Here is what I have in my data base: [the 305 source says Valentine Papers (Pleasants), Vol 2, 983, info from Ruth Nassar, (rsn 263) Rec. DB 4 p. 548 Cumberland... I am not for sure exactly what the source means...need to look. And the source 53 says Ruth Sammons Nassar's book]
Charles Rice says that he has a copy of the will of John Salmons, SR. listing his wife as Eleanor and listing his sons. This will is from Cumberland County, VA. There is a record of the marriage of John Salmons and Eleanor McCarty also. He says that he does not have a copy of the record of marriage. He received the information from Garroll Sammons.
And here is the rest of what I have in my data base:
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, a part of which he sold to John Pleasants April 26, 1745
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.
Garroll Salmons says: “ We first pick up our line in Cumberland County, Virginia. There on a small farm on the WIllis River south of Cartersville we find a poor man who apparently was having trouble paying his bills He was John Salmons, Sr. of Southam Parish. In 1761 we find John very sick and weak of a terminal illness. He wrote his will naming his wife Eleanor and his four sons John, Lewis, Ezekia, and Rowland. He died within the year. He must have been in his forites for his sons were not grown and still needed to finish their schooling. John Salmons, Jr. was the oldest following by Lewis, Ezekiah and Rowland in that order. At this time I believe that Rowland was 1-5 years of age, Lewis was about 10, and John Jr. was 12-16 years of age. This is just a guess. It surely must have been a trying time for Eleanor with four sons and no one knows the number of daughters. It is not known the problems that Eleanor had after John’s death, but sometime after that, between 1761 and 1770, the family moved to an area in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. This area later became Henry County in 1777.” [note: I know now that we can narrow down the date of the move more as I found John Jr. in “There is an entry in the vestry record dated February 1768 which records a levy laid on the membership to pay John Salmon for serving as reader for the parish for six months, for which he was paid 50 pounds of tobacco. In the same entry, 33 pounds of tobacco was paid to George Rowland to recompensate for expenditures (Maude Carter Clement: History of Pittsylvania County)]
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 have other blog posts that deal with information at a later date for this family. You can find them by using the search term Salmons or Sammons in the search box. Today, I am thinking about the marriage of John Salmons and Eleanor McCarthy in Stafford County, Virginia 10 April 1748. Does this date make sense for this couple? Absolutely! If indeed John Salmons, Jr. is about 10 years old in 1761, he would have been born c. 1751 which is close to the date of the marriage. Who was the McCarthy family in Stafford County? What do I know about Stafford County? Stafford County was a very old county in Virginia:
When was Stafford County, VA Created?
Stafford County was established on 1664 from Westmoreland County.
Stafford County was established on 1664 from Westmoreland County.
Early on the western boundaries were fuzzy. It seems to have been mostly the land along the Potomac and Rappahannock River. There were not yet families on the frontier that far west. It would have been families who settled along the river banks....at least that is my guess.
By 1720 families were beginning to move up the rivers of Virginia into what was the frontier at that time. Families who moved up the Rappahanock settled in the Fredericksburg area and in what is now Orange and Culpeper. You can tell this by the counties that were beginning to form in these areas as they received enough families that there was a request for local government.
By 1776 Stafford was still long and skinny.....as it had been during the year (1750) in which John Salmons and Eleanor McCarty married. I have not yet found that marriage record for myself.
So it turns out that I have the book:
The back cover says: Four political jurisdictions are included in this volume: Spotsylvania County, Stafford County, Orange County, and the independent city of Fredericksburg. The marriages, recorded here in a master alphabetical listing, were extracted from minister's returns, marriage bonds, some newspaper notices, and in the case of Stafford County, marriages implied from early land deeds, family Bible records and cemetery records as well as the marriages recorded in Overwharton and St. Paul's parishes... The book includes an index to brides.
So for right now, I remain unconvinced of this marriage in Stafford County.
There has been some rumor that Eleanor might have been a Rowland since the Salmons family and the Rowland family may have moved together from Cumberland County to what is now Henry County. Also the youngest son is named Rowland.....and we who research the Sammons/Salmons name know that that name was passed down for generations. One researcher who was a buddy to Ruth Nassar said that there were so many Rowland Salmons' in the hollers of Kentucky that they had to go by nicknames.
I am not convinced of the fact that Eleanor was a Rowland either at this time. Hopefully either I will find proof one way or the other or someone will send that proof my way.
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