the name “New England Dickinsons.”
David belongs to a smaller New England Dickinson group, the Rowley MA family of Thomas and Jennet (–?–) Dickinson, found in George Brainard Blodgette and Amos Everett Jewett, Early Settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts, 1981, pages 94, 95, 98. One man listed in this book, David Dickinson, bp 18 Oct 1741, is known from the sources mentioned above to have had a son, David Dickinson, born in 1769, named as one of eight children in his father’s 1809 will; he had a stepmother and left home before age 21.
Like the family of George Dickinson in Ashburnham MA, our David, especially in Steuben Co NY records, used the names Dickinson and Dickerson interchangeably and about equally.
Persis’s death was recorded at Carlisle MA on 1782.
This David Dickinson Sr was a son of George Dickinson Jr and his wife Sarah Spofford, who had:
No further records are known for Daniel and Jeremiah; Amos, David and Francis are all in later censuses. Note the existence of men named Francis in this family.
3. In Chautauqua County and Its People there is mention of David Dickenson arriving in that county from Berkshire Co MA in 1804. He had a dwelling on Dewberry St. and he erected a sawmill.
Proximity to Berkshire County = Family in Shelburne MA. History of Ashburnham states that David Sr moved to Shelburne MA in 1779; he was there as early as 1777, but no Dickinsons by any spelling were found in that town in 1790. David Jr could have gone to Berkshire County after his mother’s death, or Shelburne might be considered as in the Berkshire mountains. Shelburne is about half a county away from the Berkshire County line.
4. Father’s war record. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution,p 740: “Dickerson, David. Receipt dated Shelburne, Sept. 22, 1777, for mileage, etc., from Shelburne to Stillwater, paid said Dickerson and others by the Selectmen of Shelburne; Capt. John Wells certifies that the men whose names appear upon the receipt went out of town with him.” David’s brother Amos is listed on pages 734, “Amos Dickason,” 735, “Amos Dickenson,” and 743, “Amos Dickinson,” all three times as a Lieutenant for Ashburnham or Worcester Co MA or with the same captain. Any references in this source for Daniel or Francis appear to be different men, from Hatfield or Hampshire County, not David and Amos’s brothers.
5. Lack of known connections to other Dickinsons = his father’s apparent remarriage in Ashburnham. Lydia Hapgood married Abraham Munroe, 4 Apr 1775, in Harvard, Worcester Co MA. A daughter Lydia was born in 1776. According to The Hapgood Family: Descendants of Shadrach 1656-1898, by Warren Hapgood, and Genealogy of John Wetherbee of Stow and Marlboro, MA, by Ethel Wetherbee Mazza, Lydia later married David Dickinson, on 25 Feb 1784, in Ashburnham, where their two sons, Abraham and William, were born. This is the same David previously married to Persis Wheeler, since Stearns and the Hapgood-Wetherbee writers all give him the same birthdate. Stearns gives David Jr’s birth and that of his sister Sally; the other writers name Lydia’s sons.
6. His father’s will. For comparison, with the children named in his will, see David, Sr’s census record.
•1790 census, Harvard, Worcester Co MA: 142. This household is near Lydia’s father, Shadrach Hapgood.
•1800 census, Harvard, Worcester Co MA: “David Dickinson”; the father lived until 1809, although only the wife and children are listed, 02000/00010.
•1810 Keene, Cheshire Co NH: Abraham Dickinson, 00100/10100; Wm Dickinson, 00200/20101. Note that Lydia is with son William here. There is a Joel Dickinson in the same town: 00101/02110; he is Joel Dickinson, who married Eunice Holton, from the Nathaniel Dickinson family—no relation.
•1820 Keene, Cheshire Co NH: Lydia Dickinson: 000000/00001; Abraham Dickinson: 200010/21010; William Dickinson: 200010/12010. These names are listed together.
7. Lack of known connections to other Dickinsons = the lack of other closely related Dickinsons. There were numerous Dickinsons in Rowley MA, since most of the family stayed in eastern Massachusetts. George Dickinson Sr and his wife, Martha Nelson, had one son, George Jr, and three daughters. This George Jr and his wife, Sarah Spofford, went to Worcester County where only three sons appear to have lived to adulthood. Amos had one son, who died in infancy. David Dickinson Sr, as has been seen, had David Jr, Calvin, and the two half-brothers. Francis was in later Ashburnham censuses with Paul and Samuel Dickinson and may be the father of John, named in Stearns.
My conclusion here is that David Jr of Ashburnham had very few close relatives named Dickinson. Any close Dickinson relatives stayed in New England: his half-brothers moved with their mother to NH and two or three cousins stayed in Ashburnham.
Where was this David in 1790 and earlier? He was not with his father in 1790. By 1800, our David has been found in western NY.
8. Location: Two members of his mother’s family, uncles Jonas Jr and Silas Wheeler, died in Steuben Co NY, and another, Isaac Wheeler, died in nearby Tioga Co PA.
Steuben Co NY and other western Wheelers. Persis (Wheeler) Dickinson was a child in the following family, according to The Genealogical and Encyclopedic History of the Wheeler Family in America, Albert Gallatin Wheeler Jr, Boston MA, 1914: Jonas Wheeler, son of Timothy and Abigail (Munroe) Wheeler was born at Concord MA, 18 May 1720, and died at New Ipswich, New Hampshire, 1815. He was married at Concord, 13 Oct 1743, to Persis Brooks, who died in 1816, at 87 years of age. She was the daughter of Benjamin Brooks and Sarah (Heywood) Brooks. Jonas lived in the east part of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, near Hoar Pond, in 1758. Jonas’s children, all born at Concord MA:
9. Geographical situation of this family. The Dickinson family studied here moved west in a clear trajectory ending in western NY. The Dickinsons first lived in Rowley, Essex Co MA, then one son, George Jr, moved west to Harvard and later Ashburnham MA, then one of George’s sons, David Sr, continued the western move to Shelburne MA. David Jr went from there to western NY, where he was found in Ontario County in 1795 and 1800, Leicester NY (present-day Livingston County) in 1803, and Pomfret, Chautauqua Co NY in 1804.
David Sr moved east again, to Harvard MA, Shirley MA, and eventually to Keene NH.
10. The use of the name Wheeler. About a year after I determined the David Dickinson of Ashburnham MA was the most likely father of my David, I found a biography from Ancestry.com: Nebraska, The Land and the People, Vol. 3, which confirmed my belief that David Jr’s son, David W Dickinson may have been David Wheeler Dickinson.
My comments on this article: the statement that the family was from England is loosely true, but I think they were in America long before Charles T Dickinson even knew. This Nebraska article was written ca 1925, when Charles was almost 80. The actual author of the article was either his son, a grandchild, or a local who took notes. That person seems to have done a great job with facts within Charles’s memory, but probably confused generations. David W Dickinson was Charles’s father not his great-grandfather.
David W Dickinson, born either 1800 or 1805, had a brother Charles and a brother William F. The name Francis Dickinson occurs several times among the children of David Dickinson (1769-ca 1830s), but I don’t find a Daniel at all.
I can add that in my researches, I found no family with sons named David W, Charles and Daniel, ca mid-to-late 1700s. Charles Thaddeus Dickinson’s father, David W. Dickinson was about 50 when Charles was born, his own father David [Jr] had probably been dead about 30 years, and he had never known the grandfather, David Sr of Ashburnham. The Clermont Co OH family is distinctive in its lack of connection to other branches of the Dickinson family. It is reasonable that David W Dickinson named his son Charles for his own presumed brother, and that Charles Thaddeus named his son for his own father.
11. The use of the name Francis Dickinson. David Dickinson of Clermont County, Ohio, had a son named William Francis, and several descendants in the next two generations continued the use of this name. David W[heeler?] had a son named Francis; Harriet (Dickinson) Light named a son Charles Dickinson, presumably for her brother, and two of her sons named children Francis Dickinson Light.
I therefore conclude that my David Dickinson was David Jr; his son David W Dickinson was the third generation with this name. The W probably stands for Wheeler, as his grandson’s name confirms. My conclusion that my ancestor David Dickinson was the son of David and Persis (Wheeler) Dickinson received validation when I discovered that the name Wheeler was used among David’s descendants.
12. To this may now be added DNA evidence, although of course after this many generations, more work is needed. More matching descendants and triangulation would be helpful.
© Kathy Alvis Patterson 2008, updated 2017
[1] Seth Wheeler had a daughter Persis who married her first cousin Daniel Dickinson.
[2] History of Chautauqua County, New York, by Obed Edson, 1894, page 168.
[3] David of Westminster VT (married Rhoda Adams), Major David of Deerfield (married Mary Warner), and David of Conway, Massachusetts, who died at the age of seven.
I’ve been climbing the Atwell tree since 1966, when my great-grandmother herself told me about her ancestry. She was born Lucy Birdie Atwell. Anyone around in the 1960s will think immediately of the Lyndon Johnson family with a Lynda, a Lucy, and a Lady Bird.
Her father was William Rush Atwell, 1854-1943, the son of…
Benjamin Atwell, 1807-1895.
I corresponded with Hubert Atwell of Horse Cave, KY, 1919-2008, who sent details including cemetery pictures and locations. He was my half second cousin once removed. My dad met him on a trip to Kentucky in the 1980s.
I concentrated on getting census data on my Atwell ancestry, corresponded with other people, and found a few books about the Hart Co KY area. At that time, I didn’t even realize that Benjamin’s father…
John Atwell Jr, 1770/74-before 1840…
was brother to another Atwell family in that part of Kentucky, Richard Atwell, 1782/6-after 1850.
One fact Hubert Atwell gave me was that four families came to Kentucky from North Carolina together, the Atwells, the Jewells, the Nunns, and the Bastins. That was a big help in determining where in North Carolina my Atwells were from.
There was and still is a confusing situation. Two men about the same age are both named John Atwell, and both their fathers were called John as well. My family came from Maryland to Caswell Co NC after 1790. The other John Atwell, who married Martha Rice in 1786 in Prince Edward Co VA, moved to Caswell Co NC in 1819. I have never seen a connection between these families. I’ll attach what Mrs Robert Epps sent me about this family to an addendum to this long email.
A third John Atwell was also in Caswell Co NC, ca 1787 MD-1863 Iredell Co NC, married Benedicta “Beney” Smith.
Either my John Atwell or this man was a son of John Atwell, 1742-1827. This John had a son Locke Atwell, 1784 MD-1844 Rowan Co MD. I have several DNA matches to descendants of Locke Atwell. It is my opinion that other researchers have assumed this man’s wife’s name was Lockett because of Locke; but I ask, why not Locke as a surname?
About this time in my research, a man from Alabama named Don Atwell visited cemeteries all over the south and collected many headstone transcripts, that he shared with me.
I kept for many years a list of all Atwell marriages I could find.
The Internet changed everything. This is when I was able to complete my census collection and put together valid and speculative family groups. I also traced what I could find on the Otwell family.
And DNA made another incredible leap in what could be known about our ancestry. I just checked at Family Tree DNA, that has a chromosome browser. I match Audra Reschly, who descends from Curtis Otwell through Shadrack to Sarah (Otwell) Hodson, at only 10 cM. She also has an 18 cM x-chromosome match with me, not through Otwells, unless they married early into another of my ancestral families.
I have been involved in DAR genealogy almost since I started genealogy. I currently have 25 proven Patriot Ancestors, although not any Atwell. Benjamin Atwell’s wife Susan Erwin has at least two patriots, James Curry and Joseph Bryan, so I documented my Atwells for DAR standards back to Benjamin and his wife. I have clear evidence linking Benjamin to John Atwell Jr, but don’t know if he is son or nephew of John Sr. I have many DNA links to descendants of both.
Rumors have also circulated for years that our immigrant ancestor Joseph Peregois was a scion of French nobility, a relative of the notorious Talleyrand, who was born 90 years later. There is also a specific castle in France that Americans have visited.
This information cannot be true, since there is no extant document that says anything about Joseph before his arrival in Baltimore:
Three later records show his continued residence in Baltimore and identify his wife:
See http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~odyssey/pedigo/peregois.htm.
The source of his French nobility claims was a letter from Katie Reynolds Taylor to her cousin Leona Arnett Murray, 1904. Her letter is full of unsubstantiated claims and clearly wrong misstatements. It is also the source of the spurrious claim that our Elkins family were Jewish.
I also have a copy of a monograph entitled “Peregoy-Perrigo-Pedigo (Possibilities and Probabilities).” The author is unknown, but I was sent a copy by John Paul Grady about 1967, that I handcopied.
At some time since my original correspondence with John Paul Grady, the simple given names of the Elkins sisters, Mary who married Robert Pedigo, and Hannah, who married Edward, became twisted with middle names—pretty much unknown in the 1730s when they were born—confusion over which sister married which brother, and even a scenario where one was named Hannah Mary and the other Mary Hannah. There are no documents with those names, and I do not know who started changing the names about.
In the mid-1980s several statements about my ancestor, Elijah Pedigo, were circulating as though proven facts. They may have had the same source and stated:
A 1988 letter from Ramona Kane cleared up the first issue. She wrote that she wasn’t sure which of her great-grandmothers was named Hall and which was Harper, so she just wrote Hall. The W comes from an awkwardly written H in her second marriage certificate, “Frances H Meredith.”
I traced the two “nephews’ from the Bishops’ 1860 census and determined they were more distant relatives than that. George Walter Pedigo and his brother Samuel were sons of Levi E and Emma Gertrude (Duvall) Pedigo. This Levi E was the youngest known son of Elijah’s brother, Levi E Pedigo Sr.
And I located a family connection in Missouri, not a Pedigo, who was named Heldermon and died in 1906; he was the grandfather of the husband of Vanada Kessler, a granddaughter of Berry Rowlett Pedigo.
NAMES WHICH OCCUR IN BOTH COL. ABRAHAM PENN’S MUSTER ROLL, MARCH 1781 AND HENRY CO VA TAX LIST, 1787
© Kathy Alvis Patterson 2008
The purpose of this list is to illustrate how many of the men from the Guilford Courthouse Militia were still in Henry Co VA six years later, and also how often Col. Penn’s list does not show the same spelling as the tax list. At times, the man’s name may not appear on the tax list, but his family may have still been in the county.
Col. Penn’s list/ those names also found in 1787 spelling in tax list, if different
Abraham Penn
George Waller
David Lanier
Jonathan Hamby /Jonathan Hanby
George Hairston
Edward Tatum
Josiah Shaw
Jesse Corn
Hamon Critz/ Haman Critz
Charles Dotson/ Charles Dodson
William Dotson/ William Dodson
Deverix Gilliam
William Going/ Wm. Gowing
William Smith
Thomas Hollinsworth/ Thomas Hollandworth
Samuel Packwood
Daniel Smith
William Cox
John Davis
Thomas Edwards
Richard Gilley
Archie Murphy/ Archebald Murphy
William Moore
John Pharis/ [xxx] Farriss
John Rea
Brice Martin
John Burchell/ [xxx] Burchel
John Cox
Thomas Jones
John Pyrtle
Joseph Piper/ Joseph Phifer
John Pursell/ John Parsley
Michael Rowland
John Kelly
William Bohanon
John Brammer
John Stanley/ John Standley
John Alexander
Joseph Anglin/ [xxx] Anglen
John Bowling
John East
William Hays
_____ Joyce/ Alexander Joyce
David Mays
John Richardson
Lewis Bradberry/ Lewis Bradbury
Aristophus Baughn/ [xxx] Vaughn
John Crouch
Jesse Elkins
John Jones
John Jamerson
John Kitchen
Richard Parsley
Thomas Hambleton
Morris Humphreys/ Morriss Humphris
James Roberts
Bartlett Reynolds
John Taylor
Samuel Luttrell/ [xxx] Littrul
John Fontaine/ John Fountaine
William Graves
Stephen King
Thomas Leak
George Pool/ George Poor
James Rea
Joseph Rice
Thomas Smith
George Bowles/ [xxx] Bowls
William Bowling
Nathan Jones
John Nance
Joseph Peregoy/ Joseph Pedegau
Joseph Pearson/ [xxx] Pierson
John Burch/ John Burchfield
Charles Dickerson
John Doyal/ [xxx] Doyall
William Elkins
Joseph Gravely
Edward Smith
Michael Barker
John Branham
William Branham
James Crawley/ James Croley
John Edwards
George Folly/ [xxx] Foley
John Gibson/ [xxx] Gipson
Joseph Hurt
Joel Harbour
Elephas Shelton/ Eliphaz Shelton
Jacob Adams
John Barrat/ John Barrott
Francis Barrat/ Francis Barrott
Shadrack Barrat/ Shadrack Barrott
Thomas Hudson
Joanthan Hanby
Nelson Donothan/ Nelson Donathan
Dudley Stephens/ Dudley Stevens
Joshua Stephens/ Joshua Stevens
James Poteet/ James Poteete
Peter Bays
Aquilla Black/ Aquila Blackley
Ben Hubbard/ Benjamin Hubbard
Charles Hibbert/ Charles Hibbitt
Ambrose Mullins
George Nevil/ [xxx] Nevill
Richard Potson/ Richard Pilson
Ninon Prater/ Ning Prater
Thomas Tinson/ Thomas Tenison
Peter Tittle
John Ratford/ John Radford
Joseph Walden/ Joseph Waldon
William Dellingham/ [xxx] Dillingham
William Bartee
Additional last names from Col. Penn’s list still represented in Henry Co in 1787: Cloud, Watson, Belcher, Lockhart, Cunningham, Turner, Webster, Hall, Hurd/Hurt/Heard, Robertson, Gray, Wilson, Barker, Mitchell, Rogers, Dunn, Harris, Massey, Mullins, Allen, Evey/Ivie, Johnson, Dillard, DePriest, Fee, Sims, Witt, Bennett, Haile/Hale, Anderson, Cook, Payne, Burnett, Pratt, Stewart, Brown, Bryant, Small, Harris, Bowman, Chandler, Hensley, Howell, Street, Hill, McGuire, Woods, Thompson, Graves. Although many spelling differences are seen to be minor, there are times the initial letter is changed from F to PH, or PH is changed to P, three times a syllable is dropped, and several times consonants or vowels are changed.
Conclusion: Col. Penn was not accurate in the spelling of the names of men in his militia.
Analysis and compilation by Kathy Alvis Patterson, using a Col. Penn’s autograph muster list, the transcribed list in Pedigo, History of Patirck and Henry Cos VA, and Schreiner-Yantis, Personal Property Tax Lists for 1787, Henry Co VA (1987) @2008
Note these conclusions are generally supported by circumstantial and documentary evidence but are still subject to reinterpretation as more evidence becomes available.
DNA matches reinforce the placement of several people in the families that the research of myself and others suggests:
Waiting to be resolved
New Family names not yet connected
Now known to match my maternal aunt Ramona Duff.
Questionable parents and maiden name. It has been claimed she was a daughter of convicted and executed witch, Rebecca Greensmith, by her first husband, Abraham Elsen.
I am trying to locate evidence of Sarah’s parentage. This must be the source of the claim: Abraham Elsen and William Hills are listed consecutively in Thomas Patrick Hughes and Frank Munsell, American Ancestry, Volume 12 (1899), page 131, as ancestors of Mary (Butler) Gilbert, who married Capt. Nathaniel Gilbert of Middletown CT on 25 Dec 1744.
A gedcom, “Vandiver, Neal, Atherton, Pyland, Settle, Stavely, Lynn, Gish, Rust, Abner, Mchood, Tayloe, Outlaw, Atherton,” at Ancestry.com, posted by “Christy,” identifies Mary as a granddaughter of William and Hannah (Hills) Butler and the mother of Hannah Hills as Sarah Elsen.
All records I have located on the Internet seem to track back to a lady named Ellen Baker of Seattle WA. Her email address is no longer valid.
Abraham Elsen
First Puritan Settlers of Connecticut: “Elson, Abraham, of Wethersfield, left a widow and two daughters, one 3 years and the other one year and a half old. He ordered his lands be rented for four years to support his children. Estate valued at 221 pounds. He gave to his friend B. Gardner’s children, his lot at the meadow gate, and the remainder to his wife, except his house and home lot, which he gave to the two sons of his [brother’s] wife, Benjamin and Job, after her decease.”
Ancestral Heads of New England Families: “John, brother of the preceeding (Abraham) was an inhabitant of Wethersfield as early as 1638.”
Torrey has: Abraham Elson (-1648) & Rebecca _____, m/2 Jarvis Mudge 1648, 1649; by 1644; Wethersfield {Wethersfield 2:317; TAG 9:27, 30; Mudge 30; Hartford Prob. 1:7, 122}
Jarvis Mudge
Rebecca’s second husband was Jarvis Mudge. Findagrave.com has the following: JARVIS MUDGE, born in England, came to this country about the year 1638; was in Boston that year; in Hartford in I640; in Wethersficld in 1644, and removed to Pequot, now New London, in 1649, where he died in the early part of 1653.
He married Widow Rebecca Elsen, of Wethersfield, in 1649.
THEIR CHILDREN WERE:
1. Micah, b. in New London in 1650: m. Mary Alexander.
| Birth: | Dec. 9, 1650 New London New London County Connecticut, USA |
| Death: | Jan. 1, 1722 Hebron Tolland County Connecticut, USA |
 After the death of his father, in 1653, his mother removed from New London to Wcthersfield, Conn., where they lived, and where, probably, the mother died. The first record of him appears on the town books of Northampton, Mass., where he marries Mary Alexander, Sept. 23, 1670. Northampton was settled in 1654, and George Alexander, the father of Mary, was one of the original proprietors. Here Micah Mudge resided, and acted as surveyor, and appears to have been one of the original proprietors of Northfield, Mass., the settlement of which was attended with great difficulties, as the Indians burnt the village and drove off the settlers in 1675. He returned with others afterwards, as appears from an order from the General Court, dated Boston, May 24, 1682,* and became an actual settler. He removed to Lebanon, Conn., and was one of the early settlers of that town prior to 1698,* where he also served as a surveyor, and assisted in laying out the town. |
|
2. Moses, b. in New London in 1652: m. Mary .
Information from “Mudge Memorials in America” Alfred Mudge Boston 1868.
Nathaniel Greensmith
Hartford, 11 ffeb. (16)62(3): Respecting the Estate of Nathaniel Greensmith, It is ordered that the Marshall, Mr. Gilbert, James Ensign and Paul Peck shall take care to preserve the estate from Waste and to take in ye account of Debts, and to discharge any just debts, and to pay fourty pounds to ye Treasurer for ye County, and to secure ye rest of ye estate in their hands until March Court next ensueing, when there will be further order taken about ye Remainder of ye Estate. And they are desired and authorized to dispose of the 2 daughters, with the Advice of ye Assistants in Hartford, & to advice with them about any Expedient in referent to ye premises. Pr or of ye Assistants: Danll Clarke, Secry.
An Inventory of the Estate of Nathaniel Greensmith, who was executed the 25th of January, 1662, L137-14-01. Other Estate found with the aforementioned Estate of Nathaniel Greensmith, with the Exception, viz., that is hereafter mentioned is claimed by Hannah & Sarah Elson. vizt:
44-04-04 John X Cowles 137-14-01 Jonath: Gilbert, James Stell. 181-18-05 Total Value.
Note: Part of Inventory at the Prison:
Two blanketts 1-05-00 One Rugg one Blankett 1-15-00 One Boulster 0-15-00 One Bed well filled 2-15-00
Court Record, Page 190-5 March, 1662-3: Daniel Garrett is allowed 6 Shillings a week for keeping Nathaniel Greensmith and his wife, besides their fees, wch is to be paid out of Greensmith’s Estate.
Jacob Veach (or Veatch) was born about 1781[1] in Maryland, Pennsylvania or Kentucky.[2] The Veatch Family Association has presented a theory that he was a son of Benjamin Veatch Jr and his first wife.[3] After the first wife died ca 1790, Benjamin moved to Woodford County, Kentucky, where he married Sarah Powers on 8 Aug 1794. This writer sees no evidence or reason to support that theory.
A Benjamin Veatch was in Jessamine Co KY in 1800 and in Scott Co KY in 1810;[4] whether this is Benjamin II or Benjamin III is unclear. Even the fact of three Benjamins has no support.
Jacob married Mary “Polly” Hilton on 18 Dec 1805 in Jessamine Co KY. Jacob died in Johnson Co IN after 1840.
Jacob and Polly had a child born ca 1808 in KY and another born 1809 in Indiana, according to these children’s 1850 censuses; in 1820, the family was in Clark County, Indiana, p 14: Jacob Veach, 010010/42010. In 1830, Clark Co IN, p 80: Jacob Veatch, 0000101…/1221101… And in 1840, Johnson Co IN, p 306: Jacob Veach, 100000001/00101001.
It is noteworthy to this writer that her ancestor, Nancy Jane (Prather) Light, was a second-generation descendant of four Maryland families: Prather, Redman, Veatch and Hilton. All of these families traveled from Maryland to North Carolina through Kentucky to Indiana. There are Veatch families in Woodford Co KY in the same time frame who also resided for a time in North Carolina.
Mrs C W Veatch linked three generations of men named Benjamin Veatch as father-son-and grandson. This is possible but not supported by documents and no connection to Jacob has been found.
The First Benjamin Veatch (Maryland)
Benjamin Veatch was the seventh son of James and Rachel (Hepburn) Veatch of Prince George’s County, Maryland. He was born about 1729 and married a woman named Esther ca 1755. He resided in 1760 in All Saints Parish, Frederick County, Maryland[6], and was a grand juror in March 1761 in that county.[7] This writer has found no source for the statement that he died in 1774 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
The Second Benjamin Veatch
The second Benjamin Veatch was married in 1794 in Woodford Co KY.
Mrs. Veach claimed this was the same man who was in 1786 PA census, Air, Bedford Co PA, single freeman, and also taxed same township, 10 shillings, single man. (If the 1729 Benjamin had been widowed or if this was Jacob’s father, he would not be listed as a single man, right?)
PA Archives, Series 5, Vol. 3, p 36: military duty in Bedford Co PA, 1789
Where is the PA Benjamin in 1800?
The Third Benjamin Veatch
Married Isabel Guyn, 20 December 1810, Woodford Co KY
1810 census, Woodford Co KY Benjamin Veatch (26-46), near Asa C Veach (16-26), Charity Veach (26-46m w/4 ch), Oshy Veach (26-46)
(These three men are called sons of PA-KY Benjamin’s first marriage—shouldn’t proximity to Charity point to them being children of her husband Daniel’s possible first marriage?)
1820 Federal Census for Orange County, Indiana: Benjamin Veach 400001/10010
The Big Question
Why put Jacob with any of these Benjamins? Location in Jessamine Co KY?
He married Polly Hilton, 1805, Jessamine Co KY. Several Veatches were in that county and neighboring Woodford County.
Veatch Families Leave Maryland
James and Rachel Veatch were the parents of eight adult sons. Nathan, Ninian, Jeremiah and Hezekiah lived and died in Maryland; James Jr was serving with Maryland troops when he died in a prisoner of war camp during the Revolutionary War. Daniel died in Woodford Co KY. John was living in Ky when his wife Sarah died in 1803, but he died in 1790 in Rowan Co NC. Benjamin possibly died in Pennsylvania, but more likely in Frederick Co MD.
There were at least five Veatch men in Woodford and Jessamine Counties at the time Jacob was married there in 1805. It has been assumed that Jacob, Asa Clifford, Benjamin and Oshy were brothers, although only their presence in the same area indicates that might be true. By 1810 Jacob had moved to Indiana and is never found associated with any of these potential brothers.
These older generation men were:
Benjamin (above), age unknown, married Sarah Powers in 1794 in Woodford Co, deceased by 1820 when she was listed with a large family. He served in 1793, KY Volunteers and could be the man listed in PA in 1786. Benjamin is asserted to have been a son of Benjamin Veatch of Frederick Co MD and Bedford Co PA, but with no real evidence.
The other three men were sons of Daniel Veatch and his wife, Dorcas Plummer, and first cousins of Benjamin. This writer has an autosomal DNA match to a descendant of Nancy Ann (Veatch) Whitlatch, a daughter of Daniel and Dorcas.
Daniel Veatch Jr, b 1755, married at age 36 in 1791 to Mrs Charity Baker in Mercer Co KY, and he died in 1806. He was some years older than his known wife and might have had an earlier wife and family. He served in the Revolutionary War in Maryland; her widow’s pension lists her children; she is on the same page in 1810 census as Asa C, Benjamin and Oshy and lived until 1850.
Jeremiah Veatch was born in Maryland in 1759 and married at age 23 Priscilla Wilson in 1782 in Fayette Co PA. He served in the Revolutionary War in 1776 in Maryland and moved the next year to Washington Co PA. An incomplete list of their children is in her widow’s pension documents. They were in Jessamine Co KY in 1810.
Elijah Veatch was born in Maryland in 1751/5, served in Revolutionary War in Virginia and supposedly died in Monroe Co KY in 1843. His 1818 pension application from Caldwell Co KY mentions without giving names a wife, 55, a daughter, 35 with a “natural deformity,” a “weakly” son, 16, and a two-year-old grandson. In 1820 he was next door to Nathan Veatch, age 25-44. In 1833 he was a resident of Tomlinson, KY. E.D. Veatch, “one of his heirs at law,” attested in 1843 in Mercer Co KY to the death of Elijah Veatch; this man was a son of Daniel Veatch. His censuses are difficult to locate, and he was not in Jessamine or Woodford County.
John Veatch, born ca 1745, married Sarah Hodges, date unknown. A list of eight children stops in 1780, just before the presumed birth of Jacob ca 1781. A diary published in 1917 in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly reveals that John was living in the early 1800s in proximity to Luke Hilton, an uncle of Jacob’s wife Polly.[8]
Conclusions:
[1] We Veitches, Veatches, Veaches, Veeches. Wanda Veatch Clark, ed. Redmond OR: Midstate Printing, 1974.
[2] His two children known living in 1880 both said he was born in KY. Sarah Ann said mother born Maryland, while Mary Ann incorrectly stated her mother was born in SC.
[3] Mrs C W Veatch’s article gives a probable construction of this family. The article, “Memo Regarding the Origin of the Original Veatch (Veach) Family Groups of Mercer, Woodford, Jessamine and Harrison Counties KY,” from the Veatch Family Association Newsletter, are possibly mistaken in the family they give our Jacob’s supposed father Benjamin.
[4] “Second Census of Kentucky,” p 304: Benjamin Veach, Jessamine Co, 8/29/1800; Scott Co KY, p 168: Benjamin Veech: 10010/41010/0.
[5] Her date of death is from Harry [no last name given, but probably Veatch] at Genforum, hdveatch@erols.com.
[6] Maryland, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1772-1890, Ancestry.com.
[7] This Was the Life, Excerpts from the Judgment Records of Frederick County, Maryland, 1748-1765, p 219. Ancestry.com.
[8] National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. VI (April 1917).
My Family’s Facts:
Assumed family of Elizabeth (Hurd) Morris:
The only known Hurd family in Adams Co OH in 1807 is that of Caleb and Martha (Oursler) Hurd.
Actually, Caleb is not documented as having been there until 1811; however, Martha’s family is evidenced before that date, as follows:
Caleb Hurd, assumed to be the same who married Martha Oursler is found in:
Hurds in Adams County:
After the records mentioned above, there is a lack of documentation for the Hurd family, due in part to the courthouse fire of 1876. Extant records include:
Tentative Children of Caleb and Martha (Oursler) Hurd, based on census numbers, marriages and other data:
1 daughter over 10 in 1820: Elizabeth, born 1807, married George Morris, died ca 1859 Mason Co IL
not in 1820 household, questionable relationship: Caleb, born 1809 KY, married Jane Pew, resided Boone Co KY[11]
3 daughters born 1810-1820, including Jerusha/Julia/Juda, born ca 1811, married Johnston Lawwill, Brown Co OH[12]; Ruth, born ca 1815, married Ellis Brooks, died 1860s Pendleton Co KY[13]; Margaret[14]
2 sons born 1810-1820: Charles Thomas, born 1813,[15] married at least three times; William, born ca 1814, married Mary Hutson,[16] died 1841
born after 1820: John [or John William], born 1821, married Sarah Ann Shelton, moved to Iowa[17]
Note that at least four of these children have connections to the various Sheltons of Brown County, Ohio.
Birthplace of Caleb Hurd
The children living in 1880 gave different states of birth for Caleb Hurd.
Caleb Hurd of Boone Co KY said his father was born in Virginia. Jerusha Lawwill said Pennsylvania. Charles Thomas said Maryland. And John Hurd said Pennsylvania, although it is indexed as Tennessee. There were Hurds in the area where Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia meet. As seen in an Adams Co OH biographical book [footnote 5], Charles Oursler lived in that very area for a time.
Major Hutson’s Daughter
A 1900 county history named Major Hutson’s son-in-law as William Hurd. In 1850, Major Hutson was living in the household of Elizabeth Herd, next house to a widow Mary Herd, while the 1841 estate of William Hurd mentioned purchases by “Mary Hurd, widow.” Both widows, Mary and Elizabeth, were listed in in consecutive households in the 1850 Adams Co OH census, as follows:
Mary Herd 36
John W “ 16[18]
Sarah “ 16
Julia “ 12
Mary “ 10
Elizabeth “ 56
Margaret “ 20
George “ 14
Major Hutson 84
Note that Elizabeth’s surname is not written out, but assumed to be same as Mary Herd’s and so indicated by ditto marks. It has been assumed for years by this researcher that Elizabeth was the widow of another Hurd/Herd brother.
But the present study (2016) has led to a different conclusion. If Mary was Major’s daughter, why was he in Elizabeth’s household? Was Elizabeth also a daughter? The Adams County history says daughter Elizabeth Hutson married William Stevenson. I now believe it possible that Elizabeth, whose age is probably also given wrong, was Elizabeth (Hutson) Stevenson, not a Hurd or Herd at all. No William and Elizabeth Stevenson are located in the 1850 census and neither of the children, George or Margaret Herd, appear in further records.
The question of Elizabeth’s age is still unresolved. Major’s daughter was not likely born in 1794; his other children were born around 1807 and 1814.
2019 Update
Since writing the above, I have located DNA matches to descendants of Charles Thomas Hurd, John Hurd of Iowa, Ruth (Hurd) Brooks, Juda (Hurd) Lawwill, and William Hurd, some as high as 46 cMs. [I need to learn how to report DNA matches, to compose a section detailing this data.]
[1] Margaret (Morris) Kent’s death certificate, Mason Co IL, page. 16, 12 Aug 1910. Margaret Kent’s death certificate gives the birth date and place for her father, George Morris, as 1790, Lexington KY, and the birth date and place for her mother as 1807, Adams Co OH.
[2] Genealogy.com: Elizabeth Herd found in: Marriage Index: Selected Counties of Ohio, 1789-1850, Married Sep 03, 1827 in Brown Co OH; Spouse Morris, George; Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0384273 [Brown Co OH] and #034274 [Westmoreland Co VA]. Pat Donaldson marriage records 1818-1850.
A Brown Co OH researcher’s reply to my request for more information: “The marriage record that you requested is: George Morris to Elizabeth Herd on 3 Sept 1827, by Thomas Shelton JP. in Aberdeen, Huntington Twp. Brown Co Ohio. I doubt if you will ever be able to get a copy of the original document, the marriage was performed by “Squire Thomas Shelton” JP kept his own records, and very few of them were ever recorded at the courthouse in Georgetown, Ohio. Aberdeen was known as the “Gretna Green” of Brown County. The Squire didn’t require the couples to show proof of their ages, and quite a few young couples ran away to be married by him. A list of some of the marriages that he preformed as been compiled from other sources, but it seems that the old Squire’s records have been lost over the years.” Charlene Smitson
[3] Gateway to the West: Page 24, Charles Oursler bought land from James Edwards and wife Sarah on 19 Feb 1800, for 120 pds KY money, 206 acres on the waters of the Ohio, NW side of Three Mile Creek.
Page 40 of the same book: Charles Oursler and Martha wife of Adams Co, NW Territory are listed as selling 5 acres “White’s upper corner upon bank of river” for $10.00 to Ezekiel Beasley of Mason Co, KY on 1-8-1803. Among witnesses was “Archable Oursler.”
The Ohio Researcher, Vol. 3-4, snippet view, “Date: 8 January 1803 / From: Charles Oursler and wife, Martha, of Adams Co. To: Esekiel Beasley of Mason …”
[4] Ancestry.com lists these tax records, after the death of Charles Oursler: Martha Ourseler, Archibald Oursler, Joseph Oursler, Adams Co OH, 1806; Joseph Oarsler, Archibald Oursler, Martha Oursler, Adams Co OH, 1807; Archibald Oursler, Byrd Twp, Joseph Oursley, Martha Oursley, Jefferson Twp, Adams County, 1808; Archibold Oursler, Joseph Oursler, Martha Oursler, Adams Co OH, 1809; 1810 Tax list, Adams Co OH, along with Joseph Oursler, Archibald Oursler.
[5] In 1880, Henry Oursler’s personal knowledge must have provided the following: Joseph A Caldwell, Caldwell’s Illustrated Historical Atlas of Adams County, Ohio: 1797-1880, 1880, 29. “Henry Oursler.” This book lists the children of Charles and Martha (McKinley) Oursler, including Martha, with the indication she married Caleb Hurd. This is likely the source of various lists of the children of Charles Oursler and moves the informant back to Henry.
This book relates family moves: “Archibald Oursler was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, and was taken, when quite young, by his parents to Pennsylvania, where they settled for a short time. They then removed to a small village, called Buffalo, in Putnam county, W. Va [sic]. Indians were plenty there then. They next moved to Limestone, Kentucky, and settled near Washington in that State. Indians were still plenty there. About 1795 or ’95, Mr. Charles Oursler removed to Ohio, where he soon after died. As before stated, he raised a family of nine children.”
The source of the information in the Adams County book seems to be Henry himself (1820-1916); Henry lived in the same area as his aunt Martha (Oursler) Hurd and was 34 years old the last time mention of her as living has been located.
[6] 1811 enumeration list for Huntington Township, Adams Co OH: Caleb Herd. June 1812 proprietors list for Huntington Township, Adams Co OH: Caleb Herd.
[7] Caleb Hurd served in the War of 1812, Capt. George Kislinger, Col. Josiah Lockhart, Ohio Militia. When widow Martha applied 19 Jul 1854 for bounty land, a record of the service was not located. From the National archives file, #180.405, Bounty Land files, Act of 1850 rejected. “No rolls of Capt. Geo Keslinger are found. On rolls of Capt. Geo Kesling, Ohio mil[itia] the name of Caleb Hurd does not appear.” It is difficult to interpretthe following notation: “Ent 1811 } 18 [??] 1812.”The application was submitted along with another by the Hon A Ellison, House Reps, Georgetown, [Brown Co] Ohio, to Hon Judge Waldo, sent on 19 Jul 1854 and received on 20 Jul 1854, returned 12 Aug 54. [Servicemen and women today might envy that speed.]
[8] Source unknown.
[9] The other Hurd head of household in Adams Co OH is Uel Hurd from the Connecticut family by way of New Jersey.
[10] Bounty land application identifies her as widow of Caleb Hurd. The family’s 1830 census has not been found.
[11] Not known to be a son of this family, but he did live just across the river in KY. Did Caleb and Martha live for a brief time in KY? 1850, 1860, 1880 censuses all say this Caleb was born in KY. 1860, Petersburg, Boone Co KY, Caleb Hard, 51, Jane A, 40, Margaret J, 19, Lucy A, 16, George M, 14, John W, 9. His 1880 census said parents born VA.
Kay Hurd Lamb, posted at Genforum: Samuel Hurd Jr witnessed his daughter Lucinda’s wedding. But I now know this was after 1857. 7 Jun 2009 email from Kay: this fact came from diary of a man named Loder who reportedly wrote down everything that happened at the courthouse in Petersburg. Lewis Loder (1819-1904) was a magistrate and tavern keeper from that town, in the same county, records going downriver to Hamilton on the steamer to purchase barrels of whiskey (Wikipedia)? See http://www.boonecountyky.org/bchs/Newsletters/200505.pdf for a description of these diaries.
[12] This family’s 1850-1880 census record is complete. The oldest known son was Charles Herd Lawwill. The source of the couple’s 1848 marriage date is unknown at this time.
[13] Ruth was identified as a Hurd on her son’s death certificate. Both Ourslers and Morrises had connections to this Brooks family.
[14] Evidence of her name and history is missing.
[15] This man had a son named Caleb.
Note how Charles Thomas Hurd connects Brown Co OH, Pendleton Co KY, the Shelton family (see marriage of George and Elizabeth (Hurd) Morris, above, plus other connections to related families) and the given name Caleb.
[16] Gateway to the West, p 6: Adams Co OH Administration records lists “William Hurd, #12, 2-12-1841, Henry Hutson, adms, bond $2500; Asa Leedom and Azeriah Edginton, security; settled 7-1-1845 (12)” Henry Hutson also made the inventory on a Roushe estate in 1849. All of these names are on page 57 of the 1840 census in Adams Co OH, except William Herd, who is on p 55 (11001…/20001…). Martha Herd is on p 56.
[17] Davis Co IA history names his father as Caleb Hurd of Adams Co OH and states he died while John was a baby. No contemporary records have been found with the name “John William”; descendants call him that.
[18] His 1917 death certificate lists parents as William Hurd and Mary Hutson. His sister, Judith Susan, not Julia, was Mrs. Daniel Scott. Her 1921 death certificate also named her parents.
History of my Alvis Family Research, 1966-
My sister and I began searching for an ancestry in 1966 when we were in college. We wrote the oldest living members of our Alvis family and received replies going back this far:
This much was within the personal knowledge of my dad who was living at the time.
In the 1980s, I was living in Mexico City and following a major illness began to write letters again. A third cousin copied all the data she could find in the Dallas Public Library and sent it to me in a small box. My parents also went to genealogy libraires and copied censuses and other records.
About this time a distant cousin in North Carolina began a newsletter she called The Alvis Exchange. There were about five issues bringing together what was easily accessed in libraries at the time.
A year or two later we acquired out first Macintosh computer and I began working full time in desktop publishing. I decided to put this new skill to work in my long-time hobby and started up a re-boot of The Alvis Exchange.
The name, I thought, fit exactly what I was endeavoring to accomplish: find a place for Alvis researchers to exchange what data we had. As subscriptions grew, several collaborators sent massive amounts of data, including eventually all available Alvis pensions and censuses. I started databases for all Alvis marriages and all Alvis males.
It is exciting to look back over those issues and see how rapidly our Alvis information came together. Several Alvis researchers and cousins got together in 1989 for a big reunion in West Plains, Missouri.
By the mid-1990s when we had moved back to the USA, the Internet came along and provided even more ways to research. I am proud to say that Internet sources have confirmed the hypotheses I had put together and the speculative articles I wrote.
My dad died in 2003 and the energy went out of Alvis research for me. But then again I had published as much as it seemed possible to find. Newer data that becomes available online is largely related to younger generations.
Early Generations of Alvises in America
I have joined several genealogical societies and believe them to be excellent tools for verifying the accuracy of my conclusions.
IN 2013, the DAR approved my lineage from Ashley Alvis of Goochland Co VA and Sumner Co TN. And last year the Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America approved my application based on George Alves/Alvis who was in Virginia before 1682 and Ashley Alvis, who was a Patriot in the American Revolution. I am going into all of this to show my credentials as a genealogist and lineage research specialist.
This may be more than you want on the early generations of our family, and I promise I will get around to Zachariah Alvis before long.
My application to DFPA included this summary of our earliest American ancestors. Note Zachariah, 1761-after 1833, on the last page.
Generation 1
George Alvis married 3) Mary
say 1645-ca 1734
Summary
George Alves[1] was not born in America, since a headright[2] was claimed for him in 1700, along with his second wife, Alice, who had come to Virginia many years prior to that date. He was married, first, to an unknown wife, the mother of his daughter, Susan or Susannah[3]; second, between 1678 and 1682,[4] to Alice, the widow of Maj. William Harris;[5] and third, to Mary –, the mother of his son David.[6] George Alves was “lately deceased” on 4 Mar 1734/5.[7]
First Known Appearances in Virginia Records
George Alvis was mentioned twice in the Henrico County Court which met 1 February 1682. First, he was the plaintiff in a suit against Henry Watkins for the balance of an account apparently due to George’s wife; Watkins was ordered to pay. And also, George Alvis complained against Mr. Richard Lygon for failing in his duty to the orphan William Harris, which was postponed until the next court.[8]
The first known reference to George Alves in Virginia is found in John Frederick Dorman, Adventurers of Purse and Person Virginia 1607-1624/5. The article refers to Alice’s previous husband, Maj. William Harris and includes the statement, “George m. bef. 1682, Alice (–) Harris, wid. of Maj. William.”[9]
A transcript of the record in surviving documents follows: Henrico County Record Book No. 2, 1678-1693:
At a Court held a Varina for the County of Henrico April 2, 1683; In the suite of George Alvis as marrying Alice the relict of Majr. Will Harris dec’d (concerning William Harris an orphan of the said dec’d) against Mr. Richard Lygon, the said Alvis declaring that he doth not use his endeavor for educating and maintaining the said Orphan according to the Indenture, which Indenture being exhibited, and the orphan present, and the Court thereupon conceiving the allegacons aforesaid not true, it is ordered that the orphan serve his time, and that Mr. Lygon perform his part of the said Indenture.
Another reference from 1682 appears in The Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1659/60-1693, in the section which begins, “Att A Generall Assembly Began att James Citty the 10th day of November 1682 These ffollowing Orders of publique charge and leuy were made…” On page 180 in the listings of amounts paid in pounds of tobacco for New Kent County: “To Jno Epperson 1:100 Geo: Alues 1:200.”[10]
There are two distinct, extant, and published reports of George Alves in Virginia in 1682.
Connection to the Harris Family
Various articles have been published about this Harris family, including references to George Alves:
Malcolm Hart Harris writes in “Three William Harrises in Hanover County,” in The Virginia Genealogist:[11]
William Harris, the patentee of this land on Cub Creek on 24 March 1725, had been closely associated with George Alves who had married the widow of Major William Harris of Henrico County. In the Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish, William Harris and George Alves were closely associated in the processioning of land in the parish. Later, they owned land adjacent to Groundsquirrel on the South Anna River.
“Evidence of the Descent of William Harris,” by William R. Taylor in The Virginia Genealogist,[12] states on pages 262-263:
The association of George Alves with William Harris, son of Major William Harris, is long standing and more than casual. Alice, the widow of Maj. Harris, married George Alves soon after her husband died. George Alves is found as principal or acting as witness in five Henrico County deeds involving the known sons of Maj. Harris, William and Edward.
This close relationship of George Alves with his stepsons continued in New Kent County where on 4 June 1714 William Harris had a patent ‘over against George Alves on South Anna River.’ This alliance continued as proved by the processioning records of St. Paul’s Parish. In 1708/9, 1711, 1716, 1731, 1735, 1739 and 1743 the lands of William Harris and George Alves were in the same precinct. In 1708/9 the two men were the overseers. Since it is known that George Alves died about 1734, the 1739 and 1743 appearance of his name must indicate that there was still land held in his name or that he had a son named George. From the records the former is more likely. The processioning records for the period 1719 to 1739 are not complete but it seems very likely that the same situation would be found if they were….
One of the surviving Hanover deeds reinforces the evidence that William Harris and George Alves had land close together and also indicates the approximate date of the death of the latter. William Harris is a witness to this deed which refers to the ‘boundary of George Alves, lately deceased.’
Thus George Alves and William Harris were in close association from the time Alves married William’s mother until the former died about 1734.
Page 267 of this Virginia Genealogist article shows that William Harris and George Alves were also associated with the Cawthon family. Note that George’s probable grandson David was married on Aug 20 1768 to Mary Cauthon.[13] This Virginia Genealogist article shows that Mary’s parents were John Cawthon, as the name was more often spelled, and Agnes Harris, the granddaughter of William Harris, George Alves’s stepson.
Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5, revised and edited by Virginia M. Meyer and John Frederick Dorman, published by Order of First Families of Virginia, 1987, on pages 354-361 gives a current view of the entire Harris family back to Jamestown, ca. 1611.
Maj. William Harris was born in Virginia ca 1629, died before Oct 7 1678, was married twice, his first wife unknown and his second wife Alice –. The first wife had one son Thomas, who died soon after his father. Alice’s known children were William, probably born in the early 1670s, died in Hanover Co VA between 1743 and 1749, and Edward, living in 1719.
Headrights and Land Holdings
In early Virginia, land was granted to individuals responsible for transporting immigrants. This was often done years after the actual sea voyage. Cavaliers and Pioneers lists the following:
Virginia Book of Land Grants and Patents, Patent Book No. 9, p. 37.
GEORGE ALVES, 1014 acs. New Kent Co. in St. Peters Par: on both sides of Totpotomous Cr. 24 Apr 1700, P. 268. Adj. Roger Thompson, Carles Turner & Thomas Wilkinson, &c. Trans of 21 pers: John Jaquis, Thomas Webb, John Carter, Robert Horsfeild, Nicholas Gentry, John Clarke, George Alves, Alice Alves, Thomas Bankes, Thomas Rice, Benj Fenton, Gabriel Bickerin, John Johnson, Thomas Bradley, James Bowling.[14]
George Alves acquired considerable land holdings with dates from 1692 to 1731, also detailed in Nugent.[15]
There are many published references to patents issued to George Alves, including the following from English Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records, on pages 67, 74, and 101:
A List of Patents Signed in November 1700: New Kent County, Alvos, Geo, 767 acres.
List of Patents Signed in April 1703: New Kent Co, Geo. Aalves, 1668 acres. 4843 acres, New Kent Co, George Alves, 12-16-1714.[16]
The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. XXI, No. 1 (Jul 1912), contains several references to George Alvis in a transcript entitled, “Records of Hanover County,” pages 47 ff, “copied by me in the winter of 1910-1911—S. O. Southall.”[17] Page 54 for 1734 states, “Est: of David Alvis in hands of David Crenshaw, his late Guardian.”[18]
Page 58 has a notice that land was sold 5 Mar 1734 by Laurence Ferguson to Jno. Ross, “adj: George Alvis decd.”
A deed cited in page 63 between the three daughters of Susan Ellitt on 15 Jul 1735 is the only known evidence that George had a first marriage and a daughter Susan.[19]
And a reference on page 146 is to the widow of George’s son, David Alvis, from 4 Oct 1787.
Vestryman
Numerous references to George Alves from the Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish, Hanover County, Virginia, were extracted along with the editor’s conclusions in No. 5, page 3, of The Alvis Exchange.[20] These references date from 1705/6 when the parish records begin to after his death in 1734.
The published edition of the Register of St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent County, VA, has the following undated item, possibly from 1703:
George Alves aploying him Selfe to this ve∫try for help to Cleere the roades in his precinct is ordered John Tyler Richard maidlen nicholas Gentrey Thomas Tin∫ley John Burley and all the Tithables from thence up the north side of Totopotomoys Creeke.[21]
And page 425 has this notation for 1687: “Thom: Cook servant to Geo: Alvise deceased ye : 4th : of Desem:”
By 1700 George Alves was living in New Kent County with his wife Alice when he sold Henrico County holdings:
George Alvis of New Kent Co planter, for £18, to Timothy Allen of Henrico Co planter, tract on south side of James River called ‘The Ware,’ bounded by Hon. Wm Byrd, Mr. Robert Hancocke, Edward Skerm and Ashen Swamp, which I bought of Edward Harris and Mary his wife, 27 Sept. 1698. 1 Apr 1700.
Wit: Stephen Cocke, Matthew Raysons Signed: George Alvis Recorded 1 May 1700. Benjamin Hatcher, attorney for Alice Alvis, wife of George, relinquished her dower right.[22]
Several references to George Alves in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography are as follows:
Council held at the Capitol July 1730 granted petition, “To George Alvis One Thousand five hundred acres in Hanover County on Maudlins folly Run.”[23]
New Kent County Rent Rolls 1704. A rent roll of the lands held by her Majestie in the parish of St. Peters and St. Paul’s–anno 1704… Allvis, George 325 acres.[24]
Some King William County, Va., Records… 1702/3 Anthony Winston to Thos. Bradley Deed wit. John Duffield, Geo. Alvis 21 to 23.[25]
1702 Frances Littlepage, wife of Richard relinquishes right of dower in above property. Wm. Aylett, atty., wit. Geo. Alvis, David Clarkson, Geo. Clough.[26]
“13 June 1728 of the said Ambrose Joshua Smith for 5000 acres of land in Goochland formerly Henrico joining on the line which divided that County and the County of Hanover on the head of deep and Fork Creeks and branches of the James River formerly surveyed for John Syme, Isaac Winston, William Morris, George Alvis and John Mathies.”[27]
Reference is made to other property adjoining George Alvis’s land.[28]
The Quit Rents of Virginia, 1704 has this on page 8: “ALVIS, George, New Kent County, 325 acres.”
Round Trip to “Great Britain”
The St. Paul’s Parish Vestry Book previously cited shows that George Alves was in Great Britain in 1711. And fortunately, his return to America is also documented.
An 1877 article in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register reads:
Arrivals in Boston, Mass., June 1712… ye 6th
Jethro Furbur ye sloop Tyall from Fyall [in the Azores]…
George Alvis and 3 servants…[29]
Since George Alvis’s son David was born circa 1713 or 1714, it has been assumed he remarried soon after his arrival back in America. A wife did not accompany him on the return voyage.
Generation 2
David Alvis married Elizabeth Stanley
1713-ca 1787
Summary
David Alvis was born about 4 Oct 1713 in Hanover Co VA, the son of George Alvis and his third wife, Mary. He died before 4 Oct 1787[30] in Goochland Co VA. Sometime, possibly ca 1738, he married Elizabeth Stanley, whom this writer assumes to have been his only wife.
David Alvis was a minor at the time of his father’s death. His “estate” refers to his property during his minority; therefore, he was born after 1711. He is an adult by 11 Feb 1735/6, when he was present at a vestry meeting of St Paul’s Parish; we may assume he was born no later than 11 Feb 1714/5, that is, at least 21 years old at that date.[31] Since his estate was settled 4 Oct 1734, that was probably the date of his 21st birthday.
The “Estate of David Alvis in the hands of David Crenshaw his late guardian” proves his relationship to George Alvis and gives clues to the identity of his mother.[32]
The William and Mary Quarterly, also refers to the end of this guardianship in 1734: “Est: of David Alvis in hands of David Crenshaw, his late Guardian.”[33]
It is not at this time known what happened to the estate of David Alvis, who as a child was wealthy. By a few years later, this was not the case. From 1742, David Alvis was frequently insolvent.[34]
AMELIA COUNTY, VIRGINIA
Court Order Book 1, Amelia County, Virginia, 1735-1746, volume 1
David Alvis was named in the Amelia County, Virginia, tax lists in 1744, 1745 and 1746, the last year with no tithables and the notation “constable.” In 1745, he was counted as one tithable, with no slaves; in each year, he was located in a different part of the county.[35] Conjectures have been made about his connections sto Quakers and others who freed their slaves.
A lawsuit abstract in the Edward Pleasants Valentine Papers, dating from the March court 1746 in Amelia County, Virginia, found David Alvis’s estate to have “no effects.” Six men were plaintiffs suing David Alvis for £51 currency. “In September last an attachment was grandted the Pltfs. Against the estate of the Deft. But no effects being found the suit is dismissed. Mch. Court 1746. O.B. 174651, p. 38.[36]
Extant tax records in Goochland County, Virginia, begin in 1778; David Alvis owned fifty acres, as he did in each year through 1786. Other Alvis taxpayers were doubtless his sons. No mention of land is mentioned after that, but the number of tithables. In 1784 and 1785, there were two tithables named David Alvis, assumed to be father and son. The name continues after the death of David Sr, with several men being difficult to distinguish in the records. Again there were two Davids in 1789 through 1791.[37]
Several books have stated that an Elizabeth Stanley married Mr. — Alvis, or Olvis.[38] Since that time, continuing research has found out much about the Stanleys, many family connections, but not one additional reference to Elizabeth (Stanley) Alvis and her husband.
After 1735, David Alvis disappears from the vestry book. This fits with the statement that he married a member of an anti-slavery Quaker family, even though the exact marriage record has not been found. Quaker records from this time in Virginia have been compiled by William Wade Hinshaw in The Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy.[39]
Generation 3
Known Counties of Residence of David Alvis
*Hanover 1713-1734
*Amelia 1744-1746
*Louisa 1761-?
*Goochland 1778-1787
Children of David Alvis
Several sons stayed in Louisa County as late as 1798.
Several sons were in Goochland County by 1768.
Four sons were in Hanover County in 1782.
From surety data, it seems clear that Elijah, Zachariah, David, Shadrach and Ashley were brothers, sons of this elder David. Many Alvis families used all five of these given names; for example, the early TN family mentioned above had sons with four of the names. Other possible brothers were George, John, Stanley, Forester.[40]
Some of the following family groups are speculative, but I believe them to be fairly reliable. Most birth dates are entirely speculative, based on age at marriage, first child, or parents’ marriage date. The children of David Alvis, probably all by his wife, Elizabeth Stanley were:
1761, witness in a Louisa Co VA lawsuit
1760s, married
1771, Louisa Co. Court Orders, 1770-1772; p. 477. 10 July 1771 John Alves, Plaintiff against Cosby Duke, Defendant…have settled the account in dispute between the parties…5 pounds 14 shillings due to the plaintiff John Alves…
1776, Rev War service[41]; 1781, paid substitute
1781-2, 1787, Hanover Co VA tax list
1784: VA Gen Soc Q XXXI, #1: John Alvis signed a petition, as resident of Hanover Co. Forester Alvis also signed.
1787 tax lists of Virginia (a substitute for the missing 1790 census): Alvis, John, Hanover Co, 0 additional males 16-21, 2 blacks over 16, 1 black below 16, 3 horses, 9 head of cattle
15 Sep 1788, surety for marriage of Lucy Alvis, to Reuben Cosby, Goochland Co
1788-91, Goochland Co tax lists, once with Matthew
1789, insolvent in Goochland Co [The Virginia Genealogist, 21 (1977), 287]
1793, 1795, 1805, Hanover Co tax lists (his moves back and forth from Hanover to Goochland were usually with George)
1805, last year clearly named in tax records as John Alvis Sr
1810 census, possibly his widow Elizabeth, Hanover Co, 1814-7, taxed in Hanover Co
John and an unidentified wife had the following possible children:
—————————————————————————-
1761, witness in a Louisa Co lawsuit
ca 1770s, married
1782, Hanover Co VA tax list, with 5 people
1788, 89, 90, 91, Goochland Co tax lists
1802, 03, 05, Hanover Co VA tax lists
3 Feb 1806, Polly, daughter of George Alvis, deceased, married Jesse Page, Goochland Co
27 Feb 1806, Elizabeth, daughter of George Alvis, deceased, married William Page, Goochland
He had the following known children:
—————————————————————————-
1772-3, 8 (overseer), Trinity Parish, Louisa Co
1776 St Martin’s Parish
1782 Hanover Co VA tax list, with 7 people in family. This list was published as “The First Census of the United States,” since VA’s 1790 census was destroyed. Forester Alvis is listed on p. 28 in Capt. Owen Dabney’s District and had 7 white members in his family. It is possible his parents were in the household.
1784: VA Gen Soc Q XXXI, #1: Forester Alvis signed a petition, as resident of Hanover Co. John Alvis also signed. XXXII, #1: Elijah, Forester and Stanley signed petition 20 Nov 1790 for dividing Hanover Co and building a new courthouse.
1787: This tax list was recently published as “The 1787 Census of Virginia.” Forester Alvis’s listing reads 0-0-0-0-0, that is, no other males over 16 and under 21, no blacks, no horses or cattle.
1793-7, Hanover Co VA tax lists
1796, resident of Louisa Co VA, filed suit for wages[42]
before 1805, died
3 Apr 1805, Barbara, daughter of Ann Alvis, married Edward Henry, Chesterfield Co
15 May 1810, daughter Marinda married John Vickers/Vicars, Chesterfield Co
Forester and Ann had the following children:
—————————————————————————-
1768, 20 Aug, married (1) Mary Cauthon, The Douglas Register
1769, Douglas Register records birth of son Harris
12 Nov 1775, Douglas Register records christening of dt Aggie
1784, 27 Dec married (2) —, Goochland Co, William and Mary Quarterly
1782-4, 1785, 1786-8, Goochland Co tax lists
1787, death of David Alvis [Sr]
1789, insolvent [called David Jr, The Virginia Genealogist, 21 (1977), 287]
1789-91, 94-5, still in Goochland Co (in these years there were 2 Davids over 16)
1795, mentioned in the settlement of the Estate of Robert Page, Goochland Co VA. The final settlement was dated Feb 20 1795, but contains charges and receipts for the estate as far back as Jan 3 1787. See receipt on April 20 1789 of 1 pound, 10 shillings, plus 3 shillings, 2 pence interest, from “David Alvis Jr.”
1796-1806, one David was in Goochland Co tax lists, Harris in 1799 tax list
19 Jun 1798, surety at marriage of dt Agnes [Aggie] to Turner Clark, Goochland Co
1800, poss this David in Buckingham Co tax list
1802, dt Polly married in Augusta Co VA “Meris” was surety
1807-1814, lands in Goochland Co, but not necessarily present or even the same David
1814, listed as deceased
David had the following proposed children, the first two being clearly idenitifed in The Douglas Register:
—————————————————————————-
1771, 16 Dec, married (1) Elizabeth Knolling, The Douglas Register
1885 KY hist book says he served in the Rev War (no record found)
1782, res Goochland Co VA, also 1784-93
1782, 27 Sep, declared his losses to the British in Goochland Co[45]
1789, 31 Oct, Ashley Alvis witnesssed the marriage of Stephen Nowlin[46] and Anny Witt
ca 1789, married (2) Martha Nowlin, Goochland Co VA
1789 in Goochland Co VA.
1794-1806, most years, Buckingham Co
24 Mar 1794, Milly Alvis witnesses a promissory note from James Nowlin and Thomas Chancellor. She is otherwise unknown, but Ashley’s two wives were both members of the Nowlin family. Prince Edward County[47]
1799, 7 Dec, VA Gen Soc Q XXXII, #2: Signed a petition in Buckingham Co
1808, 29 Aug, found a stray horse, Sumner Co TN[48]
1810, 3 Mar, Mrs. Martha Alvis found a stray[49]
before1811, died, Martha appears on tax list
1815, Martha died, leaving a will, , Sumner Co TN, signed 21 Mar 1816, proved Nov 1816
Ashley and his first wife had the following children:
Ashley and his second wife had the following children:
—————————————————————————-
23 1773, married (1) Nancie Addison, The Douglas Register
20 Nov 1774, christening of daughter Elizabeth, The Douglas Register
21 Jul 1776, christening of daughter Nancy, The Douglas Register
20 Apr 1777, christening of son Meredith, The Douglas Register
27 Dec 1784, married (2) Judith Hancocke, The Douglas Register, David was surety
1782, 84, 87-9, 91-9, 1800-3, Goochland Co tax lists
25 Dec 1805, marriage of dt Polly to John Bush; Elijah’s son David surety, Goochland Co
1806, died, leaving will in Goochland Co
19 Dec 1806, daughter Sarah married William R Wright, John Bush surety, Goochland Co
9 Oct 1811, Judith consented to marriage of daughter Patsy to Josiah Amos. Shadrach was deceased, Goochland Co
Shadrach and his first wife had the following children, births recorded in , The Douglas Register:
Shadrach and his second wife had the following children:
—————————————————————————-
1775 church list, Trinity Parish
1776, Revolutionary War, with John[50]
ca 1780, married, poss Rhody —
1782, Hanover Co tax list with 2 people
1790, 20 Nov Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly XXXII, #1: Elijah, Forester and Stanley signed petition for dividing Hanover Co and building a new courthouse
1793, purchased property from Walter Chisholm in Hanover Co VA[51]
1793-96, 98, 99, 1801, 03, Hanover Co tax lists
1804-1806, Louisa Co tax lists
poss his widow Rhody, Henrico Co VA 1810: 21100/00101
Stanley and his wife probably had the following children:
—————————————————————————-
1778-1780, Rev War soldier
1784, Oct 15, m Elizabeth Clarke, Goochland Co, Shadrach was surety
Goochland Co VA tax lists: 1792-5, 1798-1807 (in 1804 and 06, David was listed w/Elijah; in 1805 and 09 there was an unnamed male 16-21), 1809-14, 1820-21
Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly XXXII, #1: Elijah, Forester and Stanley signed petition 20 Nov 1790 for dividing Hanover Co and building a new courthouse.
1810 census Goochland Co VA: 121[torn]/11200
1818, pension filed from Louisa Co VA
1820 census Goochland Co VA: 000001/01121
1822, Sep 3, gave consent to marriage of dt Nancy
1822, Elizabeth in Goochland Co tax lists
1822, Oct, died in Goochland Co , per pension
1829, Elizabeth, consent at marriage of dt Elizabeth
1830 census Goochland Co VA, Elizabeth: 0/000000101
1840 census Goochland Co, Elizabeth, “widow of Elijah”: 0/000001101/22/1201
1846, widow’s estate lists 9 children
1850, two unmarried daughters in census
They had the following children:
—————————————————————————-
1779, served at least one month in the Rev War
11 Dec 1788, surety for marriage of Lucy Alvis, to James Ryan, Goochland Co
26 Sep 1789, married Elizabeth Webster, Goochland MR
19 Oct 1795, surety at the marriage of James Ryan, whose first wife was Lucy Alvis
17 Sep 1803, Goochland Co Records, mortgage.[52]
1814-1822, Goochland Co Orders, several entries
1809-15 (w/son 16+ in 1814-5), 16-20, 22-23, 29-31, Goochland Co tax lists
1810 census Goochland Co VA: 12001/21010
1820 census Goochland Co VA: 210001/02101
1824, gave consent to marriage of daughter Sarah
1830 census Goochland Co: 001100001/000010001
1832, filed for pension from Goochland Co
after 1833, died
Zachariah and Elizabeth had the following likely children:
Notes
[1] Most known descendants use the spelling Alvis. The spelling Alves disappears at an early date from Virginia records. Also found are Aalves, Alues, Olvis, and other variants.
[2] Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1800, Vol. 3, p. 37.
[3] Edward Pleasants Valentine Papers, published in 1927 and re-issued by the Genealogical Publishing Company in 1979, page 1639.
[4] John Frederick Dorman, Adventurers of Purse and Person Virginia 1607-1624/5:
Families G-P, fourth edition, Genealogical Publishing Com, 2004, page 267.
[5] There is no indication in any of these records that George and Alice Alves had children. Her Harris children were born in the early 1660s. If she was in her forties when she married George Alves prior to 1682, we can also assume that he was at least age 30 or older, giving him a purely hypothetical birthdate of 1640-50.
[6] Hanover Co VA Court Records 1733-35, pp. 35-36, pages 123-126 of the original record book.
[7] Dorman, loc. cit., citing Hanover County Record Book 1733-35, page 203.
[8] “Henrico county Record Book No. 2, 1678-1693,” Virginia Genealogical society Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 1, page 28.
[9] Dorman, ibid, citing Henrico Orphans’ Court, 1 Feb 1682.
[10] Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1659/60-1693, Virginia State Library, 1915.
[11] Vol. 22, pp. 3, 189.
[12] Vol. 22, pp. 261-269.
[13] Douglas, William,. The Douglas register: being a detailed record of births, marriages and deaths together with other interesting notes, as kept by the Rev. William Douglas, from 1750-1797: an index of Goochland Wills: notes on the French-Hugeunot [sic] refugees who lived in Manakin-Town. Richmond, VA: J.W. Fergusson & Sons, 1928, p. 9.
[14] Nell Marion Nugent, loc. cit.
[15] Patent Book No. 8, p. 377: “GEORGE ALVES, 653 acs., New Kent County., in St. Peter’s Par., 29 Apr. 1692, p. 234. Beg. at land, now or late, of William Bassett & James Astin; to Beaver Dam Sw; to land, now or late, of Charles Turner; & land, now or late, of Littlepage. Imp. of 14 pers.* [Asterisk not explained.]
Page 39 of the same book: “GEORGE ALVIS, 767 acs., New Kent Co in St. Peter’s Par; on N. side of Totopotomoys Cr; adj. Thomas Wilkinson; 7 Nov 1700, p. 284. Imp. of 16 pers…”
Patent Book No. 10, p. 162-163: “GEORGE ALVES, 4843 acs. (N.L.), New Kent Co in St. Paul’s Par; beg. at Col. James Taylor at head of Meadow Br; to Taylor’s Cr; to S. br. of Pamunky Riv., called the South River; 16 Dec. 1714, p. 212; Imp. of 97 pers…”
Patent Book No. 11, p. 247: “GEORGE ALVES, of Hanover Co, 400 acs. (N.L.), at a place called Bear Garden: on Richard Harris’ line; 5 Sept. 1723, p. 216. 40 Shill.” Just below this Nicholas Meriwether received land described as near the “land of George Alves; on Alvis’ Creek.” There are many references to George Alves’s land in these patents.
Patent Book No. 12, p. 277: “GEORGE ALVES, 385 acs. (N.L.), Hanover Co; on both sides of Elk ford Cr; adj. Nicholas & Richard Johnson’s corner; 22 Feb 1724, p. 144. 40 Shill.” P. 295: “GEORGE ALVES, 400 acs. (N.L.), Hanover Co; on both sides of Beech Creek; 24 Mar. 1725, p. 351. 40 Shill. SAME, 400 acs. (N.L.), same Co date, & page. On both sides Maidlin’s Folly Creek. 40 Shill. … GEORGE ALVES, 400 acs. (N.L.), Hanover Co; on both sides of Beech Creek; 24 Mar. 1725, p. 352. 40 Shill.”
Patent Book No. 14, p. 400: “GEORGE ALVES, 400 acs. (N.L.), Hanover Co; on both sides of Dirty Sw; 25 Aug 1731, p. 216. 40 Shill.”
[16] Louis des Cognets, Jr., compiler, English Duplicates of Lost Virginia Records, Princeton: 1958, reprinted 1981.
[17] See “Hanover County, Virginia Record Loss” at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Hanover_County,_Virginia_Record_Loss.
[18] This guardianship was the origin of speculation that Mary, David Alvis’s mother may have been a Crenshaw.
[19] See below for transcript.
[20] Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, The Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish, Hanover County, Virginia, 1706-1786, Baltimore: Reprinted for Clearfield by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1999, 1940.
[21] National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, The Parish Register of Saint Peter’s, New Kent County, Va. from 1680 to 1787, Heritage Books, 1988, page 89.
[22] Henrico Co., VA Will & Deed Bk. 1688-1697, 110-111.
[23] Vol. 36 (1928), p. 144.
[24] Vol. 31 (1923), p. 215.
[25] Op. cit., p. 342.
[26] Op. cit., p. 343.
[27] Vol. 33 (1925), p. 24.
[28] Op. cit., p. 353.
[29] “PASSENGERS TO AMERICA: Various Communications and Sources” New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 31:3 (July 1877), pp. 310.
[30] Hanover County VA Deeds 1783-1792, p. 53: p. 251. Abstracted in William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. XXI, No. 1 (Jul 1912), p. 146. Rec’d of William Thomson of Hanover one mare, 1 cow & calf, 5 Barrels of corn & 5 bushels of wheat which I acknowledge as full compensation for my third part of the tract of land sold by my late husband David Alvis of Hanover Co to Moses Harris. Elizabeth (X) Alvis, Wit: John Norvell, Wm. Hendrick, John Norvell Junr. 4 Oct 1787 proved by oath of John Norvell.
[31] Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, The Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish, Hanover County, Virginia, 1706-1786, Baltimore: Reprinted for Clearfield by Genealogical Pub. Co., 1999, 1940, 286.
[32] Hanover Co VA Court Records 1733-35, pp. 35-36, page 123-126 of the original record book. “Oct 4 1734 Settlement of the Estate of David Alvis Orphan of George Alves dec’d was recorded.”
[33] Vol. XXI, No. 1 (Jul 1912), p. 54. This guardianship was the origin of speculation that Mary, David Alvis’s mother may have been a Crenshaw.
[34] He was also a witness in Louisa County in 1761; Goochland Co tax list: 1785, and possibly other years, indistinguishable from his son and several grandsons named David. A website (http://www.wellsclan.us/History/generatn/d258.htm) attributes this to me, but I cannot locate the original submission of this data to me.
[35] Amelia County, Virginia, Tax Lists 1736-1764: An Every-Name Index, Miami: T.L.C. Genealogy, 1993. In 1744, he was in the area from Namozine Creek to Cellar Creek, with one slave named Jack. In 1745, he was “above Saylor’s Creek.” In 1746, he was “from the upper part of the county” and had zero tithables, probably because he was listed as Constable.
[36] Edward Pleasants Valentine Papers, published in 1927 and re-issued by the Genealogical Publishing Company in 1979, page 493.
[37] The Alvis Exchange, 27 (1995) 5-8.
[38] Alvis L Anderson, Stanley & Allied Families (1996), states she married an Alvis and was dismissed for marrying against discipline. Email communication from Ruth Kuntz, 23 Jul 2013.
[39] Vol. VI: (Virginia), 1950, pp. 213, 224. In 1724, John Stanley, along with John Harris and James Stanley, were “imprisoned for refusing to pay tithes or priest wages.”
[40] See my blog, “The Importance of Naming Patterns in Determining Early Alvis Families,” https://alvispat.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/the-importance-of-naming-patterns-in-determining-early-alvis-families/. George was clearly a family name, for David’s father, John and Stanley refer to David’s father-in-law.
[41] Louis A Burgess, Virginia Soldiers of 1776, Vol. III, p. 1255. Note that he was in Col. Charles Dabney’s Company.
[42] Louisa Co, VA Chancery Notes 1798-008; Forrester Alvis vs. Thomas Hardin: Alvis worked as an overseer for Thomas Harding for one year and was promised a share of each crop – corn, wheat, tobacco. He was never paid. Witnesses for Alvis, all “of this county”, were Woodford Alvis, John Chisholm, Henry L. Joyce, Harden Turner, James Cockrom, Samuel Higgason, Elizabeth Alvis, John Johnston, and James Henry. No relationships were given. Woodford through Samuel were deposed 20 Sept 1796. The rest gave their deposition Nov. 11, 1796.
[43] Agnes and her daughter Mary were descendants of Alice (–) (Harris) Alvis, second wife of Immigrant George Alvis.
[44] Marriage bond for David Alvis and —, 27 Dec 1784, in William and Mary Quarterly, VIII, 96. See Carolina Alvis in the 1820 census for Buckingham Co VA.
[45] “British Depredations in Goochland County,” The Virginia Genealogist, Vol 30, p 217.
[46] Brother of his first wife, Elizabeth. Goochland Co Marriage Register, 394. Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol 25, No. 3 (1987).
[47] Prince Edward County, Virginia, Records at Large II, page 364, page 185 in published extracts. James Nowlin may have been Elizabeth (Knolling/Nowlin) Alvis’s uncle. “Milly” signed with a mark, which may indicate given name was not correct. Or Milly may have been one of the unidentified Alvis wives. A Milly Nowlin was married 29 Nov 1786 to Thomas Chancellor in Goochland County, Abraham Nowlin surety. See The Alvis Exchange, 25-2.
[48] The Impartial Review & Cumberland Repository, 1805-1808, 229.
[49] The Democratic Clarion & Tennessee Gazette, 1810-1811, 121.
[50] Louis A Burgess, loc. cit.
[51] “Little Garden,” Old Houses of Hanover Co VA, pp. 131-132.
[52] Deed Book 18, p 665.
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