Volume 2 Issue 7
July 2002
July 2002
|
Volume 2 Issue 7
July 2002 |
| Home Page and Index | |
|
THE SONS OF SAMUEL-II GENTRY Abstract Introduction Joseph Gentry
Joseph Gentry in Virginia There is no documentation of the maiden name of Joseph's wife, Agnes. Given the fact that one of Agnes' sons and one grandson were named Shelton, it is reasonable to suppose that this was her maiden name. A William Shelton, of Albemarle County, bought a part of Joseph's property in 1756, possibly with the thought of moving to Lunenburg County. This may have been Agnes' father. For whatever reason, William seems to have changed his mind, for in 1762, while still living in Albemarle County, he sold this land. There are voluminous references to Joseph in Lunenburg County, but the only reference to him in Louisa County was in 1762 when he was one of three of Samuel Gentry's sons to witness the sale of the latter's last remnant of land in that county. This sale came well after Samuel and most of the family had moved from Louisa County to Lunenburg County. Joseph did not lead the way in this family move, but he (and presumably also Allen) was among the earlier members to settle in Lunenburg County. Joseph was not in any of the first Lunenburg County tithable lists for 1747 to 1752, although three of his brothers, David, Nicholas, and William were in the 1752 list. There are no records available for 1753 or succeeding years until 1764. A chronology of Joseph's land transactions in Lunenburg County is as follows:
The fact that Joseph bought land in 1752 indicates that he must have come to the county in that year and bought land almost immediately after arriving. In addition to the direct transactions in which Joseph was involved, his name appears in a number of other records in which he was a witness or was cited as an adjoining land owner.
In the limited records of Cumberland Parish, which included all of Lunenburg County, Joseph's name also appears, for the most part in processioning returns at which he was present between 1760 and 1764. Significantly, in 1768, by which time court records showed that Joseph had left the county, for the processioning of the line between Joseph's land and an adjoining owner, Joseph was not present, but Allen Gentry was present instead. It appears that Joseph and Allen had some joint ownership agreement for the Reedy Creek property that was not formally recorded (perhaps Allen paid part of the purchase price). After Joseph left Virginia to go to North Carolina, Allen remained behind for some four or more years, and handled the final sale of the land before he also left Lunenburg County. Agnes was living in North Carolina at the time of the final sale and "[could not] conveniently travel to our county court to make acknowledgement of the deed". She acknowledged her relinquishment of dower in September 1771 to two agents of the court in Surry County. One can read between the lines and presume that she may have been in the last stages of pregnancy before the birth of her youngest child, Sarah. Joseph had as many references in the county court minutes as all of the rest of the Gentrys in Lunenburg County put together -- twice the number of his older brother David which in itself was a lot. Some of these involved normal civic responsibilities such as serving on the jury, being assigned to his share of road construction and maintenance, acknowledgement of indentures for some of his sales and purchases of land, and serving as a witness for third-party suits. He posted bond on behalf of a neighbor who was granted letters of administration for an estate. Another neighbor posted bond with Joseph and two other citizens in order to be able to "keep an ordinary at his house" (that is to operate a tavern). In addition to these, Joseph had an active court presence of a different nature. He was involved in a number of suits in which he was brought into court for the payment of debt, and also cases where he sued others for debt. He was involved in two cases where he sued another man for assault and battery. On another occasion, judgment was against him for "profane swearing". In still another suit, the nature of which was not disclosed but which must have been of a rather serious nature, Joseph was indicted by a grand jury in a case that went to a jury trial in which Joseph was declared not guilty. The court minutes together reflect a man who was the opposite of retiring -- an active, forceful, vigorous member of the pioneer community. Joseph Gentry in North Carolina
These records show that Joseph first settled at a strategic point along the Yadkin River where he took advantage of his position to operate a ferry. Later this ferry service, and the adjoining land, were turned over to Matthew Brooks, to whom Joseph was related through the marriages of two of his brothers, David and Nicholas. [For a discussion of the Brooks family relationships, see the June issue of the Journal of Gentry Genealogy.] In 1787, Joseph received a state grant on the Fisher River, considerably to the north of his previous location. Joseph sold the last of his Yadkin River property and moved with his son Shelton to the new location where both Joseph and Shelton remained for the rest of their lives. Tax lists for Surry County are unusually complete. Joseph and members of his family are found in these in almost every one of the years for which records survive, starting with 1782 (when tax list enumerations were resumed after the end of the Revolutionary War), and continuing until after Joseph's death. During the last fifteen or so years of his life, the tax records show Joseph being taxed for varying amounts of land varying from 125 acres in 1801, to a high of 325 acres in 1807. Some of this variation undoubtedly was due to a part of Joseph's land being farmed by other family members, and conversely, Joseph farming land owned by his son Samuel. Even so, there is an ultimate 25 acre discrepancy at the time of his death that is not accounted for by recorded deeds or grants. These records not only confirm the granting, purchase, and sale of land, but also provide some indication of family make-up. From 1785 to 1792, Joseph was listed as liable for two white polls in his household, in addition to a slave. This may have been his youngest son, William, reaching taxable age (twenty-one) in 1785. We will discuss this in more depth later. The reappearance of an extra tithable individual in 1801 and 1802 (and perhaps 1803), might possibly have represented a brief return home by William prior to his death at an untimely age, or it may have been a newly-married son-in-law of Joseph. Besides land records, and tax records, we have available a number of court records pertaining to Joseph. From them we learn of his operation of a ferry across the Yadkin River during the early years of his living in Surry County. In 1772, a schedule of fares was established by the court at 5sh for wagon & team; 3sh for cart & team; 6d for man & horse; 4d for footman. There is also a reference to Joseph's ferry in a 1773 court order to establish a road from the Moravian settlement of Salem, east of the Yadkin River, crossing the river at Joseph's Ferry and continuing to the far side of Surry County at Allens Iron Works along the Wilkes County line. In time, as the ferry changed hands, this road came to be known as Brooks Ferry Road. While Joseph was not asked to participate in the laying out of this early road, he and Shelton were assigned the duty by later courts of assisting in the "viewing and laying out" of public roads along the north side of the Yadkin River from the community of Rockford (the first county seat of Surry County) to the Wilkes County line. Joseph and Shelton were called upon for this service on three separate occasions between 1791 and 1794. Other than these court assignments, Joseph's contacts with the courts in Surry County were quite routine compared to his experiences in Lunenburg County. He served on the court's grand jury on several occasions. He testified when necessary to confirm the sale or purchase of land. He was called upon to swear to other legal matters or to provide a security bond. In 1789, the courts assigned to Joseph responsibility for Amasa Dean, an orphan boy of fifteen who was apprenticed to Joseph until Amasa reached the age of twenty-one. (The court minutes read that Amasa was bound to Joseph "to learn the Art and Mystery of Planter".) Amasa was probably living with Joseph at the time of the 1790 census. Joseph wrote a will dated November 1804 which was filed for probate in May 1813. This will can be summarized with respect to bequests as follows:
Joseph's sons Samuel and Shelton, and his wife Agnes were named as executors. There are a variety of loose papers relating to the settlement of this estate that are filed in the North Carolina State Archives. Among these is a listing of debts and credits relating to the estate, the last one of which, dated 28 April 1813, reads, "debit to cash for Nixon for coffin, 12/-". [All listings are in pounds, shillings, and pence and then converted at exchange "dollars at 8/-".] This clearly establishes Joseph's date of death as some time in April, 1813. A number of remarks concerning this will are appropriate. One relates to the acreage of land held by Shelton. In 1804 and 1805, at the time of the writing of the will, Shelton was being taxed for 175 acres and Joseph for 225 acres. Shelton received a state grant of 100 acres in 1801. This suggests that of the 175 acres for which he was being taxed, 100 acres was his own, and the remaining 75 acres was owned by Joseph but farmed by Shelton. Another point brought out in the auxiliary papers is the appointment of William Hodges as the agent to receive the payment to Samuel Gentry as the latter's share (William being the husband of Agnes Gentry, and thus a brother-in-law of Samuel). By the time of Joseph's death, Samuel had left Surry County and moved to Barren County, Kentucky. (Samuel's will, dated 1816, makes reference to an inheritance due him from his father.) It is also noteworthy that a $50 payment was made to "Polly [Mary] Gentry" in accordance with the will. There is no indication from any of the records as to the age of Mary, but there is no reference to her being a minor. She was apparently living in Surry County in 1813, and unmarried. The final settlement of the estate was not until after 1826 when Agnes, Joseph's widow, died, thereby releasing her residual share of Joseph's estate for division among the remaining heirs. Agnes left a will which was written in 1813, and received for probate at the February 1826 Surry County Court. In this will, she left her remaining personal estate to her son Shelton and to her granddaughter Nancy (daughter of Shelton). Children of Joseph and Agnes Gentry Shelton Gentry Shelton was married to Elizabeth, whose maiden name is not known, although there has been speculation that she was a member of the Burrus family. Shelton and Elizabeth had a large family, their oldest son being Michael B. Gentry. Michael appeared briefly in tax records, and a Surry County marriage bond dated 1811 exists for his marriage to Sarah Burrus (a cousin?). Michael appears to have briefly moved to Jackson County, Tennessee, and was in the 1820 census for that county, but then returned to Surry County. He died before 1830, and his family was scattered among several households at the time of the 1850 census. Joseph (Jr) was probably the next oldest son of Shelton. Family Bible records show he was born in September 1790, while the 1790 census lists two minor sons for Shelton. Possibly Joseph was one of these if the date of the enumeration was late enough in the year. Joseph had a large family that moved to Greene County, Indiana between 1840 and 1850. Joseph died after this move, but before 1850. Most of his family are included in the 1850 Greene County census. Shelton's third son, Robert also had a large family almost all of whom were still living at home with Robert at the time of the 1850 census. Shelton had at least five daughters, Nancy, Agnes, Catherine (or Katherine), Elizabeth and Susanna born between about 1785 and 1810. Shelton's family appears to have lived in a very close-knit community. His sons Joseph and Robert married Mary (Polly) and Nancy Hodge(s) respectively, undoubtedly a part of the same extended family as the William Hodges and Amos Hodges married by Shelton's sisters Agnes and Judith. As further evidence of a very close-knit community, Shelton's daughters Elizabeth and Nancy married Jesse and Hardin Franklin. [Following paragraph revised 7/20/02 based upon text of Shelton's will which has
been located in the North Carolina State Archives - see Addendum to References.] William Gentry The William who was Joseph's son, apparently had only the one child, and we have no clue as to the identity of his wife. We can speculate that the younger William was the second tithable individual in Joseph's household in the 1785 to 1792 Surry County tax records. If so, his appearance as a tithable individual in 1785 leads to the assumption that he reached tithable age (21 at the time) in that year, and that he was born about 1764. This is compatible with the ages of the rest of Joseph's children. One can speculate as to why this possible son of Joseph never established his own separate household, even if it was on land owned by Joseph, and was not even named individually in the tax lists during this eight-year period. It is possible that William was sickly or had some other problem during his early life which led eventually to an untimely early death and which kept him from establishing a separate household during his first adult years. The 1790 census confirms the fact that there was a tithable male living with Joseph at that time. This individual could have been William or could conceivably have been a son-in-law of Joseph who was living with the family. We can account for at least two of Joseph's daughters living with him in 1790. If the tithable man was a son-in-law, then a third daughter of Joseph would have been living at home (along with Joseph's wife Agnes, accounting for four females being present). If the tithable man was William, then the fourth female could have been William's wife, or could have been the third daughter. We can conjecture that William had recently married and his wife was with him, but their daughter Mary had not yet been born. We can also conjecture that William left home (or died?) in 1792. If so, we can hypothesize that William's daughter Mary may have been about the age of thirteen at the time of the writing of Joseph's will, and about twenty-two at the time of his death. There is absolutely no evidence as to what happened to Mary. Her mother very likely survived William, and re-married, in which case Mary was presumably living with her step-father at the time of Joseph's death. Joseph Gentry's Daughters Three daughters and their husbands are listed in the 1790 Federal census for Surry County. These, in order of relative age are Elizabeth, wife of Andrew Speer ["Spur"]; Anne, wife of John Ridings ["Ridins"]; and Agnes ("Agey"), wife of William Hodges. There is some ambiguity for Elizabeth's family for there is an "Andrew Spur" and an "Andrew Spur Jr" listed. The latter family appears to be that of a newly-married couple with one young son, and was too young for a family expected of Elizabeth. Obviously, we have no direct evidence from the 1790 census of the age of any female members of the household, but by following the families through successive census listings we find that Elizabeth was born before 1755 (based on the 1800 census), and was probably married in about 1780. Anne was also born before 1755 but judging from the ages of her children in the 1800 and 1810 Surry County census, she was probably married in about 1782. Agnes was born between 1765 and 1774, most probably much nearer to 1765. Agnes' date of marriage can be estimated as about 1784. Two of the remaining daughters, Judith and Sarah, apparently were living with their parents in 1790, but Susanna may already have married and left home. Sarah and Elisha Isaacs appear in the 1800, 1810, and 1820 Surry County census listings. The 1800 census lists Sarah as born before 1774. Judging from the age of her husband (born 1774 to 1775), she was probably born within two or three years before 1774, and was married in about 1791 or 1792. There are no census records available for Amos and Judith Hodges. Family tree listings on the Ancestry.Com World Tree website show one known son for Amos (also known as Amasa?) and Judith, namely William H. (Buck) Hodges, born 3 Jun 1799 in Surry Co. Amos is shown as having died before 1809. This author cannot vouch for these facts, but they would confirm the fact the Judith was probably living at home in 1790 and not married until after that time. We are also missing census records for Joseph Ratcliff (or Ratliff) and his wife Susanna. The Joseph Ratcliff who appears in the 1810 Surry County census is too young to be the husband of Susanna and probably was a son. This younger Joseph was born 1784 to 1794 and appeared to be newly married with one child born not long before 1810. This suggests that Joseph Ratcliff Jr. may have been born in about 1784 to 1786, and correspondingly suggests that if his mother was Susanna, she may have been born about 1761 to 1764. Conclusion References View Additional References | Return to Top North Carolina Census Records
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
© 2002, W.M. Gentry - All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial purposes provided that proper attribution (including author and journal name) is included. |
