Hawkins/Rowzee/Catlett/Thornton connections

One other note that I would remind myself while thinking about yesterday's blog entry:  that Ms. Felder shows Thomas Hawkins' land at the falls of the Rappahannock River to be adjoining to a man named John Bowsey (is there a possibilty that it might have been Rowsey?).  In my slideshow that has name Northern Neck there is an article written by Lillian Baird Blackwell that can be viewed at: 

http://essexmuseum.org/archive/bulletin-vol-46.pdf

This article states that Edward and Ralph Rowzee and their half brother, John Catlett IV immigrated from Kent England to America in the 1650's together.  All three men shared mother Sarah Hawkins Catlett Rowzee.  So my note to myself is that it is quite possible that Thomas Hawkins may have been a cousin or some sort of relation to these men.  Ms. Blackwell says that the Rowzee/Catlett brothers first acquired land on Occupacia Creek on the Rappahannock River in Old Rappahannock County (present day Essex County).  

Note that Occupacia is the place that is mentioned in the information that Fred Duncan sent to me 

On 20 Sep 1698 Rachel and sons John and Samuel, and son-in-law Edward Martin purchased adjoining plantations from John Hawkins, only son and heir of Thomas Hawkins of Occupacia.

The fact that this is the same Thomas Hawkins who purchased the land at the falls of the Rappahannock River in the location that is now Fredericksburg, Virginia is (in my mind) is supported by the information that  Thomas Hawkins had two sons named in his will:  Thomas and John.  Thomas died young.  (more information in blog entry dated January 20, 2013)  John is left as sole heir.  This John Hawkins (son of Thomas of Old Rappahannock County) was married to Elizabeth Moseley according to the research of others.  According to information that I received from Fred Duncan, the Moseley family lived in the general area of Occupacia:

Associated with Occupatia Creek were the lands of Richard Lawson, James Gaynes, Peter Johnson, Wm. Lowry, Geo. Morris, Wm. Moseley, Peter Rucker, John Weir,  Thos. Hawkins, Richard Coleman, Ralph Rowzee, Augustine Smith, Farmer, John Warren (Warring, now spelt Waring), John Pyne (Payne), Robert Payne,  Geo. Eaton, John Gillett, John Phillips, John Watson, Phillip Rowsey, John Johnson, George Pley, Henry Berry, William Gray, Henry Tandy, Alex. Newman, Valentine Allen, Cornelius Nowell, (wfd-Noell who sold land to John Warren and Richard West) and Hugh Owen. (wfd- This Moseley family is in Bute County, NC too …Large land owners)

William Moseley would most probably have been the father-in-law of John Hawkins (son and heir of Thomas Hawkins).  A daughter of Thomas Hawkins, Hannah (who is named in the will of Thomas Hawkins), married William Mosesly who was a brother to John Hawkins' wife, Elizabeth Moseley.

I feel sure that this Thomas Hawkins "of Occupacia" is the same man who had the original patent on the land at the falls of the Rappahannock River. 

In Oct 2013 I was rereading this at the same time that I was cleaning out my inbox.  From the transcription of the will of Rowland Thornton that was posted on the NN mail list by Jim Burgess in Jan 2013 there is shown a connection between Thornton and Catlett:

Item:  I give and bequeath to my daughter Elizabeth Thornton my whole right
title property and interest (to purchase I made jointly with Colonel John
Catlett my wife's Father) one moiety of  five hundred acres of land lying in
Caroline and being the land Dorothy Roy now dwells on which said moiety of
land containing two hundred and fifty acres (if recovered from the heirs of
Charles Smith who mortgaged the same to Micajah Perry, Merchant in London,
of whom the said Catlett and I made the purchase), I give to my daughter
Elizabeth and her heirs forever.  And in case the law is such that the said
land be not recovered from the heirs of the said Charles Smith, then I give
to my daughter Elizabeth all the Money that shall or may be recovered by
virtue of the said purchased mortgage.

According to the post, this will is found in the will book that covers time period from 1721-1752.  I take this to mean that this man, Rowland Thornton was married to John Catlett's daughter. 

Hawkins land at the lower fall of the Rappahannock River

Jim Burgess sent a copy of a will to the Northern Neck mail list on Friday.  Here is the first part of the will:

King George County, Virginia Will Book A-1 1721-1752 George Harrison King
Fredericksburg, Virginia 1978 page 48.

Will of Francis Thornton
In the Name of God Amen.  I Francis Thornton of the County of King George
considering the frailty of this mortal life and being sick and weak in body
but of sound and perfect sense and memory praised be God for the same doe
make nd Ordain this my last will and Testament in manner and form following:
( #)

Imprimis:  I give to my two sons Francis Thornton and Rowland  Thornton all
my tract of land at the foot of the Lower Falls of Rappahannock River
containing Eight Hundred & Odd acres which I purchased of Mr John Hawkins,
my son Francis to have the upper part and my son Rowland the lower part of
the said land by equal portions as it is already divided.  The said land
with all its appurtenances and I give and bequeath to my said two sons
Francis and Rowland to them or either of them their heirs forever. 

I remember having read this will before.  And it made me think:  "hmmmmm I remember that I know something about this land that Francis Thornton is willing to his two sons."

So I decided that today's post would be a hodge podge of information that I know or can find about this land and who owned it and where it was located.

FIrst I spent some time figuring out WHERE the Lower Falls of the Rappahannock were located.  The below photo is shown with permission from Jay Chamberlain of Fredericksburg that I found on a site called Waymark.  Below the photo is a map from Jay showing where the photo was taken.  http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM62M5_Rappahannock_River_Fall_Line_Fredericksburg_VA

Next, from the book Forgotten Companions, The First Settlers of Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburgh Town by Paula S. Felder

On page 2, Ms. Felder shows a map that shows a Thomas Hawkins who owned land according to her map at the Falls of the Rappahannock.  It is a very small piece of land in comparison to that owned by Lawrence Smith and Robert Taliaferro, John Bowsey, John Burns, James Harrison and the orphans of George Mott.....  According to Ms. Felder on page 165 the original patent was to Captain Thomas Hawkins June 2, 1666.  812 and 1/2 acres on south side of Rappahannock River beginning at the lowest fall thereof.    Later this land seems to have belonged to Francis Thornton.

Later in the book, on page 188 Ms. Felder says:

“The patent was originially issued to Thomas Hawkins in 1666 and renewed by him in 1672.  Hawkins was a close friend of Lawrence Washington, and with Lawrence’s brother Col. John Washington (George’s ancestor) was named guardian of Lawrence’s children in his will of Setember 27, 1675.  The tract remained in the Hawkins family for many decades.  And it predated the Buckner-Royston patent by five years.  ....there is information that I will want to reread...Ms. Felder says that Francis Thornton of Essex (now Caroline) County acted as if he owned the land after 1715.  It seems that Thornton had purchased it from a Hawkins heir in good faith.  However, in 1737 the court in Williamsburg ruled that the seller was bound by primogeniture, and the Thornton purchase was nullified.  The matter was settled amicably.  The current Thomas Hawkins in 1738 sold the land in equal parcels of 400 acres each to two first cousins ---both named Francis Thornton, one of Spotsylvania and one of King George.  Four years later, Francis Thornton of King George sold his half to Colonel Lewis.....There is more information that I may want to reread.  However, the land seems to be smack dab in the middle of Fredericksburg....and Hunter Street is mentioned by Ms. Felder. This all seems to agree with the falls location.

If one looks at the map there is a Thornton cemetery that is located at Hunter Street.  I think that I have located the right place for the land that originally belonged to Thomas Hawkins and later to Francis Thornton.  

Visit the below link to see the fall line and to see photos of the area:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=f54d8d07-7177-419e-9c76-3622648638d4



The below information comes from: http://home.earthlink.net/~darcangelis2/fotr/ChNameHist.html


Falls of the Rappahannock: The Chapter Name

One year after the first permanent English settlement was made in America, Captain John Smith, in the summer of 1608, led an expedition from Jamestown to explore the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

The party sailed up the Rappahannock River as far as present day Falmouth where their progress was blocked by the falls. Smith's party anchored at the falls where he searched for a passage around them. It was here at the falls of the Rappahannock that the Seacobeck Indians lived and placed their fish traps for their daily diet.

Two forts were built in 1676 for protection against the Indians. One was located just below the falls of the Rappahannock River, on the South bank of what now is Spotsylvania County. It was a fort which furnished protection but did little to advance white settlement westward.

Captain John Smith was named commander of the fort built below the falls of the Rappahannock. This fort was garrisoned by one hundred eleven men from Glouchester County and furnished with 480 pounds of powder and 1,443 pounds of shot. Smith was to keep fifty men under arms at all times ready to march twenty miles in any direction. He was also given power to exercise martial law over his command and in conjunction with two others had power to arbitrate civil and criminal cases. With these powers, Smith governed with an armed force to enforce his every dictate. He also had the protection to develop his land holdings. The fort was discontinued in 1682 by order of the House of Burgesses.

The Rappahannock River and its tributaries provided a natural transportation system to early colonists, adventurers, and planters who soon flocked to its shores in the region about the falls. Court records and land books reveal the vast acreage patented by these early colonizers, looking to the promising future in commerce, trade, and social activities that later developed in Falmouth town.

While visiting the port of Fredericksburg in 1759, the Rev. Andrew Burnaby observed "that Falmouth at the Falls of the Rappahannock is a small, mercantile town, consisting of eighteen or twenty houses, whose inhabitants are endeavoring to establish a trade rival to none."

How well the people of the Fredericksburg-Falmouth neighborhood lived in the mid-Eighteenth Century is told by a traveler who noted his observation in the Journal of an Officer who traveled in America and the West Indies in 1764 and 1765. Visiting the major town of the Virginia colony, he wrote:

"This....would be my choice in preference to any I have yet seen; the country in general is more cleared of woods, the houses larger, better, and more commodious than those to the Southward, they all drive six horses, and travel generally 8 to 9 miles an hour....going frequently sixty miles to dinner....you may conclude from this their roads are good.

Their provisions of every kind are good, their Rivers supply them with a variety of Fish....their pastures afford them excellent Beef and Mutton, and their Woods are stocked with Venison, Game, and Hogs. Poultry is as good as in South Carolina, and their Madeira Wine is Excellent, almost in every house; Punch and small beer brewed from Molasses is also in use, but their Cyder far exceeds any cyder I ever tasted at home.

In the back country there are Mines of Lead and Iron.... All manners of European fruits, roots, and Garden Stuff do well here....."

And so it seems both fitting and proper that in an area where the Rappahannock River has provided a gateway westward in the history of our country, that the falls of that river should be singled out as a significant point of settlement by earliest man as a desirable place to live.

The FALLS OF THE RAPPAHANNOCK is an historic point of designation for which a new area DAR chapter is both proud and happy to single out for its name.

By Norma Polley, 1980

References A History of Early Spotsylvania, James Roger Mansfield, 1977
Colonial Fredericksburg and Neighborhood in Perspective, Oscar H. Darter, 1957

My interpretation of what I have read and collected so far

The Thomas Hawkins who was first married to Mary Lucas was the man who originally acquired the land at the lower falls of the Rappahannock river.  Did he and Mary live there?  I am not certain.  This Thomas Hawkins died young by our standards.  He was probably about 42 years old when he died.  His wife was named Frances at the time of his death and he states that there is the possibility that she could be with child.  Frances is a second wife.  However, Thomas Hawkins' sons, Thomas and John, were old enough to inherit land as he names them in his will and leaves all of his land to the two sons.   Francis Thornton's will would indicate that it is son John Hawkins who sells the land that has been left to him by his father.

The fact that John sells all of the land without mention of brother Thomas is clarified by the following note (this note was copied from others....so use it as a starting point):  

Named in his father’s will.  Thomas died before 1700.

THOMAS HAWKINS, b. AFT 1654 in Old Rappahannock, VA, d. AFT  8 FEB 1675/1676.   !"Died underage and without issue" and John his brother inherited,  per Hawkins vs. Thornton (1737) cited in "Virginia Colonial Decisions" vol. II, p. B243 (The Reports of Sir John Randolph and by Edward Barradall of the General Court of VA 1728-1 741; The Boston Book Co., Boston, MA 1909).

And then it seems that this John Hawkins does indeed have a son named Thomas Hawkins.  (others tell me that he married Ann Covington in Essex County).  My notes say about this son, Thomas,  died in 1739: 

 !Will of Thomas Hawkins dated 25 July 1739 and proved 18 December 1739, Essex County WB 6, p. 249.  Names his wife Ann and her brother Richard Covington and his brother William Hawkins executors.

So it would seem that he was the Thomas Hawkins who sold the land to the two first cousins who were both named Francis Thornton just before his death.  

Moses/Harris sites in the coal fields of WV

My daughter is doing a rotation in Rural medicine and living with me for the month of January.  I am having a lot of fun spending time with her.  She is in McDowell County today and tomorrow at North Fork.  I wanted to share with her some of the places in southern WV that are meaningful to her father's side of the family.

Quite a number of years ago when my husband's uncle's wife died, Jack and I accompanied his mother and father to the funeral that was held in Bluefield (my memory is less than perfect perhaps it was Princeton?).  That afternoon, we drove on RT 52 from Princeton through the coal fields of WV where the Moses and Harris family had lived in the early to mid 1900's.

Sarah's rotation is with Dr. Thacker who has a family practice in Milton, WV.  However, twice a month Dr. Thacker works in a clinic in Northfork, WV for two days.  When Sarah and I were chatting about her upcoming trip with Dr. Thacker, I kept thinking that there was a reason that Northfork was familiar to me.  But I couldn't come up with it.  I am adding this paragraph to the post at the end of January.  Sarah and I were talking with Sue Moses and Barbara Atkins and they reminded me of why the town was familiar.  It was Northfork Middle School now.   Jack Moses, Sr. taught and coached in the early days of Jack and Sue's marriage!   Jack Sr. taught accounting and business law and coached in 1940 at the high school.

You will see Northfork on the map below just northwest of Kyle on the right hand side of the map. Click on the map to make it larger if it is not clear.

If you need help with figuring out relationships of the people, click on the URL on the right side of this page.

some other places that have meaning to the Moses and Harris family are:

Welch was the town in which Sue and Jack were living when  my husband Jack and his brother, Bob, were born.  It was the town where Jack first went into the automobile business.  Sue's parents were living in Welch when they met.  I am not sure if Jack's family was living there at that time or not....need to do a bit of research on this....some

The above photo is the two Jack's (father and son) standing in front of the first home owned by Jack Sr. and his wife, Sue Harris Moses on Lake Drive in Welch, WV.

Welch Elementary is where Jack said he attended first and second grade.  The family moved to Ashland, Kentucky after his second year in school.

Jack remembered riding his bike to play on the playground that was next to the school.

The above photo is of the home of the Vilani family.  Jack and Sue and son, Jack, remembered Doctor Vilani and his family very fondly.  The Moses family lived next door.  The house that they lived in has been torn down.  Dr. Vilani delivered three of Sue's children.  Virginia Vilani was Sue's best friend.  The children in the two households were close to the same age and played together.

This was the apartment building in which Sue's parents lived.  Sue lived here with them from the time she was 14 until she married.  She lived with them all through the war.  You can see the train on the tracks in the background.  The next photo shows the train coming out of the tunnel which was just across from the apartment building.  And the photo below that show the Tug River that flowed behind the apartment building.  Sue would walk through the tunnel.  She would put her ear down on the track to listen to see if the train was coming.

The above photo is the Appalachian Power Company where Sue Harris Moses worked during the war while her husband, Jack was overseas.  She walked to work every day.  Sue said that she worked for the man who was over the whole  building.  She said when she started to work she made $80 a month and when she quit she had worked up to $180 per month.

The above photo is the site of Jack's first  automobile dealership in Welch.  The Ford Store was located at this site from approximately 1949 to 1954.  And the below photo is of the site at which the Lincoln Mercury Dealership was located from 1946 to 1949.  Earl Yeager and Don Clark were Jack's partners in this store.

The above photo is the Methodist Church in Welch.  Jack Sr. was on the building committee when the church  was built.

We visited the Flat Iron on this trip.  This was a hangout of Jack's and Sue's during their courting days. To see what this street looked like during it's hey day see the photo below:

Sue always told the story that her Uncle directed traffic on Saturday night.  He would take his daughter and Sue with him and they would sit in the car and watch the crowds.

Roderfield   The below photo is a photo of the cemetery at Roderfield.  Several members of the Harris family are buried at Roderfield.  The below photos were taken in October 2009 when I attended the funeral and burial of Everett Harris with my mother-in-law and her family.

The above marker is beside the grave of Everett.  The marker is that of Samuel Sterling Harris and Louise Frances Woodson Harris.  These were the grandparents of my mother-in-law, Sue Moses.  I am going to add a copy of Samuel Sterling Harris' Death certificate at the end of this post.

Sue and Jack Moses had one still born baby born after Jack and Bob while they were living in the coal fields of WV.  She is buried at Roderfield.  This is the marker for Sarah Ann Moses.

Twin Branch
Sue Moses' father was Hewitt Samuel Harris.  Here is what I have in the notes for Hewitt:

 Hewitt Samuel Harris started working as a coal miner when he was 12 years old.  his pay was $0.05 per hour for a 10 hour work day--6 days per week.  The date was 1897.

    In 1912 he began working for the railroad and worked there until 1930 (approx).  He had the agency for tickets for the N&W Railroad at Twin Branch, WV.  In 1909 he fired the railroad train.  he did this for approximately one year.  In 1930 he worked for Peerless Laundry and Drycleaners at Welch.  In 1942 he began working for Appalachian Power Co.  In 1950 he retired from Appalachian Power Co.  In 1950 he started working for his son-in-law, Jack Moses, in Huntington, WV.

Sue's mother's name was Mattie Lee Johnson.  Mattie Lee was living in Henry County, Virginia when:

The Johnson family lived on a farm in Henry County, Virginia.  There was not much money to be had in farming and two of the Johnson brothers decided to move to the coal fields of WV.  The coal fields were booming in the early 1900's and many young men moved there for work.  The two brothers who moved were were Everett Hamable and Luther Nathaniel.  Sue named them as Hamable and Luther.

At that time, Hewitt Samuel Harris, was working in the company store in Twin Branch.  He had taken a correspondence course in business and had then been hired in the office of the company store.  Mattie Lee visited her brothers and visited the company store with her brothers which is where she met Hewitt.  They were married soon after the meeting in the home of Hewitt’s parents.

After the marriage of Hewitt and Mattie Lee, they continued to live in Twin Branch.  Sue remembered having lived in a large house.  I am guessing that it was a company house as she said that during the depression her father lost his job and they moved rather suddenly to Davey, WV.  Sue said about this time in her life:  

Sue told the story that when they lived in Twin Branch they lived in a large house.  Her mother always had boarders.  The boarders would pay for a room, but eat at the company club house.  Sue said that she never had a room to herself.  She always had a roommate and she remembered that it was usually a boarder rather than a sister or brother who would room with her.

Davey  

Hewitt Samuel Harris's father was Samuel Sterling Harris.  Samuel Sterling had grown up in Appomattox County, Virginia and he too had moved to the coal fields of WV for work.  Here is what I know of Samuel Sterling and Davey WV:

The Obit is headed Death takes wellknown citizen of Davy, S.S. Harris, Confederate Veteran Dies at Home...It goes on to say that Mr. Harris was born February 18 1848 at Appomatix VA.  He spent his early life in Virginia and enlisted in the Confederate Army in the war between the Statesat the age of 16.  Mr. Harris was married to Miss Louise Woodson on September 18, 1882.
  He came to Wv in 1902 and was mine foreman at Davy until ill health forced him to retire.

  Funeral services will be held at 1 o’clock afternoon in the Davy Methodist Church, conducted by the Rev. W.L. Suggs...Interment  will follow in the Iaeger Memorial cemetery at Roderfield....

The below photo is the Harris family when they lived in Davey.  This photo if from the photo album of Sue Harris Moses.  Samuel Sterling Harris  is sitting on the porand Grandma Lou is beside him.  Louise Woodson Harris was a beloved grandmother to many!  I have never heard any story from any of her descendents that wasn't about what a wonderful woman she was. The couple on the far left are Sue's parents:  Everett and Mattie Lee Johnson Harris.  Beside Mattie Lee and just below Samuel Sterling is Aunt Sis and the man beside her on her left hand side is Uncle John and Uncle Pete on far right

The two  women on front row are Cousin Louise and Sue's sister Nora is the lady with legs crossed and wearing a hat. Louise died young of pneumonia.  Louise's mother was Aunt Mabel.   Again the two men to her left hand side are Uncle John and Uncle Pete with the hat in his hand.

Ieager


 A.L. and his wife, Lida Augusta Fitgerald were the parents of my father-in-law.  They lived in many places before their move to Ieager  in September 1936 to Iaeger, WV.  A.L. sold life insurance for the John Hancock Co. My father-in-law would have been about 19 when they made this move.  However Ieager always stood out to me as a place in his life.

Kyle

 When A.L. and Lida were first married they lived at Kyle, WV.  He was employed by the Lynchburg Coal and Coke Co.  From March 15, 1912 until Jan 1, 1917 he was office manager and payroll clerk there.   There was only one office. After that A.L. and Lida lived in Omar Wv in Logan County.  He was with the Main Island Creek Coal COmpany as cashier and payroll manager for 6 or seven mines.  He stayed there yntil Mr. Jack Dalton and Mr. Jaong A. Kelly came to Huntington.  A.L. came at the same time to work in the new Huntington office.  Jackson Fitzgerald Moses was born in Hugtington at thte hospital located on the corner of 1sty st. and 6th Ave.  Dr. Hatfield delivered Jack.

I did not show Omar on the map as it is up closer to Logan and not on the RT 52 map....from Rt 52 one would take Rt 44 north towards Logan and one would pass through Omar

      Their next move took them to Mohawk, WV where they lived from Sept. 15, 1924 until September 1936.  This is the town the kids (Jack, Bob, Barbara, and Steve) always kidded Jack about--they referred to the “tough area” in which he had grown up.
     In Mohawk A.L. worked for the Mohawk Company which was the same interest as the Lynchburg Company he had worked for when he was first married.  During this time A.L was appointed as a member of the board of education of McDowell County.  He was also elected to be a member of the County Court in the November election of 1934.  this was a 6 year term--four years of which he served as  president of the court.

In the early 1900's:


The coal fields of WV were booming in those days.  That was where the jobs were!   I always tell the story that...tell about 



I am showing the photos to Sue Moses in April 2014.  She told the story that she worked for H.B. Gibson when she was about 12.  Sue lived in Twin Branch at the time.  They called Mr. Gibson Hoot Gibson.  His wife had died and he sent his children away to school.  There were three boys and one girl.  Sue's mother looked after them during the summers.  So the four children almost always ate dinner with the Harris family.  Mr. Gobson lived next door.  

Mr. Gibson took Sue every Saturday night to Davey to see the movie.  Sometimes they went to Welch instead. 

Mr. Gibson was an engineer for a mine that was owned by Henry Ford.  They were trying to organize a union.  Henry Ford told them that if they did so, he would shut the mine down.  And he did just that .....the mine has never reopened.  

    

The Samuel Harris Family in Appomattox County, Virginia

There has been such a flurry of activity among those of us chatting about the Harris/Glenn/Coleman connections that I have become very confused and overwhelmed.  So I will take the evening to set down what I know about my mother-in-law's Harris line in the area that is now Appomattox County, Virginia.

In September 2005 I posted the following information in an e-mail after a visit to the Jones Memorial Library in Virginia.

I viewed a book called Petitions to Form Appomattox County, Virginia from
Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte and Prince Edward Counties 1825-1845 by
Harriett A. Chilton at the Jones Memorial Library in Lynchburg Virginia.

Harriett Chilton's opening paragraph says:



> Petitions to form a new county from parts of Buckingham County,
> Campbell County, Charlotte County, and Prince Edward County were
> presented to the Virginia Legislature beginning in 1825 and continuing
> until the County was established on May 1, 1845.  These petitions, for
> and against, are on file in the Virginia State Library in Richmond,
> Virginia.  .....The Buckingham County records from 1761 through 1869
> were destoyed by fire, as were the 1845-1892 records of Appomattox
> County.  It is hoped that the two thousand names listed here will
> partially fill the gap in the reocrd holdings of these two counties.....


I believe that my Samuel Harris signed the petition January 11, 1832
opposing the formation of the new County (Appomattox) from land taken
from Buckingham.  If it is my Samuel Harris (and I believe that it is as there is only one Samuel Harris in the census in 1830) he is married to Nancy
Apperson.    Also on the list opposing the formation of the new county
was John Harris, Elijah G. Harris,  and another John Harris.
......

The Bible pages also refer to the death of Jack Harris March 13, 1852.
I suspect that this is Samuel Harris's brother John Harris and also one
of the signers of the petition.

The Samuel Harris that I believe to have signed this petition had a son
named Samuel Sterling Harris.  Samuel Sterling Harris married first a
lady named E.M. Jenning.    After this lady's death, Samuel Sterling Harris married Louise Frances Woodson.....This marriage is said to have taken place
at Allen's Creek.  My data base says that the marriage bond was made at
Amherst, Virginia.  The map below shows where Allen's Creek is located.  Is this where Samuel Harris was living?  It is possible that it could have been the area in which the bride was from.    Because of the signing of the petition, I lean towards the theory that Samuel Sterling Harris was living in this area of Virginia where Amherst, Appomattox, and Buckingham adjoin.

Ann Harris' Harris line in Union County, SC

As our Harris DNA group has been chatting, I find that I want to put some information on the blog about what each of Harris DNA group #27 knows.  I started to add this to the post that I made on January 2, but it seemed that the post would be too long and confusing.  So I am going to break up what we know into several posts.

There are only three DNA participants who match that make up DNA group #27.  One is the brother of Ann Harris whose family moved from Virginia to Union County, SC before the Revolutionary War.  Ann still lives in Union County, SC.

Here is what Ann Harris says about her Harris line that is still in Union County:

On Jul 15, 2012, at 7:00 PM, Ann Harris wrote:

Hi Everyone,

.....  I am concentrating my search in York County at present.  I have found a J. M. Harris there that maybe my GG Grandfather.  My sister-in-law is getting  some information together.  I think my Harris, Glenns and Colemans  all came to Union, SC from Cumberland and Hanover counties in VA.  .....

Ann

Harris, Glenn, and Coleman in South Carolina and Virginia

Terese Mitchell sent a post to the Harris Hunter list in Dec in the middle of the Holiday craziness.  I am relooking at the post today.  What caught my eye about Terese's post was the Harris, Glenn, and Coleman  name in Abbeville County, South Carolina.

Elizabeth Shown Mills talks about using the FAN club (friends, acquaintances, Neighbors) in doing research on our family lines.  I find that the Harris, Glenn and Coleman names are among the FAN group for the yDNA matches for our Harris DNA group #27.  It may be a coincidence.  It may be a clue.


My post on this blog that is dated August 19, 2012 says this:  Our Harris DNA group is a very small group with just the three DNA matches:   My participant, Trey Harris, and the brother of Ann Harris.   We are group #27.  The families of Trey and Ann are found in  Union County, SC from just after the Revolutionary War until today.  Ann still lives in Union County, SC and Trey grew up there.  If you want to read my  post from which I quote:
  http://www.marshamoses.blogspot.com/2012/08/harris-dna-group.html

The Harris line that I look at that is my mother-in-law's line is found in Buckingham/Appomatox Counties in Virginia before they moved to the coal fields of WV in the early 1900's.  They were never in South Carolina.  But there is Glenn and Coleman in the neighborhood in Buckingham/Appomatox counties in Virginia that show up in the FAN club. Below is a photo of the participant who represents the Buckingham/Appomatox Harris line.  Everett Samuel Harris is now deceased.

Here is what Ann Harris says about her Harris line that is still in Union County:

On Jul 15, 2012, at 7:00 PM, Ann Harris wrote:

Hi Everyone,

.....  I am concentrating my search in York County at present.  I have found a J. M. Harris there that maybe my GG Grandfather.  My sister-in-law is getting  some information together.  I think my Harris, Glenns and Colemans  all came to Union, SC from Cumberland and Hanover counties in VA.  .....

Ann

And Trey's line seems to have originated in Buckingham/Appomatox Counties before moving to Union County, SC and as follows:

Samuel Harris born Virginia circa 1770 married Tryphena Harris in Buckingham Co. 1790
Flemming Harris born Union, South Carolina 1809 married Augusta Ann ? circa 1830
Gamewell Calhoun Harris born Union, SC 1853 married Sarah Breakfield in Union 1876
Edward Boyd Harris born Union, SC 1877 married Ida Mae Shaw circa 1900
Gene C. Harris Sr. born Union, SC 1914 married Alice T. Holden circa 1940

Be sure to read Glenn Gohr's page on our group by clicking on the link below. 

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

The below map illustrates close proximity of all of the Harris, Glenn, and Coleman families that are mentioned in SC:  Abbeville, Laurens, Union....

Pat Clare mentioned that she is looking at Harris' who lived in Laurens County, SC who may have been interconnected with our Harris families.

Here is Terese's e-mail:

Hi,
Today on Fold3, I came across an obscure family history that mentions a
Harris surname with Glenns in Abbeville, SC.  I couldn't find more about the
given name, but perhaps someone will recognize.  The file was contributed by
Mindy Penn to Fold3.  She scanned in reams of mostly handwritten pages on
the Pitts family. Also mentioned is a Calhoun connection in Carolina to the
Pitts.

The Pitts Family 
Lending Boook #9
by Mrs. W R Eckhaardt, Jr 
Houston, Texas
29 Mar 1968


Source information
http://www.fold3.com/image/#249251925

Contributed by:
   Mindy Penn
Filename:
   DSCN2924.JPG 
Document Title:
   DSCN2924.JPG 


   Some People
       . Mrs. W. R. Eckhardt, Jr.
       . James Glenn
       . Sally Glenn Harris
       . David Coleman
       . Charles Pitts
       . John Bartee
       . Frances Pitts
       . Lewis Mitchell
       . Peter S. Coleman
       . Henry Featherston
       . Lucy Pitts
       . Charles Featherston
       . Pitts Tucker
       . John West Pitts
       . Patience Wooten
       . William Wooten
       . John Pitts
       . Joseph Pitts
       . Peter Aiken
       . Amasa Pitts
       . Ann Pitts
       . Nancy Pitts
       . Joseph Pitts
       . Celia Pitts
       . Michael Toland
       . William Wessen
       . Elizabeth Pitts
       . Silas T. Toneray
       . Elbert A. White
       . Mathias G. Pitts
       . Josephine Nave
       . Giles Pitts
       . Katherine Fulmer
       . Sally Pitt
       . Lawrence Larry Stringer
   Places
       . Abbeville Co., SC
       . Sumner Co., TN
       . Pittsburg Landing, Hardin Co., TN
       . Hardin Co., TN
       . Shelby Co., TN
       . Giles Co., TN
       . Edgecombe Co., NC
Potontoc, MS
Virginia
Texas
Pg1
Begin transcription
PITTS
(from the notes of Mrs. Peavy)

Estate of James Glen Pack 4012-Clerk of Court's Office
Abbeville, SC Feb 3 1763 (in which John Glen leaves
Certain negroes and property to his daughter 
SALLY GLENN HARRIS who later married David Coleman.  David then took in
possession the Negroes and then David died leaving widow Sally (Glenn)
And a son Peter S. Coleman.  His widow (Polly?) then married Thomas Bartee
and had John Bartee and FRANCES, who was the wife of CHARLES PITTS.  Frances
married second Lewis Mitchell- This document goes into the division of
property of James Glenn among these various heirs.)

End transcription

The large DNA Harris family line that seems to be intermarried with Glenn is DNA group #6.  I thought that that would be the group with which the Harris line that I look at would have connected.  It remains to be seen if there is a birth incident with our group #27 (somewhat expected from our very small participant match) or if perhaps the Harris/Glenn/Coleman connections were on the female side.  Two of our matches have a Harris male married to a Harris female.  It is possible that the couple then lived with relations on the wife's side rather than relations on the male side.  Thus those Harris/Glenn connections would not be connected to the yDNA.

The only Glenn in my data base is Daniel Coleman Glenn.  Fran has told me that Daniel Coleman Glenn was the uncle of Martha Routon Woodson as he married her mother's sister. Martha Routon Woodson was the mother of Frances Louise Woodson who married Samuel Sterling Harris in 1882.  This is the couple that my mother-in-law remembers fondly as her grandparents.  Perhaps this is a stretch on FAN club....but these people were living in the same area of Appomatox County, Virginia.

The Glenn and Kin book that I viewed with Ann Harris when I visited her in Union County, SC says:

Gulielmus Coleman buys land from Nathaniel Glen of Union County SC  14 Feb 1788.  Gulielmus Coleman is said to have been of Cumberland County, VA.  The land was 350 acres on both sides of the Couble Horsepen branch adjoining land of James Glen, Thomas Wright, Nathan Womack, William Glenn and John Macon.  (Cumberland So VA Deed BK 6 pg 468.  This was the land that had been willed to Nathan by his father in 1762.  For all we know Coleman never moved to Union County, SC.

This Gullielmus Coleman has a son named Benjamin who married Sarah Apperson.  Sarah is a sister to James Apperson and an aunt to James' daughter, Nancy Apperson who married Samuel W. Harris.  These people lived in the same area and knew each other....there is no about it.  Guillielmus also had a daughter named Elizabeth who married William Guthrie.  The Guthries were absolutely relatives of the Appersons.

I have a membership to Fold3 and I will try to look at the original information on that site if there is indeed more information.  Please check back to see if there is more information later.  This posting can always be found on my blog with posting date of January 2.  Or type Harris in the top left hand search box to narrow the posts down to those that would be of interest to you.  I also welcome editing ideas sent to my e-mail address:  mosesm@earthlink.net or additional ideas in the comments section.

Old Chester County, Pennsylvania and my Elliott family

I found myself enticed to answer an e-mail this morning on the Old Chester County mail list.  Sandra Ferguson is a wonderful mail list owner and the list is fairly active.  Now that the holidays are finally over and January 2013 is here, I find myself allowing myself to spend time on my computer again.

Sandra had suggested to the list that we work on our subject lines when we post a message and I responded with the following:

Think of it as being much like fishing.....try to put bait on the line that makes as many people want to open your message as possible.  Also make the subject be something that would cause that a researcher who was browsing the internet or the archives of the mail list to look at your message one more time.  While I agree with Sandra's full name and date, you might think about Elliott in W. Nottingham and Sadsbury c. 1732.  This might appeal to someone who is researching another family in this  place in the same time period....or someone who is looking at another person in your Elliott line.  Some one who might not be interested in John Elliott 1732, might be interested in the area that John lived in.  

After I wrote my message, I decided to make sure that the places that I was mentioning were indeed part of Old Chester County.  Here is a map that explains where Chester County would have been in the late 1600's:

and almost 100 years later Chester County would have looked like the below:

this map from:   http://chester.pa-roots.com/maps/ch1780.jpg

Most of my other posts about my Elliott family area about the time periods in which they lived in Virginia and North Carolina.  You can search for this information by entering Elliott in the search box in the upper left hand corner.  Check back as I will be adding to this blog post as time permits.