Friday, January 31, 2014

Some photos that I would like to identify

All of these photos I have copied from Nancy and Eleanor at some point.
The first photo is labelled Nannie Lee Hawkins Taylor on far right
Carter Taylor Seaton said that she believed that it is Elinore Hawkins Sheets on the left.


I can not remember who was in the below photo

And the last photo, can someone help me?



Sunday, January 26, 2014

Ports in Early Virginia

In working on an old blog post that I did last year about this time, I came across a map on a site on Family Search that I did not want to loose.  So I am going to start this blog post and come back and edit it at a later date.  The site on Family Search has MANY excellent suggestions on doing research and I will also visit it at a later time:

http://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Virginia_Emigration_and_Immigration

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Occaneechi Trading Path used for migration from north to south

I spent much of today transcribing a legal pad on which I made notes probably about 2004.  I think that the notes were from several NC Genealogical Society's events as well as visits to the NC archives, Guilford College Hege Library, several Quaker churches in the area....etc  I did a terrible job of making it clear from where each of the pieces of information were acquired.  As I tried to get my head together on several of the items, I found myself interested in the location of the Occaneechi Trading Path that settlers might have taken when migrating south.  The below map was taken from the Family Search site:  http://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Occaneechi_Path

You may want to go to the site to view the map more clearly.  You can see a more detailed view of the trail as it goes through the NC Piedmont on my blog post:

http://marshamoses.blogspot.com/2012/04/eno-cemetery-marker-dedication-just.html

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Silas Wooten, John Hunt, Isaac Williamson, River Jordan--were they buddies? Kinsmen?

I am correcting this blog post in November 2023.  Nancy Wooten sent me information that indicates that it is NOT the estate of River Jordan, Jr....instead it is the estate of Daniel Currey in Richmond County.  So if you are reading this, please get in touch with me at mosesm@earthlink.net to see if I have corrected everything.  I may need to hunt for the original information.  Hmmmm this is not the first time that I have tried to correct this post.  I just can not find enough information.  I absolutely believe that Nancy Wooten was correct and that it was not River Jordan who had died....instead it was River Jordan who was either the administrator or the executor of the estate.  I give up again on making the corrections.  What I believe that I was working on was that John Hunt was a neighbor of Frances Worth (Silas Wooten's father-in-law) in Guilford County.  Isaac Williamson was the son-in-law of Nancy Hunt Woodle.  Is it true that Nancy Hunt Woodle and the John Hunt of Guilford County were siblings?  I just can not figure out all that I need to know.

The next paragraph starts the original post:

I had saved several years ago a one sentence excerpt from a on-line source about the Descendents of Isaac Williamson---Richmond County, NC.  The excerpt includes the name Silas Wooten.  Is this MY Silas Wooten?  Why and where was he when the threesome witnessed the inventory of  the estate of River Jordan, Jr?

Here is the sentence found on that website:  "John Hunt may have been a brother of Nancy Hunt.  He along with Isaac Williamson and Silas Wooten witnessed the inventory of the estate of River Jordan, Jr.  on 11 Oct 1792."

 In poking around via google on the internet, I find the information that Isaac Williamson who died in Richmond County and was born in 1758 married Sarah/Sally Woodle about 1786.  Sally was the daughter of William Woodle and Nancy Hunt.  So Nancy Hunt was Issac Williamson's mother-in-law.

https://www.ncgenweb.us/richmond/williamson2.html

First question is where is Richmond County, NC and was that where River Jordan, Jr. died?

The first question is easy via a google hunt.  Richmond County is on the border of NC and SC and is east of Charlotte and west of Fayetteville, NC.  Wow, I bet that it saw a lot of hard times during the Revolutionary war!  And indeed when I went to the genealogy site for Richmond County, it was described as having years of lawlessness followed by court action against the Tories at the end of the war.


The question of where River Jordan, Jr.'s probate took place is not as simple.  I did some quick google searches but did not turn anything up.  I'll fill this part in after I have more time to look at it.  In the mean time I want to write something else that was on my mind.

I had the Guilford County map out a few days ago to look for something for another researcher. The map that I look at is the Hughes map that I purchased several years ago and is described at:

http://ncgenweb.us/nc/guilford/hughes-map-index-guilford-a-l/

I don't feel that I am able to put a scan of the map on-line because of copyright, but I can describe that  in the northwestern corner of the map near the William Coffin Mill and on either side of the road that is labelled Cape Fear Road are found the land holdings of my 5-gr-grandfather, Francis Worth (1787) and that of John Hunt (1786).   Silas Wooten was the son-in-law of Francis Worth as he married Phebe Worth c. 1783 using date of first child as indication.  Is it possible that it is this John Hunt who is a witness with MY Silas Wooten and Isaac Williamson for the estate of River Jordan, Jr.  Did they travel together to do this?  Or was the estate of River Jordan in Guilford County environs and Isaac Williamson traveled from Richmond County or is it another Isaac Williamson?  Lots of questions.  Are the men relatives?  friends?  what was their relationship with River Jordan, Jr.?

I have read on occasion on ancestry information that Silas' mother had maiden name Jordan.  However, I have absolutely no idea about Silas' parents at this time.....I do know that Silas enlisted during the Revolutionary War in Halifax County, Virginia.  Some people have told me that men always enlisted in their home county.  Other people have told me that there were unusual circumstances when Silas enlisted and that Halifax may have been where EVERYONE was going to enlist if they lived in NC or that part of Virginia.  I don't know yet.

However, my browsing on google tonight did show that the Jordan family were in Halifax County at some point:

http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=uva-sc/viu01765.xml

A guide to the Jordan family papers held at the Library of Virginia says:

The material pertains in most part to the descendants of Samuel Jordan, who arrived in Virginia in 1609. The name Jordan became associated with a leading family of Quakers in James City, Isle of Wight, Nansemond, and Halifax counties.

I have some other thoughts that I want to add into this blog post to look at in the future.  Several years ago, Nancy Wooten sent me something that she had found:

I also want to add in in this spot the fact that there are children named Jordan in both Silas Wooten and Silas Ooten's families.....

I also do not want to loose:

Also, in one of Martha Sisler's e-mails to you
(the one about the land grant) she mentions a Lewis Whooten
or Wooten and his wife Elizabeth.  She said Lewis was the
patriarch of the Wilkes Co. Wooten's and a Quaker!  He
attended New Garden.  She also has Silas in Wilkes Co. at
some point.   These people sound like they could be his
parents.  Silas and Phoebe did name their first son William
Lewis!   I will try to find something on the Wilkes Co.
website.  I believe she said this was created from Surry Co.
Here is a little bit that I have googled on the internet....take it for what it is worth:

3.  GEORGE3 JORDAN (ARTHUR2ARTHUR1) was born in Surry County, Virginia, and died 1718 in Surry County, VA. He married MARY BROWNE Abt. 1686 in Surry County, VA. She was born Abt. 1670 in Surr County, Virginia, and died Aft. 1728 in Surry County, Virginia. 
....
Surry County, Virginia 
Book 7, page 145 
05/18/1718 date 
08/20/1718 probate 
In the name of God Amen I George Jordan of Surry County considering the 
frailty of this mortall life Do make and Declare my Last Will and 
testament....

....

Item I give unto my Son Thomas Jordan the upper part of my Land lying 
one the head of Sunken Marsh commonly called Stoney runn the said parcell 
of Land I give unto my Son Thomas Jordan and to his Heirs forever. 
Item I give unto my two Sons James and River Jordan the remaining part 
of that Land lying one Sunken marsh and Stonery runn to be Equally 
Divided between them the said parcells of Land I give to my Two Sons 
James and River Jordan and to their heirs forever and in case either of 
my sons 

....

This River Jordan has following information attached to him:
vi.RIVER JORDAN, b. 1703, Surry Co., VA; d. Aft. 1742, Bertie Co., NC.

Copied from:  http://www.2fools.net/book-0001/0013-0003.html

Bertie County, NC is on the coast and not near Richmond nor Guilford Counties.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Silas Wooten's service during the Revolutionary War

I am reading a book by Stewart E. Dunaway called Colson's Plantation Cross Road in the American Revolution.  The book is a welcome addition to my collection of Revolutionary War books because it does not deal with the details of battle.  Rather it deals with the massive efforts that it took to feed and clothe an army and with the methods that Gen Greene used to make his plans.....ordering rivers to be surveyed, roads, etc....It begins with the fact that Gen Greene was not very excited to be sent south.  On getting to the south he was appalled at the condition of the army in the south.  And he immediately set about trying to get his army fed and clothed.

I will at a later time add Silas' pension and where and what he did .....and under whom he served.  But I didn't want to loose a thought that I was reading in the book.  But I will add the information about Silas' discharge:

1781 Silas Wooten was discharged on April 1, 1781 in Caswell County , NC





(this is from page 27 of Dunaway's book)  "After the famous battle at Guilford Courthouse (which the British won), the Patriot forces retreat to Troublesome Iron Works (today Rockingham County) where they established a camp and hospital." (During the Revolution this would still have been in Guilford County north of where the battle had taken place. )

http://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/revolution_speedwells_furnace.html

 Greene remains at the camp from March 16-20th, and then starts a move to the south.  He camps at "South Buffalo" for several days......

I did not find a good map explaining where this is and will try to add something about south Buffalo later....





I found an excerpt from the book  The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies by David Lee Russell at

http://books.google.com/books?id=5DFy0eWaPxIC&pg=PA235&lpg=PA235&dq=Ramsey's+Mill+as+location+for+Greene's+army&source=bl&ots=X9YB8Kg66F&sig=FBW9WnvF7gn61VnHlMu6Scnv2y0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tkfZUoa3GY2osASw04GIBg&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Ramsey's%20Mill%20as%20location%20for%20Greene's%20army&f=false

This information is taken from page 235.

It says:  "Greene's army pursued Cornwallis through heavy rains and along muddy roads, reaching Buffalo Creek on March 22, and Rigdon's Ford on the Deep River by the 26th.  The patriots were traveling through country full of loyalists and food was scarce.  On the 27th Greene was informed that the Virginia and North Carolina militia had agreed to their enlistment for six weeks, which unfortunately had started from the day of their initial gathering, not the day they joined the American cause officially.  This meant that Greene had only four days left with most of his militia.  Greene pleaded with them to stay, but most were determined to go home.  Those who did stay indicated they would stay at their own pleasure, and could leave at any point......Important news arrived that the British were at Ramsey's Mill on Deep River, only 12 miles away from their location at Rigdon's Ford, and on the same side of the River.  Greene reached Ramsey's Mill on the 28th, only to find that the British had bridged the river and were miles away to the south.  .....Greene decided to allow his army to rest and recuperate at Ramsey's Mill.

Note in the below map that Ramsey's Mill is in Chatham County, NC .  Remember that Ramsey's Mill was only 12 miles from Rigdon's Ford (would this have been west of Ramsey's Mill?)   It is my guess that at this time the Virginia militia were very unhappy to be moving farther south and farther from home.

and the from the book  Life of Nathanael Greene Vol 3 by George Washington Greene that is an ebook and can be read at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=lHRKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=Rigdon's+Ford+on+the+Deep+River&source=bl&ots=Pe4Anqmoa3&sig=pAYYN6RA4up9yXNI0plre4q5o6s&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lljZUrHGNpT6rAHtqYD4BQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Rigdon's%20Ford%20on%20the%20Deep%20River&f=false

"....If measures are not taken to furnish us with provisions immediately, we shall be compelled to fall back."  Another obstacle arose.  The militia, in spite of commands, remonstrances, and threats, had recklessly wasted their ammunition.  It took a day to bring it up from the rear, and it was a day lost.  Greene feared that Cornwallis might escape him.  The roads were deep, the rains frequent and heavy, provision hard to obtain, and good intelligence still harder, for the region through which his route lay was deeply disaffected.  Still he pressed on.  The 26th found him on the march from Cane Creek to Rigdon's Ford, on the Deep River.....But now came the severest of disappointment of all. On the 23rd he had written to Jefferson about the necessity of calling out a fresh body of militia to take the place of those whose terms of service were about to expire.  On the 27th he wrote to him that , counting their time from the day of their "embodiment in their different counties," not from that of their entrance into active service, they insisted upon being permitted to set out on their way home in season to reach it by the expiration of their term of service.  .....Their might still be one hope left.  There might still be the chance to fight before the evil hour came.  On the 27th he  was at Rigdon's Ford where he hoped to cross the Deep River in time to attack the enemy on their march.  But word came that they were still at Ramsay's Mill, twelve miles below.  Disencumbering himself of everything that could impede his advance, he "put his army in motion without loss of time, firmly believing that Cornwallis would fight again. "  But Cornwallis had secured the passage of the river by throwing a bridge across it, and on the 28th, when Greene came up, was already on its right bank, though Lee pressed too close on his rear to give him time to destroy his bridge.  Everything around bore witness to the precipitation of the retreat.  Some of the British dead were lying unburied by the wayside, and the Americans buried them.  Beef was still hanging in quarters in the slaughter pens, and the hungry Americans ate it eagerly; and still ravenous for food, seized upon the garbage that had been thrown aside for the turkey buzzards.

On the next day Greene wrote to Governor Nash, from Ramsay's Mill:  "The enemy are on the way to Cross Creek, and probably to Wilmington.  I wish it was in my power to pursue them further; but want of provisions, and a considerable part of the Virginia militia's time of service being expired, will prevent our further pursuit.  The greatest advantages are often lost by short terms of service.

Dunaway in his Colson's Plantation says:  Greene with his ragtag forces, of which the militia basically disappeared.....

 Ramsey’s Mill, on the site of the present Lockville dam, canal and powerhouse, three miles north of the confluence of the Deep and Haw rivers, provided a campsite for the forces of General Charles Cornwallis. Following the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1871, during the course of the British retreat to Wilmington, the army camped at Ramsey’s Mill. Although General Nathanael Greene’s forces initially pursued them, Cornwallis and his men escaped them and hastily continued to British-controlled Wilmington. 


Location:  SR 1011 (Old US 1) at SR 1012 (Moncure Road) at Moncure.  In Chatham County

ID: H-18
Marker Title: RAMSEY'S MIL
Location: SR 1011 (Old US 1) at SR 1012 (Moncure Road) at Moncure
County: Chatham



Monday, January 6, 2014

Castle

I have too large of a topic today.  But I want to write down some URL's that I don't want to loose.  So this is an outline of perhaps many blog posts that I would like to write.  I just finished the book about King's Mountain and am interested in looking at Campbell and the Virginia militia that he brought with him to fight that battle.     234


I have a note that Mary Kegley in Vol III of Early Adventurers on the Western Waters said that Bazle Castle had stated in his Revolutionary War petition for pension that he had had to stay home while his father went to fight at King's Mountain.  I spent time tonight reading the pension application on Fold3 and could not find that assertion.

http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Forts_of_Dunmore's_War_in_Southwest_Virginia?file=Forts_of_SW_VA.j

I would like to add information here about Witcher.

By chance, the first thing this next morning that I saw on my computer was:

German Rhyme telling of suffering of the Mennonites

Shared by Brenda Reed:  Yelles Kasel C.1590-c.1681 of Kreisheim, Palatinate, Germany.  See
http://genforum.com/cassell/messages/734.htm  for a more complete history of the Cassel Family.


Ok, so the first thing to work on is a connection between Jacob Castle and Hans Peter Cassel.  Does anyone have proof of this connection?

There is a book that can be read on-line at:

https://archive.org/stream/genealogicalhist00cass#page/n5/mode/2up

This seems to have been written by  a man named Daniel Kolb Cassel of Germantown, Philadelphia.  He says that he is a direct descendent of a grandson of Yelles Cassel (Hubert Cassel).  This seems to be the right family, but I did not see anything (with a very brief look) about any of the family that did not remain in Pennsylvania.