Beuhring and Brown In Cabell and Kanawha County

I interviewed Kitty Forbes today at her apartment at Woodlands.  

Kitty had been nice enough to take me to Charleston several years ago to view portraits of ancestors that we share.

At the time that we went to Charleston the portraits hung in the living room at the home of Jean Fitzgerald McBride who is now deceased.  I took photos of the portraits at the time, however, my photography skills were not as good as they are now and it was before digital photography was as widespread.  I was very disappointed in my photos when I had them developed.

The two people in the portraits were:  Frederick G. L. Beuhring and his wife, Frances Dannenberg Beuhring.

The story is told that the couple commissioned the portraits to send them to family back in Germany.  Frances was not from Germany, so the best guess is that her husband wanted his parents and/or family to see his pretty bride and know that the couple were doing well in the United States.  The family in Germany fell upon hard times as a result of World War I and contacted family here asking if someone in the family would purchase the portraits as they were in need of financial aid.  Kitty told me that her aunt, Louisa Brown Fitzgerald purchased the portraits and that Kitty could never remember a time in Kitty's lifetime in which the portraits did not hang in the home of her aunt.

 F.G.L. and his wife, Frances, were married in 1820 at Chateau Blanche, the country home of her uncle, Frederick Koenig.  F.G.L. was living in Baltimore and working for Uncle Koenig when the couple met and made plans to wed.  They were both well educated and reflected a taste for music, books and the refinements of social exchange all of their lives.  Shortly after their marriage the couple moved to Barboursville in Cabell County, Virginia.  FGL continued his shipping contact with the Koenig family in Baltimore. 

It is not clear just when FGL moved to Barboursville.  Court records show that he served on a jury in Cabell County May 3, 1819.  That would have been before his marriage.  FGL served as postmaster of Barbarboursville from August 7, 1820 until Sept 9, 1822 and then again from May 12 1823 until April 22, 1829. At that time it was called Cabell Court House, Cabell County, VA.  The name  was changed to Barbarboursville May 10, 1882.

The couple had four children:  Frederick Konig Dannenberg Beuhring from whom I descend, Anna Marie (Mary), Emma Adelaide, and Louise Mayer from whom Kitty descends.  Please use the URL at the side of this page to see more information about the members of this family at my ancestry site.  

In 1837. for the sum of $6000 F.G.L. Beuhring purchased the property that had been the home of  Major Nathaniel Scales. This land was once part of the Savage Grant.  Their home was known as Maple Grove.  The land stretched from the river to the hills between 7th and 11th streets in what is now downtown Huntington.  Where “Beuhring Lane” (now 7th Street) touched the Ohio was one point in the original land grant of 1775. (I have a zeroxed copy of the written agreement of this sale that gives precise descriptions of where the land was located among my things.  It gives the date of the document as March 30, 1837) The present DAR cabin in Ritter Park is said to be located very close to the site on which originally set the Beuhring’s vineyard keeper.

Maple Grove was described as having “many luxuries little known in the neighborhood” brought from the Koenig’s “Chateau Blanche” and a place where, besides frequent guests, “many charming young people...Laidleys, Browns, Buffingtons, and Hites...fully enjoyed all it offered.”

The Brown family lived in the adjoining farm to the west of the Beuhring family's home place.  


The youngest daughter, Louisa Mayer Beuhring married James Henry Brown who lived on the adjoining farm (just below 7th Street in the present city of Huntington.)  This couple first lived at Maple Grove, then at Beechgrove on Four Pole Creek where their first child, Virginia, was born September 23, 1847.  In 1848 or 1849 the Brown’s moved to Charleston and shortly after bought the Elms.

This is the couple from which Kitty descends.  Kitty says that her Brown Family came from Virginia to Cabell County very early.  Their place in Virginia was called Bloomsberry.  The Brown family lived on a farm that was a part of the Savage Grant.  The Brisban house was on the property that had belonged to the Brown family.  However, The brick home that the Brown family had lived on no longer exists....it was on the river.  When the Brisban's first lived in the house that survived on the Brown farm, they had to rent because they could not find the present owner of the home to make an offer.

The home in which Kitty's mother was both born and married was called the Elms in Charleston, WV. It was torn down to build the Federal Building in Charleston.  It was purchased from a man who had been in Napoleon's army and who had built the home by James Henry Brown, Kitty's gr-grandfather.

The above photo is of the Elms and the copy was given to me by Kitty.

The above photo is also of the Elms in a later time period.

And the above is a copy of a painting that belongs to Kitty that depicts the Elms.


 Kitty had the original mantle in front of which her mother and father had been married installed in the Craik-Patton house in Charleston

NC Quaker family: Jacob and Elizabeth Elliott and family during years from 1763 to 1787

I had an e-mail from a man today about my Elliott family in NC.  It made me want to post some of my answers to him on my Blog so that they can be viewed by others.   If at any time the people are confusing, please go to the Ancestry site where I have tried to put in many of the people named below in family charts.  The URL is on the right hand side at the very beginning of this blog.

I have to start this story with the serendipity of the internet.  Roberta McReynolds and I were chatting about eight years ago about a possible family connection between her husband's Elmore line and my Elliott line in Indiana.  Roberta was working on getting ready for a reunion for her husband's people.  I was volunteering at my local LDS FHL.  It was almost time to go home and we had no patrons that day.  So I decided to take a look among the microfilm/fiche that was on hand to see if I could find anything helpful for Roberta.  I was looking at a book 

By crazy luck on the same page as the Elmore entry, there was a biography of Joab Elliott who was the brother of my Catherine Elliott who married Nehemiah McKinsey and the son of Abraham and Rachel Elliott..   The biography was the link taking me back to Randolph County, NC with this Elliott family.

 Here is the story told in Joab Elliott’s biography:

Joab Elliot, retired, Crawfordsville, now a man of seventy-three years, has spent his life in Indiana.  He has seen the state grow as he grew to manhood, and he has grown gray has beheld his state continue to develop.  His father was a native of Randolph County, North Carolina, and in 1806 made a trip to Indiana territory and purchased 160 acres of land in the twelve-mile purchase.  In the following year he moved his family in a four-horse wagon a distance of 700 miles, from Tennessee to his lately purchased farm.  Stopping over night in a log-cabin just within the Indiana border, and within six miles of their destination, where all was wild and only wild animal or wilder savage broke the silence, a child was born November 18, 1807, and they called his name Joab.  This was on Green’s Fork, one and a half miles northwest of the present city of Richmond.  They soon settled on their frontier home and here in the then Far West they lived several years. Here Joab was raised with few other companions than nature furnishes where civilized foot has never yet trod.  The Elliots lived within the bounds of the friendly indians; but just beyond, the whoop of hostile foes rent the air, and made the forest more weird.  Forts or block-houses were built on the Elliot farm, in which the few whites of the region took refurge.  In 1811 they experienced the earthquake of that time, and which Tecumseh thratened the Indians of the south when they refused to join him in the attempt to exterminate the whites.  This was a peculiar occurrence and the Indians imagined it was the fulfillment of the chief’s threat.  The war of 1812 brought the bloodthirsty savage closer to the threshhold of the pioneer.  The Elliotts, becoming tired of risking danger, moved to Warren County in 1813, wherethey remained three years.  Then Mr Elliot went to Cincinnati, and with five other families took a flat-boat for Jefferson County.  After wandering considerably he settled eight miles south of Terre Haute.  The head of the family ceased the toils of earth May 30 1821 at the age of fifty six years.  His wife had died November 26, 1819.  The boy Joab was left parentless, yet hardships were not new to him.  While among the red men he became quite efficient in  the use of the Indian language. Many a time he has been carried on the back of John Green, the chief of the friendly tribe, and he relates with freshness and vigor thrilling incidents of his early days.  His brother served in the war of 1812.  His people in early times were Quakers.  His grandfather being called upon to fight by the tories in the Revolutionary times refused, on account of his religious scruples, where upon the tories tied him to a tree and gave him his choice to fight or die.  He preferred death to a violation of his oath.  The tories arranged themselves in line sixty steps distance, preparatory to shooting the steadfast man.  All was ready when a son of the doomed man, and brother to Joab’s father, interfered with these words:  “Men, if you must shoot anyone, shoot me, as father has a family to support.”  Saying this, the brave son placed himself in front of his father to shelter him.  Even the tory heart was moved, and both father and son were allowed to live.  After the death of his parents, Joab lived with his brother in Ohio, but in 1828, he made Montgomery County his permanent home and bought eighty acres, the W. 1/2 of N.E. 1/4 Sec 23, Ripley township.  There he married, December 31 1829, Susan Mann, the daughter of an early settler.  He built the old-time log hut and around the crackling fire did he and Susan muse and think of the roof left and that which they yet would build. The years hastened on and no family was born to them to fill the space around the board, but their hearts went out to the needy, and eight children have found homes within their doors, but one of whom (Nettie Elliot, or Jennet Aprag) is now at home.  Mr. Elliot was partly raised by her gr-grandfather. About 1857 Mr. and Mrs. Elliot moved from their farm to Crawfordsville, and in 1874 made their residence where Mr. Elliot with their adopted daughter, Nettie, now live;  Mrs. Elliot having died Arpil 17, 1876 at the age of sixty-three years, after a life well spent.  At her table the present Hon M.D. White had boarded many years, and he was pleased to call her mother; also John White, now of Danville, Ilinois, became as one of the family under her roof.  With her husband she was a member of the Christian Church.  Mr. Elliot was an early whig in politics, but for many years he has ever been found true to republicanism and in his old age loves his party.  Joab Elliot is one of Indiana’s oldest living children.

From clues in the above,  I found the Elliott family that I know so well now in Randolph County, NC.



 My own proven research on my Elliott family begins in Rowan County, NC in 1763 when Jacob and family moved from PA to NC:

1763, 11, 26.  Jacob (Ellott) & W& ch, Jacob, Elizabeth, Hannah, Israel & William rocf Warrington MM, Pa, dated 1763, 9, 20 (I have a copy of the original MM records for this) This is found in the records of New Garden MM in what is now Guilford County, NC.  It would have been Rowan County in 1763  Information found in Hinshaw.

This was confusing for me for a while as my Abraham was not born yet and thus not named in family record.  In addition Randolph County had not been formed out of Rowan....so it was a little bit of time before I understood that I needed to look in the Rowan County records to find the family before the formation of Randolph County. 


Jacob's brother, Abraham, also moved to the area as found in Hinshaw:


1765, 3, 30 Abraham, & w. Priscilla & ch Stephen, Ruth, John, Samey, Joseph, Abraham, Hester, & Jemima, rocf Warrington MM, Pa. dated 1764, 7, 14 endorsed by Cane Creek MM, NC 1765,1,5

A land transaction supports the move from PA to Polecat Creek in NC:

7 Dec, 1763  Benjamin Cox and wf Martha of Orange county, NC to Jacob Ellitt for 48 pistoles, 216 a on Polecat Creek adj Benjamin Beeson, granted by Grannville to Crsfr Nation 11 MAY 1757 and sold by him and wf Elizabeth to sd Cox 16 July 1757.  Christopher Nation, 11 May 1757, sold by him and wife Elizabeth to Benjamin Cox 16 July 1757.  Wit Christopher Nation andThomas Cox, Prvd Apri. Court 1764.

It took me several years to sort out the Abraham Elliotts in Randolph County, NC.  They were all living on Polecat Creek when the census of 1790 was taken.  You can see Polecat Creek right on the border of Randolph and Guilford County.

If you click on this image it will show up in an easier to read format so that you can better identify where Polecat Creek is located.

There were three Abraham Elliotts in this census:  Abraham brother to my Jacob Elliott.  Abraham who was the son of this Abraham.  And MY Abraham who was the son of Jacob and Elizabeth Elliott.

As one can tell from Joab's story, not all of the family remained Quaker in following generations.  However, the family was committed to the Quaker faith during the mid to late 1700's.  In my data base, I have made note from looking at records in NC:  

1779 Jacob, John, and Abraham Elliott are all found in Joseph Hind’s district and have not taken the Oath of Allegiance and have refused or neglected to return Inventories of their Taxable property.  Jacob Jr. did not take the Oath but he did return his Inventory of Taxable Property.  He is in the same district.  Abraham Jr. is in the same district and is single and has neither taken the oath nor returned his Inventory.  William Elliott is on Windsor Pearce’s List and has either refused or failed to return his Inventory. 

At this time the Quaker families were trying to remain neutral in the war between Great Britain and what we would now call the Patriots who were trying to win freedom from Great Britain.  They not only refused to fight, but they also refused to support the war with monetary
contributions.  Thus the above shows this family not taking sides with the patriots when they refuse to take the Oath of Allegiance but also refusing to pay taxes that they believe would be used to support the war.  This was happening in many part of the country in areas that had Quaker families.  

By 1779 the Revolution had spread from the northeast to the southern states.  The Revolution in the southern States is one of my favorite subjects.  It is fascinating!  But I will skip much of what I have learned to talk about a man who was causing great trouble in Randolph County by 1780.  

Herman Husband lived in Randolph County and probably went to Meeting with the Elliott family.  In an article in the Randolph Story Bicentenial Edition 1776-1976 by the Randleman Rotary Club the following information is noted about Husband.  Husband seemed to have been a friend of Benjamin Franklin.  He had been a member of the church of England when he lived in Maryland.  After moving to what is now Randolph County in 1763 he became a Quaker.  He had a large grant of land and owned a mill on Sandy Creek. Husband was receiving pamphlets from Franklin that were advocating resistance to the English taxes and government.  Husband distributed these pamphlets in the general area of Orange and Rowan Counties.  It is believed that Husband was in the area of the site of the Battle of Alamance and that he made a last minute attempt to bring about a truce or a settlement.  Some historians say that Husband left a short while before the battle began.  After the battle Edward Fanning destroyed the home and farm of Husband.  Husband then left NC.  I would guess that Husband would have influenced my Elliott family.

http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/ncmaps/id/223

The above map is taken from the 1873 Beane Map of Randolph County.  This map is in the NC State archives.  You can see how close Pole Cat Creek is to Sandy Creek (Pole Cat Creek is directly north of Asheboro while Sandy Creek is just northeast)

There is information about the location and use of the Cox's Mill site as headquarters for David Fanning at the following sites authored by Warren Dixon:

http://www.co.randolph.nc.us/hlpc/downloads/HarmonCoxMillSite.pdf

http://www.co.randolph.nc.us/hlpc/downloads/RaymondCoxMill.pdf

and an excellent article that explains where Cox's Mill was located by Mark Chilton:

http://piedmontwanderings.blogspot.com/2008/12/coxs-mill-and-headquarters-of-col-david.html

Another event that happened in 1781 that could have contributed to Jacob’s moving his family to Virginia is the fact that Cornwalis marched his army across the area in his chase of Green’s army toward Virginia.  There is an excellent explanation of the troops movements across Davie County in the file:  Revolution in the Carolinas.  I copied the pages while in the Rowan County Library in Salisbury.  Feb 3, 1781, Cornwalis was in Salisbury with swollen Yadkin .....so decided to go north before crossing.  He marched his men north in Davie County to Shallowford Crossing which is near present day Huntsville, NC

According to http://www.nps.gov/archive/cowp/timeline.htm   Much of the fighting in North Carolina took place between Feb 1781 which was the battle of Cowan’s Ford, NC and March 1781 which was the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.  So it is likely that the incident in which Jacob was threatened with shooting happened in this time frame:

This also seems to be the right time frame from the actual move made by the family.....

1781, 7,21.  Jacob (Ellot) and w. Eliz and children William, Abraham, Eliz and Rachel gct New Garden MM, NC ) 

I believe that this entry in Hinshaw is the family preparing to move to Montgomery County, VA.  New Garden would have been the closest MM to the area in which they would live in this time period.  

It is my interpretation and guess that Joab's story about his father told of  a direct encounter between Fanning and/or his men and the Elliott family.  And that the 1781, 7,21 Hinshaw entry is Jacob and his families move to Montgomery County for safety after the terrible scare that Jacob and family had received.  

There is further proof that they had moved to Montgomery County by 1782.  Mary Kegley published a book called Tax List of Montgomery County, Virginia 1782.  On page 11 of her book we find Jacob, Jacob, Jr, and Israel.  My Abraham would have only been 17 at this time and probably still in the home of his parents.  Jacob, Jr had married Betty Beeson c. 1775 and most likely had a family of his own.  I do not have a date for Israel's marriage, but assume that he, too, had a family.  

I want to add a note here that I will come back an fix.  I was chatting with another researcher about Obadiah and found that there is an Isaac who is a son of John Elliott and grandson of Abraham and Priscilla Foulke Elliott who may have been the Isaac Elliott on the Flower Swift militia list.  I want to take a look at this and give it some thought....also add in the one other Elliott male who is in Montgomery County to see if anyone recognizes him.


So where did they move?  Again, I'll copy a slide or two from my slide show to explain where I believe that they were living in Montgomery County, VA.  One first needs to know that Montgomery County was a huge county in this time frame.  Montgomery County is on the border of NC and goes all the way to the Ohio River.  

It wasn't until 1789 that the county began to be broken into smaller units:

I know that the Elliott family would have been in the Chestnut Creek area of Montgomery County, VA because they are found on the Flower Swift Militia lists.  It looks as if Chestnut Creek begins near NC as the east and west fork....the goes right though the middle of Galax and flows into the New River north of Galax.  It is a bit hard to see on this map....but if you look just north of Galax you will see Chestnut Creek labelled going north to flow into the New River.  This scan comes from a DeLorme Atlas, so if you have access to DeLorme of VA, you can see this for yourself in an easier to read format.  

There is more information about the Flower Swift Militia list on Jeff Weaver's wonderful New River Notes site.  It is possible that you may have missed the news that Jeff died this year and Grayson County, Virginia Heritage Foundation, Inc. has taken over the site so  that Jeff's wonderful work will not be lost.  

http://www.newrivernotes.com/va/swift/swift0.html

Don't miss the page on the families that are named on the Flower Swift Militia lists:

http://www.newrivernotes.com/va/swift/swiftbio.html

I spent some time at the Kegley library last spring and made copies of pages from a WONDERFUL book about the area in which we find the Elliott family living during the Revolution.  The book is Carroll 1765-1815 the Settlements A History of The First Fifty Years of Carroll County, Virginia by John Perry Alderman.  Using this book and land records, I have concluded to my satisfaction that the family of Jacob and Elizabeth Elliott were living in the area marked on the map below during the years that they lived in Montgomery County, Va:

From Hinshaw:

1784, 1,31, Jacob (Ellot) & w. Elizabeth, & ch. William, Abraham, Eliz & Rachel, gct Center MM from New Garden MM, NC (I believe that they may have moved back home from Montgomery Count, VA)

By 1787, Jacob and Elizabeth had moved back to Polecat Creek with their family as evidenced by the following: 

There is no doubt about which MM the Elliott family would have attended.  Look how close Centre MM is to Polecat Creek.

Polecat creek is the waterway that goes just beside Centre MM to the east....you can see the word Polecat just above the circle indicating Centre MM an the word Creek in Blue south of the fodder of Guilford and Randolph.

I quit for the day.  Please contact me with suggestions, additions, corrections and thoughts about what you would like to see next on this post.  I can continue to add to this post or I can post other information in another post with different dates to make it less confusing.  Thoughts on this?  Please use the search box at the top of the page and don't forget about the URL that connects to my family tree on ancestry.  Polecat

In September 2023 there was a post about a cemetery in Carroll County.  I feel sure that my Elliott family did not have anyone die while they were living there for safety during the Revolutionary War.  But I did not want to loose the idea.  The lady posting the comment called the cemetery the Fruit Hill Cemetery.  When I googled it, I found that it is also called the 

Quaker-Nester Cemetery.  

I have used a website maintained by a man with last name Nester who researches Goad family.  

I believe it likely that his Nester family is this same Nester family.  

Edward Powell Hawkins

My Gr-grandfather, Jesse Marshall Hawkins, was named after his grandfather Jesse Anderson.  Jesse Marshall was born in Louisa County, Va in 1866.  My name is Marsha Ann Hawkins.  I was named after my father,  James Marshall Hawkins, who was most certainly named after his two grandfathers:  James McGregor and Jesse Marshall Hawkins.  I have never ascertained where the Marshall came from in Jesse Marshall's name.  I have some guesses.  Jesse Marshall's grandfather's best friend (if one can use documents as a way of figuring out buddies) was Coleman Marshall.  Coleman Marshall and Thomas R. Hawkins are found on many documents as witness together or for each other.  Coleman Marshall was married to a lady who was a sister to Thomas R. Hawkins' aunt.  I don't know what happened to Thomas R. Hawkins' father, but it is clear that his uncle and his uncle's buddies were looking out for him ALL of the time!

However, all of that is unrelated to the title of this post.  Thomas R. Hawkins had only one son.  His name was Edward Pinkard Hawkins.  It is very likely that Edward Pinkard was named for his grandfather as Thomas R. Hawkins was married to Matilda Pinkard.  The couple married in Culpeper County, Va.

Edward Pinkard Hawkins married Martha Jane (Jennie) Anderson and moved to Louisa County to live among Jennie's PEOPLE.  This couple had 11 children.  The males who lived to be adult were: Charles Anderson, Edward Powell,  John Lee,  Jesse Marshall, and Curry Thomas.  I have often wondered where the Powell came from.  Below is a photo of Edward Powell Hawkins.

My dad's closest DNA match, Gene Hawkins, sent me an interesting post script to my post:

A man named William Powell Coleman (b some time after 1800) was the son of James O Coleman (b 1777, Pennsylvania) and Lucy Ohio Hawkins (b 1787, on a boat on the Ohio River). Lucy's the daughter of Captain James Hawkins and Jane Bourne.  [Gene is a descendent of James and Jane Bourne Hawkins.

Harris/Apperson Bible pages

I have in my possession Bible pages that I believe were once a part of a Bible that was owned by Samuel W.  and Nancy Apperson Harris.  This couple lived in Buckingham County, Virginia and/or Appomattox County, Virginia in the early to mid 1800's.   I believe that the Bible pages belonged to Samuel and Nancy Harris because the names of the people who are listed with births, deaths, and marriages are people who were related on both sides of the family:  Apperson and Harris.

To look at the Bible pages for yourself go to:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gbonner/bible/apperson.html

Gregg Bonner has done a wonderful job of putting the pages on his website and also interpreting what he believes that the pages say.

Samuel and Nancy married 30 December 1824.  This date is recorded in the Bible pages.  Their youngest son, Samuel Sterling, was born 18 Feb 1848.  This date is also recorded in the Bible pages.

The family Bible came to be in the home of Samuel Sterling Harris.  Perhaps he was the last child at home or the male child most interested in owning the Bible.   I do know that it was in his possession after the family moved to WV.   By 1902, Samuel Sterling had moved to Davey, WV in McDowell County.  His son told me that a new mine had opened up at Davey and he moved there to take the job as a mine supervisor.

Samuel Sterling Harris married as a second wife Louise Frances Woodson before his move to WV.  This couple's oldest child who survived infancy was Hewitt Samuel Harris.  Hewitt Samuel Harris was the father of Everett Samuel Harris who is my DNA participant and also the owner of the Bible pages when I first learned of their existence.  Everett had received the Bible pages from his father.  He told the story that Hewitt Samuel had gone to his parents home for dinner every Sunday after church.  One of the times that he was with his parents he tore the pages from the Bible and took them home with him.  I believe that it was with the permission of his parents who did not want to give up the Bible but had very little interest in the genealogy that the pages contained.  The Bible itself has since disappeared.

Upon the death of Everett Samuel Harris in 2009,  I visited Everett's third wife and convinced her that I would make sure that Everett's genealogy information was safe.  And the pages came into my collection.  I hope to eventually donate them to the Library of VA.

Harris DNA group

I was chatting last night with a man named John Harris.  We had talked in the past about the fact that I research the Harris name.  It occurred to me that I used to think that my mother-in-law's Harris line would connect with one of the big Harris groups out there such as the Overton Harris....Mourning Glen lines.  However, we now know that our DNA group is a relatively small group.  The fact that one of our matches has names in her research that match with Glenn  makes one wonder if there has been a birth incident....or if perhaps the connection might have been on the female side rather than the male side.


I wanted to take a minute this morning to post some of what our DNA group knows so that I can have a place to go back and refresh my memory on what we DO know about this family group.  We are a relatively small group.  Fran Hill has no DNA participant.  However, we became friends several years ago when we realized that her Harris line and the Harris line that I look at were proved to be connected by the Bible pages that are now in my possession.  To see the Bible pages go to:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gbonner/bible/

click on the Apperson Family Bible.  Gregg Bonner has done an excellent job in putting these pages on the internet and in interpreting the pages to make them more helpful.

I hope to make another post that will repeat who each of the people named in the Bible pages are and how they are connected....and where and when I came to have the pages in my possession.

To see the Harris DNA results go to:

http://www.harrisdna.org/results.html

We are group #27.  Be sure to read Glenn Gohr's page on our group by clicking on the link.  There are only three matches in our group.  My participant, Trey Harris, and the brother of Ann Harris.   The families of Trey and Ann are found in  Union County, SC from just after the Revolutionary War until today.

Trey Harris is a DNA match to my mother-in-law's brother, Everett Harris who is my Harris DNA participant.  Trey believe that his ancestors connect to Samuel Harris married to Tryphena Harris.   Tryphena's maiden name was also Harris.  Her father was Thomas Harris married to Sarah/Sally Lacy.  This couple was married by a French Huguenot minister named Chastain.  These people seemed to have lived in Buckingham County--so they were certainly living in the right area to be connected to the Harris family that I look at.  Samuel and Tryphena moved their family to Union County, SC in 1792 and the family has remained in that area to the present day.

Ann Harris lives in Union County, SC.  Her brother is a Harris DNA match for our line.  Ann and her brother descend from George Washington Harris of Union County, SC.  He was born in 1810 according to his tombstone and died 21 June 1880.  His wife was Jane Susan Elizabeth Glenn Harris.  Ann does not have parents for George Washington Harris.

I believe that the Harris line I look at was living in the part of Buckingham County that is now Appomattox County, Va in the mid 1800's.  The Bible that I refer to later in this post belonged to Samuel and Nancy Apperson Harris.  This is the family that lived in this county.

http://www.livgenmi.com/1895/VA/County/buckingham.htm

I could not find Samuel Harris in the 1840 Census on Ancestry in Buckingham County.  However he is there in 1830 and 1850 with all of the right people in his household.  Samuel was born 7 Nov 1795.   His oldest daughter, Sarah Ann, was born in 1727, so he did have a family at the time of both the 1830 census and the 1840 census.    I am convinced that he is the man who signed the petition in 1832 AGAINST the formation of Appomattox county from Buckingham County as he is the only Samuel that I find in Buckingham in 1830 census.

It is likely that Samuel and Nancy and their family lived at Trent's Mill.  I will try to spend some time editing this last thought in the next few days.  Please go to my post for January 6, 2013 for more information on this location and this family.

Salmons/Sammons DNA--John of Cumberland matches

I wanted to begin posting some of Ruth Sammons Nassar's information on my blog.  Of course, the first thing that I did was to google Sammons DNA to remind myself of which DNA group I belong to.  Funny that the top of the list of hits that google brought up was my own post back in Nov 2008.  So I will begin this blog with a copy of that post:

I have recently paid for a participant with FTDNA for a 37 marker 
test. I expect this participant to match with the Sammons family that 
is found in Cumberland County, Virginia in the mid 1700's. I believe 
that both the new participant and I descend from several generations 
of Roland/Rowland Salmons/Sammons who lived in eastern Ky during the 
1800's.
.....

My particpant is kit #131079.  He and I are first cousins who descend from several generations of Rowland/Roland Salmons/Sammons' who lived in Eastern Kentucky.  Our first Roland Salmons moved to Floyd County, Kentucky before 1809. The Salmons' had moved to Pittsylvania County from Cumberland in the mid to late 1760's.  The part of Pittsylvania that they moved to became Henry County.  They lived on Smith River. Rowland was living there during the Revolutionary War and is found on the tax list in Henry County in 1782.  By 1787, Rowland is found deeding 120 acres to J. Breemer.  From 1790 until at least 1808 Rowland is said to have been from Montgomery County.  During this time he married Frankie Carter in Rocky Mount, Virginia.....  

Anyone reading this who would want to know my Salmons/Sammons ancestry is invited to look at:

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/41167677/family?cfpid=19587296207

Our DNA group seems to be labelled with John of Cumberland as that seems to be the earliest Salmons that we have positively identified for the first six members of our DNA group.  John Sammons is our newest participant and he does not connect to John of Cumberland County.  Instead he connects to John Salmons who was married to Naomi De Priest and died in Bedford County, Virginia with will proved in the Bedford January Court 1791.  Ruth's notes say that John and Naomi Salmons' children were christened by Rev Douglas between 1759 and 1770 as recorded in Goochland Parish Register.  I can not find a parish in Virginia named Goochland.  I think that Ruth meant St. James Parish in Goochland County.  Can anyone help me with this?

Here is the transcription of the Will of John Salmons, Sr. of Cumberland County as found among the documents in Ruth Sammons Nassar's papers:

Will of John Salmon, Sr.  Will Book 1, page 219 [Cumberland County?]  [I found this in the folder labelled documents among Ruth Sammons Nassar’s information]

In ye name of God Amen the 29 January 1761 I John Salmon Sen’r. of Cumberland and Southam Parish being very sick and Weak in Body but of perfect and sound memory Thanks be given unto God therefore calling to mind the mortalltiy of my Body and knowing it is appointed for all men once to die do make and ordain this my last will and Testament that is to say Principally and first of all I give and recommend my Soul into the hands of Almighty God that gave it and my Body I recommend to the Earth from whence it came to be buried in a decent manner Christian Burial at the discretion of my Executors nothing doubting but at the General resurrection I shall received the same again by the mighty power of God and Touching such worldly Estate wherewith it hath been Pleased God to bless me with in this life I give demise and dispose of the same in the following manner  First of all I bequeath and desire for all my Debts as I owe in right of conscience to any Body to be fully paid and satisfied by my Executors hereafter named also I give bequeath all my Household goods and stock of horses Cattle and Hoggs to my wife Elioner Salmons during Widowhood not to be interrupted and if my Wife should die my eldest son John Salmons should servive I give and bequeath it into his care to be equally divided amongst my four sons John Salmons Lewis Salmons Ezkiah Salmons and Rowland Salmons after charges being paid for my three youngest Sons Schooling and maintainance and I bequeath and desire for my three youngest sons Lewis Ezekiah and Rowland to be under their eldest Brothers care and Jurisdiction until they come of age and years of discression to take care of themselves and further I appoint my Wife Elinor Salmons and John Salmons my eldest son my whole and soly Executors whereunto I hae set my Hand Seal this 29 day of January 1761.   John Salmons Sr. L.S.

Witnesses were John Newton and John Salmons, Jr. 

At a court held for Cumberland County 22nd June 1761.  This last will and testament of John Salmons dec’d. was proved by John Newton and John Salmons the Witnesses thereto and by the Court ofdered to be recorded and on the motion of John Salmons the Executor therein named who made oath according to Law Certificate is granted him for obtaining a Probat thereof in due Form giving Security whereupon he with John Newton his Security entered into and Acknowledged their Bond with Condition according to Law and Liberty is reserved to Elenor Salmons the Executrix therein named to join in Probat.  Test Thompson Swann Clk Ct

This paragraph is then repeated for Eleanor.  The document is signed Betty R. Walton, Deputy Clerk Circuit Court, Cumberland County, Virginia  [so this is answer….this was obtained from Cumberland Court]

I asked Carol Cole for some clarification on the DNA results for John Salmons of Goochland and here was her answer:

 Participants who are descendents of two of the sons of John (son of Thomas) of Goochland have tested.  One line DOES match the DNA tests of the group who believe they descend from John Salmons of Cumberland and the other line does NOT match John Of Cumberland lines.  It is a mystery at this point.  It is hopeful that we will recruit other participants to help clarify if the two lines are indeed related.  

  In the above map you can see that Goochland County is the area smack dab in the middle labelled Go.  In the below map you can see that Goochland County was divided into Goochland on the north and Cumberland in the south in 1749.

So we will want to be aware of the fact that our John of Cumberland probably lived quite close to the John of Goochland County.

John Salmon, according to Ruth Salmons Nassar, moved up the James River to settle on acreage on Snowquarter Branch which he acquired from Benjamin Dumars about 1753.  At the time of acquisition the land lay within the bounds of Goochland County, however in  1748 as the area became more populated it was decided that a new county should be created and another log court house built so the courthouse would be more accessible to settlers.  Thus Cumberland County was created.

Ruth Sammons Nassar says that that the name of the wife of our John of Cumberland County was Eleanor.  She suspects that Eleanor's maiden name was Rowland.   The following is from Ruth's book:  Vol. I My Begetters Salmons

We know the wife of John Salmons was named Eleanor/Ellinor, and I suspect she may have been a Rowland, for the John Salmons family and the George Rowland family lived close by in Cumberland, and when young John Salmons moved his entire family to Pittsylvania, which later became Henry County,  the Rowlands moved, too.  This would explain the Christian name given the Salmons’ youngest son, Rowland, which name was handed down for all future generations, including the present generation in which Ruth was living.  Ruth says that she has searched the Rowland records, as well as Salmon, but was unable to come up with proof. 

I find that Ruth was able to prove the Salmons/Rowland Connection in the John of Bedford County line.  She lists eight children born to Nathan and Rebecca Ann Ryan Salmons including Robert De Priest Salmons and Naomi Salmons.  Rebecca is the daughter of Philip Ryan and Obedience Rowland Ryan.  Obediance is the daughter of John and Mary Rowland.  John Rowland according to Ruth's notes was born c. 1730.

James (see below) was kind enough to share the link to the site on which the LDS have digitalized all of Ruth's books:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/515348?availability=Family%20History%20Library