It is my theory that these Adkins males connect back to William Atkinson who is found in Halifax County, Virginia until Pittsylvania was carved from Halifax. William is then found in Pittsylvania County. I believe it very likely that William is also my ancestor.
I have not heard anyone claim to know the earliest immigrant(s) in the Atkinson family. But they are said to have been living in Charles City in Henrico County before the move to Halifax County.
It is my William Atkinson who was married to Elizabeth Parker who is the earliest Atkinson/Atkins/Adkins that I know. Lynda has told me that Ronnie Adkins' book says that this couple was married in St. John's Church in 1716 in Henrico County, Virginia. This is the same church in which Patrick Henry made his famous speech
in 1775. (images from Wikipedia)
.
William and Elizabeth Parker Atkinson had two sons (there were others, but I am not going to take the time to pull that information up right now). One was Parker Atkinson and the other was named after his dad and also carried the name William. It is son, William, that is of interest to me. William Jr. married Lydia Owens.....although a wife named Sarah signs on a deed that I have in my possession in 1777. At least one Ancestry tree says that my ancestor, Lydia Atkinson, was born c. 1742. I think it very likely that Lydia Atkinson was named after her mother, Lydia Owens Atkinson.
Son, Owen, signed the petition while living in the area near Nolichucky with the other men from Pittsylvania County to set up their own government unconnected to North Carolina. Owen died in an Indian massacre along with his wife, Agnes Goad:
In Ronnie Atkins book it says that Owen, Agnes, and all but three of their children were killed by Indiana in TN in 1790. The baby was scalped but lived and two of the children were able to hide in a hollow log until the Indians had left.
I am not clear in my head where in TN they were living when this massacre happened. I will look it up and add here at a later date.
The third son of this William Atkinson that I am aware of is Randolph who is an ancestor of Lynda Davis-Logan.
Why do I believe that this William Atkinson married to Lydia Owens is my ancestor? Because he sells land to William Witcher in 1758:
William is found living in Halifax County in 1758:
20 July 1758 William Adkinson of Halifax County, planter, to William Witcher of same, planter for 5 shillings, 100 acres, part of a larger tract of 150 acres granted to sd William Adkinsons by patent 1 June 1750, relation to may more fully appear. All houses, buildings , trees, woods, etc. Wit: Clemt. read, Jr., Wim Wright, George Watkins, Recoreded 20 July 1758
This is a very small price for very nice land on the Pigg river. Clearly William Atkinson is selling his new son-in-law land next door to his home for them to live on.
I wanted to record the information that my Ydna participant shared with me before I forgot about the church in which William and Elizabeth Parker were married.
I want to add one more piece of information to my Atkinson post. My Adkins dna participant had good results. He is definitely an Adkins. But it was of great interest to me that he had as many Mullens matches as Adkins. I will get an Adkins to explain that to me one of these days. He also had family finder matches to Adkins. But the most interesting thing is that he matches me. At first I was soooooooo excited! Finally the proof that I have been looking for that I am really an Adkins! But I woke up the next morning and realized that my participant matches me on my Dad's side. It is my mother who has all of the Adkins and Morrisons and etc,....
So I remembered that there is a Judith Atkinson on my dad's side. And I started looking at her. Judith is born in 1741 in Goochland County. She married John Scott 29 September 1767 in Goochland. The birth date is just taken from a website, but the marriage is found in The Douglas Register. And both the bride and groom are said to be from the St. James Northam Parish in Goochland. Some of the Ancestry trees have Judith's father as John Atkinson and her grandfather as Thomas Atkinson married to Sarah Hughes. This couple is Quaker. My notes say:
I want to add one more piece of information to my Atkinson post. My Adkins dna participant had good results. He is definitely an Adkins. But it was of great interest to me that he had as many Mullens matches as Adkins. I will get an Adkins to explain that to me one of these days. He also had family finder matches to Adkins. But the most interesting thing is that he matches me. At first I was soooooooo excited! Finally the proof that I have been looking for that I am really an Adkins! But I woke up the next morning and realized that my participant matches me on my Dad's side. It is my mother who has all of the Adkins and Morrisons and etc,....
So I remembered that there is a Judith Atkinson on my dad's side. And I started looking at her. Judith is born in 1741 in Goochland County. She married John Scott 29 September 1767 in Goochland. The birth date is just taken from a website, but the marriage is found in The Douglas Register. And both the bride and groom are said to be from the St. James Northam Parish in Goochland. Some of the Ancestry trees have Judith's father as John Atkinson and her grandfather as Thomas Atkinson married to Sarah Hughes. This couple is Quaker. My notes say:
This couple is found in Quaker records living in Charles City 1713/14 announce intention of marriage. There is also A John Atkinson in Quaker records in this time period.
This fits well with the paragraph on page xix in Ronnie Adkins' Adkins Family book that I borrowed from Lynda Davis-Logan:
William also was almost surely born in America, however, his parents have not been discovered. Elizabeth (Adkins) Wright of St. Louis and several others believe William's father to be Thomas Adkins. Jr. of Henrico County. Others including Tom Atkinson of Ashville, NC believe John Adkins of New Kent County to be the one. I personally agree with the Thomas faction and have spent many, many hours trying to prove it, His will gives dates that would fit, he had a son named William and lived in the right area. However, no hard record actually stating William to be his son has been found.
My participant and I have not worked on his tree yet and we may find another place that our dna match might be quite obvious....so I am no banking my money on this theory. But it is of interest. I looked at Quaker records and probably wrote something down. But if I did, I don't know where I put my notes....and this is all of the time I have tonight to spend on this part of the puzzle.
3 comments:
There are so many adkins living in KY and OH. My gg grandmother had 16 kids, it’s insane. we are direct descendants of Owen (the one who died in the massacre)
And don't forget WV. Cabell and Wayne Counties in WV are full of Adkins families. Many of them descend from Hezekiah Adkins. I descend from Lydia Atkinson who married William Witcher c. 1750. Lydia's parents were Lydia Owens who married William Atkinson. So my ancestor, Lydia Atkinson Witcher, was a sister to your Owen Atkinson.
Owen was one of the men who signed the petition to break off from North Carolina and form a separate state:
https://marshamoses.blogspot.com/2018/02/trip-to-jax-2018.html
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