Marsha,
I found Edward Thomas who, along with my Mordecai Moore, was an appraiser for the estate of James Boudler dated 24 Nov 1746 in Frederick Co., VA. I am trying to figure out where my Mordecai was living and am assuming all of the appraisers were neighbors. Have you found out where Edward was living?
Steve Moore
This caused me to begin looking among my "stuff" to see exactly what I DO know about this area of Virginia in this time period. It seemed a good time to make a list of what I know and what I would like to research. Steve has explained that he hopes eventually to prove that the Mordecai in this document was brother to my 7-gr-grandfather, Richard Moore married to Sarah Jenkins and uncle to MY 6-gr-grandfather, Mordecai Moore married to Mary Lackey.
So the questions that I am going to address here are: Where was Edward Thomas living in this time period and were the Moore and Thomas family friends in Pa before the move to the Hopewell MM area of Virginia.
Edward Thomas is in Old Frederick County, VIrginia in 1751/52 as indicated by land transactions between Edward Thomas and John Smith.
Edward Thomas first lived on a 250 acre tract that had been surveyed by James Wood on 17 Nov 1735 for Jost Hite. Hite sold the land to William Hiatt, who then sold it to Edward Thomas. Thomas lived there for some time, obtaining a bond from Hite assuring title to the tract.
There is an interesting note about roads in the area in O’Dell’s book: ......The second road branching off the “Philadelphia Road from the present-day Middleway, WV area ran south across Edward Thomas’s 182 acre tract and then southwest, crossing his property line on or near Jefferson County Highway 1/11. It continued here....this is on pages 496-497 of O’Dell’s book.
Several years ago I visited the Handley Library in Winchester, Virginia. During that visit I looked at Cecil O'Dell's book: Pioneers of Old Frederick County, Virginia. The below is a map that I copied during that visit with notes that I made at the time:
So the questions that I am going to address here are: Where was Edward Thomas living in this time period and were the Moore and Thomas family friends in Pa before the move to the Hopewell MM area of Virginia.
Here is what I have in my notes about Edward Thomas:
Edward Thomas is in Old Frederick County, VIrginia in 1751/52 as indicated by land transactions between Edward Thomas and John Smith.
Edward Thomas purchased the 50-acre part of John Smith’s 420 acre 1734 patent land for 10 pounds on 13 November 1749. On 13 April 1759, he mortgaged the 50 acres to John Bouts/Phoutz of Lancaster County, Pa for 100 pounds, payable 13 April 1763. THe abstract says that the land was on a branch of Opechon Creek called Turkey Spring.
After they had moved to the Bush River in South Carolina (Newberry County), Thomas and his wife Sarah sold the 50 acres to Christian Fox of Pennsylvania on 10 June 1766. See map that I copied from book. In the abstract it says “Edward Thomas of Bush River South Carolina”
Edward later sold the tract to Richard Fowler, who then sold it to Walter Briscoe. This land is located on Opequon Creek About 3/4 mile west of Edward’s 182 acre Fairfax grant land.
Edward also received a Fairfax Grant which according to Gray’s Northern Neck Grants K-129 was adj to William Hyatt, Edward Thomas, John Smith, Great Road from Potomack to Frederick Town 13 May 1760. This would have been the road marked Philadelphia Road in O’Dell’s book.
14 May 1744 O. S., FOB 1, p. 104
Jacob Hite Gent John Littler John Ross & Thomas Shepard having made their return on the Last
Courts Order for Viewing Marking and Laying off a Road from John Littlers to Thomas
Shepards Mill in these Words We have Viewed & laid off a Road from John Littlers late
Dwelling house by a Course of Marked Trees to the said Littlers new Design Thence to Opecken
Creek Over Abrils ford thence to the late Dwelling place of John Smiths deced thence to Jacob
Hites Thence to Thomas Shepards Mill and thereupon its Ordered that the said road be Cleared
by the Petitioners & that Jacob Hite Gent Thomas Swearingham & Edward Thomas be Overseers
of the same & its further Ordered that they cause ye. sd. Road to be Cleared according to Law --.
9 June 1744 O. S., FOB 1, p. 122
Ordered that the Tithables Two miles on each side the Road in Jacob Hites & Edward Thomas
precinct clear the Road from John Littlers to Thomas Sheppards Mill & work on the said Road --(page 6).
15 September 1744 O. S., FOB 1, p. 199
Owen Thomas is hereby Appointed Overseer of the Road from Jeremiah Smiths to William Hogs
in the Room of Joseph Edwards & its Ordered that he Keep the same in good repair According to
Law --(page 8).Several years ago I visited the Handley Library in Winchester, Virginia. During that visit I looked at Cecil O'Dell's book: Pioneers of Old Frederick County, Virginia. The below is a map that I copied during that visit with notes that I made at the time:
On a modern map, this area would have been about:
What makes me think that the area that I have circled is correct? I have gone by the Mill Creek and Turkey Run as landmarks.
If you open my Blog post in a new window and go to my July 31, 2012 post, you can compare the map showing the Inwood Quadrant where we believe George McKinney to have lived and the map just above to see that Edward Thomas and George McKinney were most certainly neighbors as the information from Bruce Locken below places George McKennie in the Inwood Quad.
The following list includes the name of each grantee, the date of the grant, number of acres, the deed book reference, the U.S. Geological Survey quad map containing the grant, and the grant number on Geertsema's map overlays.
McKennie, George. 1756, October 18; 194 acres. Volume H, p. 679 and 707 [duplicates]. Inwood Quad. #502
Here is the information from Harriet Imrey explaining her research and interpretation of the information of the land question of George McKenney:
I looked through the books and online VA sources available to me, and drew the conclusion from grants, deeds, adjacencies, etc., that the 1756 George McKinnie grant pretty much had to be located on Mill Creek west of Opequon (since that was where Richard Merchant, Patrick Dunkin, Murty Handley and Thomas & George Follis all appeared together). Some of the original grants were not listed at the Library of VA site, but they're all at a different place: the West Virginia GeoExplorer Project, www.wvgeohistory.org. (Select Bibliography under Search, use last name of grantee as Author.) The neat thing about this site is that it will show where everybody was...assuming that one understands GeoLocator technology and the GIS system..... The Mill Creek site was in Berkeley Co VA/WV from 1772. The WV GeoExplorer Project says that its initial coverage is Jefferson Co WV, the subdivision of Berkeley to the east of Opequon. Mill Creek is west, so should be currently in Berkeley rather than Jefferson Co. Well, whatever. The overall county map shows some settlement locations that straddle Opequon Creek, so at least some of the mapped properties have a Berkeley Co WV address.
Here's the order of the grants, and the spellings used at the WV site:
1. Murtay Handley, 300 acres, 12 Jan 1749, GeoLocator: IN509. Handley didn't pay for his land, so it reverted to Lord Fairfax, who granted it--resurveyed at 343 acres--to Samuel Handley on 11 Aug 1770, GeoLocator IN508.
2. Patrick Dunken, 121 acres, 28 Apr 1753, GeoLocator: IN218. Patrick and Catherine Dunken sold it to Joseph Edwards on 30 Apr & 1 May 1759, but there's a complication: Patrick Dunken had 242 acres surveyed (date not stated), all of which was granted to (Quaker) Thomas Folless [Fallis, Follis] on 1 Sep 1753. Both plats were adjacent to Richard Merchant on the drains of Opequon. GeoLocator: IN217.
3. George McKinnie, 194 acres, adj. Richard Merchant, Patrick Dunkin, Murty Handley, 18 Oct 1756. GeoLocator: IN502. (Spell it McKennie for the WV search engine, but it's McKinnie on the page.)
4. Richard Merchant (Quaker), 187 1/2 acres, adjacent to nobody, 30 Apr 1760, GeoLocator IN501. This must be a late grant for an earlier survey, because he shows up adjacent to Duncan, McKinnie and Follis at the time of their surveys.
If you can figure out what to do with these GeoLocator references, that should produce a pretty decent plat map of the Mill Creek neighborhood just west of its mouth at Opequon.
Harriet
One more piece of information from Harriet that strengthens the argument that Edward Thomas and George McKenney may have been friends and neighbors in this northern Virginia neighborhood is this list below:
Here is the information from Harriet Imrey explaining her research and interpretation of the information of the land question of George McKenney:
I looked through the books and online VA sources available to me, and drew the conclusion from grants, deeds, adjacencies, etc., that the 1756 George McKinnie grant pretty much had to be located on Mill Creek west of Opequon (since that was where Richard Merchant, Patrick Dunkin, Murty Handley and Thomas & George Follis all appeared together). Some of the original grants were not listed at the Library of VA site, but they're all at a different place: the West Virginia GeoExplorer Project, www.wvgeohistory.org. (Select Bibliography under Search, use last name of grantee as Author.) The neat thing about this site is that it will show where everybody was...assuming that one understands GeoLocator technology and the GIS system..... The Mill Creek site was in Berkeley Co VA/WV from 1772. The WV GeoExplorer Project says that its initial coverage is Jefferson Co WV, the subdivision of Berkeley to the east of Opequon. Mill Creek is west, so should be currently in Berkeley rather than Jefferson Co. Well, whatever. The overall county map shows some settlement locations that straddle Opequon Creek, so at least some of the mapped properties have a Berkeley Co WV address.
Here's the order of the grants, and the spellings used at the WV site:
1. Murtay Handley, 300 acres, 12 Jan 1749, GeoLocator: IN509. Handley didn't pay for his land, so it reverted to Lord Fairfax, who granted it--resurveyed at 343 acres--to Samuel Handley on 11 Aug 1770, GeoLocator IN508.
2. Patrick Dunken, 121 acres, 28 Apr 1753, GeoLocator: IN218. Patrick and Catherine Dunken sold it to Joseph Edwards on 30 Apr & 1 May 1759, but there's a complication: Patrick Dunken had 242 acres surveyed (date not stated), all of which was granted to (Quaker) Thomas Folless [Fallis, Follis] on 1 Sep 1753. Both plats were adjacent to Richard Merchant on the drains of Opequon. GeoLocator: IN217.
3. George McKinnie, 194 acres, adj. Richard Merchant, Patrick Dunkin, Murty Handley, 18 Oct 1756. GeoLocator: IN502. (Spell it McKennie for the WV search engine, but it's McKinnie on the page.)
4. Richard Merchant (Quaker), 187 1/2 acres, adjacent to nobody, 30 Apr 1760, GeoLocator IN501. This must be a late grant for an earlier survey, because he shows up adjacent to Duncan, McKinnie and Follis at the time of their surveys.
If you can figure out what to do with these GeoLocator references, that should produce a pretty decent plat map of the Mill Creek neighborhood just west of its mouth at Opequon.
Harriet
One more piece of information from Harriet that strengthens the argument that Edward Thomas and George McKenney may have been friends and neighbors in this northern Virginia neighborhood is this list below:
14 May 1744 O. S., FOB 1, p. 104
Jacob Hite Gent John Littler John Ross & Thomas Shepard having made their return on the Last Courts Order for Viewing Marking and Laying off a Road from John Littlers to Thomas Shepards Mill in these Words We have Viewed & laid off a Road from John Littlers late Dwelling house by a Course of Marked Trees to the said Littlers new Design Thence to Opecken Creek Over Abrils ford thence to the late Dwelling place of John Smiths deced thence to Jacob Hites Thence to Thomas Shepards Mill and thereupon its Ordered that the said road be Cleared by the Petitioners & that Jacob Hite Gent Thomas Swearingham & Edward Thomas be Overseers of the same & its further Ordered that they cause ye. sd. Road to be Cleared according to Law --
Ordered that the Tithables Two miles on each side the Road in Jacob Hites & Edward Thomas
precinct clear the Road from John Littlers to Thomas Sheppards Mill & work on the said Road --
Alexander Ross is hereby Appointed Overseer of the Road from his fence to the Corner of
Smith’s fence in the Room of Edward Thomas And it is Ordered that he keep the said Road in
good repair According to Law --
Edward Thomas is appointed overseer of the Road from from John Smiths Old place to Jacob
Hites in the room of Jacob Brooks and it is ordered that the Tithables three miles on each side the
sd Road work on the same under him as their Overseer and that he clear & keep it in Repair
according to law
Ordered that Edward Thomas and Morgan Morgan lay off a Road from the new Bridge at
Opeckon the most convenient way into the Road leading from Winchester to Henry Enochs’ and
that they be overseers thereof and it is further ordered that the tithables Four miles on each side
of the said Road clear and keep the same in repair according to Law
Evan Thomas is appointed Overseer of the Road from William Jolliffs to Mary Ballangers in the
room of Edward Thomas and it is Ordered that the Tithables formerly appointed keep the same
in repair according to Law
Ordered that John Briscoe be Overseer of the Road from Edward Thomas’s to Mr Jacob Hites in
the Room of Edward Thomas and it is further Ordered that the Tithables formerly appointed
Keep the same in repair according to Law.
It is Ordered that John Briscoe John Abril William Rankins and David Rankin or any three of
them being first Sworn do view the Ground and see whether the main Road can be turned to Run
upon the Line between Edward Thomas and John Smith and Make Report thereof to Court
[Note: below mentions that Isaac Thomas had lived on this road but no longer lives there]
(Alteration of) Main road to run on the line between Edward Thomas and John Smith, 112 [Note: I interpret this to mean that Edward Thomas and John Smith lived adjacent]
2 Road from (the top of) the Hunting Ridge to the County line, 151, 158
Jacob Hite Gent John Littler John Ross & Thomas Shepard having made their return on the Last Courts Order for Viewing Marking and Laying off a Road from John Littlers to Thomas Shepards Mill in these Words We have Viewed & laid off a Road from John Littlers late Dwelling house by a Course of Marked Trees to the said Littlers new Design Thence to Opecken Creek Over Abrils ford thence to the late Dwelling place of John Smiths deced thence to Jacob Hites Thence to Thomas Shepards Mill and thereupon its Ordered that the said road be Cleared by the Petitioners & that Jacob Hite Gent Thomas Swearingham & Edward Thomas be Overseers of the same & its further Ordered that they cause ye. sd. Road to be Cleared according to Law --
9 June 1744 O. S., FOB 1, p. 122
3 June 1746 O. S., FOB 2, p. 102
6 March 1753, FOB 4, p. 406
2 April 1755, FOB 6, p. 200
3 March 1756, FOB 7, p. 30
4 April 1758, FOB 8, p. 1
4 August 1762, FOB 10, p. 79
[Note: below mentions that Isaac Thomas had lived on this road but no longer lives there]
(Alteration of) Main road to run on the line between Edward Thomas and John Smith, 112 [Note: I interpret this to mean that Edward Thomas and John Smith lived adjacent]
Sir John’s road (road called Sir John Sinclaire’s road), 96, 97, 113, 119, 127, 132
Sections:
2 From Winchester to the plantation where Isaac Thomas did live, 96
2 From the place where the road from Robert Cunningham’s falls into it to the forks
where the road leads to Winchester, 132
2 From the plantation where Isaac Thomas did live to the County line, 96
2 From the Hunting Ridge to Isaac’s Creek at Pritchet’s place, 97
2 Sir John’s road leading from the Timber Ridge to Isaac’s Creek, 113
2 From the forks to James McGill’s, 119
2 Sir John’s road from the end of the Sleepy Creek Mountain where the Warm Spring
road crosses it to James Daugherty’s, 127 Probable sections:
2 Road from Isaac’s Creek to the County line, 148
2 From Winchester to the plantation where Isaac Thomas did live, 96
2 From the place where the road from Robert Cunningham’s falls into it to the forks
where the road leads to Winchester, 132
2 From the plantation where Isaac Thomas did live to the County line, 96
2 From the Hunting Ridge to Isaac’s Creek at Pritchet’s place, 97
2 Sir John’s road leading from the Timber Ridge to Isaac’s Creek, 113
2 From the forks to James McGill’s, 119
2 Sir John’s road from the end of the Sleepy Creek Mountain where the Warm Spring
road crosses it to James Daugherty’s, 127 Probable sections:
2 Road from Isaac’s Creek to the County line, 148
According to Frederick County, Virginia Wills and Inventories (abstract) p.28:
Edward Thomas witnessed the will of William Hiatt along with H.A. Rankin and Jeremiah Ham.
Will 26 Feb 1763.
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