The John Jasper Family

BY ROBERT A. IVEY.

The statue of Sergeant William Jasper, located in the center of Madison Square at the corner of Bull and Charlton Streets in Savannah, Georgia, has a plaque on the statue which reads: “To the heroic memory of Sergeant William Jasper, who though mortally wounded rescued the colors of his regiment in the assault on the British lines about this city October 9^th, 1779.  A century has not dimmed the glory of the Irish American Soldier whose last tribute to the civil liberty was his noble life, 1779-1879.”

(Sergeant William Jasper—Savannah, GA—Irish American Historic Places on Waymarking.com.)

 

Sergeant Jasper’s father, John, was not Irish; neither was he German as some contend.  There are some genealogists who have identified John as the son of Thomas and Sarah Taylor Jasper from Richmond County, Virginia.  This Jasper line is from Suffolk, England.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Scheuerman/Willson Family Trees—ID: 117021—John Jasper Sr.; Our Jasper Family—Sherry’s Genealogy Home Page–Internet.)

 

Thomas did have a son, John Jasper, listed in his will, but this son was born April 6, 1721, and died in Richmond County, Virginia, on September 3, 1764.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Rhonda Tink Albright—ID: P-339047610–John Jasper, son of Thomas.)

 

“John Andrew Jasper was born at Cavermarthen (Carmarthen) in Wales.”  His birth date is given in most of the databases as 1722.  “Carmarthen is a community and the country town of Carmarthenshire, Wales.  It is sited on the river Towy and lays claim to being the oldest town in Wales.”

(Pulaski County Kentucky, A Part of KY GenWeb, Fact Book II, Chapter 9; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Spears and Allied Families—ID: 100670–John Andrew Jasper; Carmarthen, Wikipedia, the free encylopedia–Internet.)

 

The writer believes that this is the most plausible explanation for John Jasper Sr.’s place of birth and that he was Welsh.  There seems to be no other direct family connection in this country to John thus indicating that he may have sailed to this country alone.

However, the Kentucky descendants have used an alias or an assumed name “Abraham” for his middle name.  The writer has a copy of a legal document written by Mary, his wife, in which she refers to her husband as John Andrew Jasper.

(Root’sWeb WorldConnect Project: James Ralston Pace Ancestors—ID: 1245–John Andrew Jasper; Copy of Mary’s unrecorded document sent to writer by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)

 

John Jasper Sr.’s oldest son’s name was Abraham, and two grandsons were named Abraham.  Nicholas had a son, Abraham, and Rachel Covenhoven, had a son, Abraham.

(Pulaski County Kentucky, A Part of KY GenWeb, Fact Book II, Chapter 9; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Winter—ID: 1346–Nicholas Jasper; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Rhonda Tink Albright–ID: P-135021407–Rachel Covenhoven.)

 

In the Internet article, Welsh American, in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, is found the following: “In the late seventeenth century, there was a large emigration of Welsh Quakers to Pennsylvania, where a Welsh Tract was established.”  It was probably to this tract that John Andrew Jasper came in the early 1740s.

John Jasper possibly met Mary, daughter of Jacob and Hannah Jones Herrington, after her father moved to York County, Pennsylvania.  Her father, Jacob, was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, circa 1701, the son of Cornelius and Rachel Jones Herrington.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Vandiver, Neal, Atherton, Pyland, Settle, Stavely, Lynn, Gish, Rust, Abner, McHood, Tayloe, Outlaw, Atherton—ID: 1630012589–Jacob Herrington.)

 

Cornelius was born circa 1675, and lived in the neighborhood of Gunpowder River, Baltimore County, Maryland, as early as 1695.  He owned three tracts of land in this locality and paid taxes in 1700, 1702, 1703, 1704, 1705 and 1706, on the North Side, Gunpowder District.

(RootsWeb’s World Connect Project: Kristi Anne McKenzie’s Family Web—ID: 149692—Cornelius Herrington.)

 

Cornelius married Rachel Jones, daughter of Thomas and Mary Harrison Jones, on April 25, 1701, in Baltimore County, Maryland. Rachel was born December 1, 1677, in Baltimore County.

Her father, Thomas Jones, was an Indian trader in Baltimore County.  His wife, Mary Harrison Herrington, married Thomas Staley after the death of Thomas.  Thomas and Mary had three children: Charles, Cadwaller and Rachel.

(Internet—Erin J. Ellis Family Tree: Information about Mary Harrison.)

 

Cornelius and Rachel Jones Herrington had the following children:

Jacob Herrrington, born circa 1701, married Hannah Jones; Katherine, born January 1702, married Samuel Sicklemore, September 12, 1716, died 1764 (2^nd wife); and Isaac, born May 5, 1705.  Rachel died July 11, 1716, in Maryland.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Soher, Iversen, Gammon, Beal, Carson, Spalding, Bevan—ID: 102854—Katherine (Katterne) Herrington.)

 

Cornelius second marriage was to Elizabeth  ? , in 1717.  She was born in 1680, and they had one daughter: Wealthy Herrington, born August 17, 1718.  Cornelius died in 1767, in Maryland. (Not sure if this is correct death date.)

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Huppe—Wealthy Herrington; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Kristi Anne McKenzie’s Family Web & Taber, Fleming, Restine, Buhler, Liddle, Yarber, Ricks, Prather, Wait, etc. —Cornelius Herrington.)

 

Jacob Herrington married Hannah Jones, October 26, 1720, at St. George’s Parish, Harford County, Maryland.  Hannah Jones Herrington was born in Harford County, Maryland, June 6, 1705.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Goin Family of San Diego—Hannah Jones.

 

Jacob and Hannah Jones Herrington had the following children: Frances, born circa 1721; Hannah, born March 31, 1723; Mary, born November 30, 1724; Isaac, born November 30, 1727; Ann, born May 13, 1729; Jacob, born August 20, 1730; Thomas, born February 18, 1732; Sarah, born April 2, 1735; John, born circa 1736; and Rachel, born circa 1737.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect, Project: Soher, Iversen, Gammon, Beal, Carson, Spalding, Bevan—Jacob Herrington.)

 

Hannah died before 1750; Mary died after 1811; Isaac died 1768; Ann died 1765; Jacob died March 21, 1770; Thomas died 1762; and John died after 1783.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Hannah Herrington—Isaac Herrington—Jacob Herrington—John Herrington; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Taber, Fleming, Restine, Buhler, Liddle, Yarber, Ricks, Prather, Wait, etc.—Thomas Herrington; Union County, S. C., Will Book A, pp. 171-172—Mary Herrington Jasper.)

 

Hannah Herrington married William Morton, son of Richard and Mercy Massey Sanford Morton, circa 1740.  He was born circa 1723, and died March 28, 1751.  They had two sons and two daughters.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Scheuerman/Wilson family—Hannah Herrington; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Neuman, Smith, Goodale Family and Ancestors—William Morton.)

 

Mary Herrington married John Andrew Jasper circa 1742.  They had four sons and seven daughters.  John Jasper died in 1799.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Rhonda Tink Albright—Mary Herrington Jasper; Union County, S. C., Will Book A, pp. 119-120.)

 

Isaac Herrington married Jane or Jeanne  ?  .  Jane died after 1765. They had three sons and one daughter.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Jane  ? Herrington.)

 

Ann Herrington married Thomas Lawson, son of John and Frances Davis Lawson.  He was born in England circa 1718, and died October 20,1796, at Ft. Ashby, Mineral County, West Virginia.  They had six sons and one daughter.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Soher, Iversen, Gammon, Beal, Carson, Spalding, Bevan—Thomas Lawson—Ann Herrington Lawson.)

Jacob Herrington married Mary  ?  .  They had three sons and one daughter.  (RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Jacob Herrington.)

 

Thomas Herrington married Sarah Moody, daughter of Hugh and Sarah  ?  Moody.  They had at least one son, John.  They were killed in 1762, during an Indian attack in York County, Pennsylvania.  John was raised by his maternal grandparents, Hugh and Sarah Moody.

“Revolutionary War Payroll records show that this John Herrington (son of Thomas) was paid the sum of $33.30 in 1786 for his 2 years of service in the 11^th Pennsylvania Regiment during the Revolutionary War.  Oral history says that he once took General Washington’s horse to water.”  John lived to be 103 years of age.

(RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Familes—Thomas Herrington & John Herrington.)

 

John Herrington married Martha Berkley.  Martha was born in 1738, and died in 1760.  Dying at the same time was her husband, John.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Martha Berkley Herrington.)

 

Rachel Herrington married John Freeparty.  He was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1733.  (RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Scheuerman, Wilson Family Trees—Rachel Herrington.)

The writer has been unable to secure the names of Hannah Jones Herrington’s parents and her death date.  Hannah was not included in Jacob Herrington’s will and may have died shortly after the birth of her last child, Rachel, in 1737.  She was only 32 years old when Rachel was born and possibly could have had other children if she had lived.

She certainly was deceased when her husband made his will.  Hannah, her daughter, was deceased before 1750, and was also not included in the will.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Jacob Herrington.)

 

Mary’s father, Jacob, died in 1754 in Windsor Township, York County, Pennsylvania.  Several years before his death, he moved just across the line from Baltimore County into York County, Pennsylvania, possibly after his wife, Hannah, died.

His children: Isaac, Ann, Jacob, Thomas and John are known to have died in York County, Pennsylvania.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Thomas Herrington, John Herrington, Jacob Herrington; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Soher, Iversen Gammon, Beal, Carson, Spalding, Bevan—Ann Herrington.)

 

“Papers in the estate of Jacob Herrington were filed in the York County (PA) Courthouse with bond to Isaac Herrington, Thomas Berwick & Thomas Minschell (and) dated 11 Dec 1754.  Distribution was filed 25 Apr 1757, listing: Mary the Wife of John Jasper; Isaac Herrington; Ann the Wife of Thos. Lawson; Jacob Herrington; Thomas Herrington; Frances Herrington; Rachel the Wife of John Freeparty; Sarah Herrington; John Herrington.  All shared equally in the estate with the exception of Isaac who received a double portion.”

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Jacob Herrington.)

 

Mary was born November 30, 1724, in Baltimore County, Maryland.  John Jasper probably married Mary circa 1742, in York County, Pennsylvania.  Their oldest son, Abraham, was born circa 1743.  Her mother may have been deceased when she married.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Vandiver, Neal, Atherton, Pyland, Settle, Stavely, Lynn, Gish, Rust, Abner, Mchood, Tayloe, Outlaw, Atherton—Mary Herrington Jasper; Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrate, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)

 

Mary’s mother was not “Hannah Johnson, who was the wife of Thomas Cresap”, nor was she “Mary Herndon” as some genealogists suggest.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Hooker, Herrington, Treadaway, Francis, Lewis—Hannah Johnson; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Kirch, Baker, Kilbreath, Briggs, Bannes, Kuettel & Related Families—Mary Herndon.)

 

John and Mary Jasper may have lived in York County, Pennsylvania, until the settling of the estate of her father in 1757, or they may have moved to Virginia before his death.

If they moved to Frederick County, Virginia, in the 1757s or before, their children William, Hannah, Nancy Anna, Charity and Lydda would have been born in Virginia.

Some genealogists have suggested that the William Jasper who lived in Frederick County, Virginia, was the father of John Jasper Sr.

In his will he left land to his son, Henry, that adjoined land of Isaac Thomas and said that he was to provide for his mother from the land.  He mentioned his wife, Ann, and daughters, Elizabeth and Sarah.  There was no reference made to a son, John.

(William Jasper’s will was dated August 27, 1746, and proved May 5, 1747.  It was recorded at Frederick County Courthouse in Deed Book I, p. 118.)

 

On December 5, 1770, John Jasper purchased land in Augusta County, Virginia, from Alexander Lackey.  The deed read: “John Jasper, late of Frederick County…”

(Mrs. D. W. Ritenour, Genealogist, Winchester, Virginia; Unpublished manuscript on Jasper Family by Nancy R. Roy, La Mesa, California.)

 

Abraham; Nicholas and his wife, Elizabeth Wyatt; Mary and her husband John McWhorter; Elizabeth and her husband John George; Rachel and her husband, Benjamin Covenhoven; and William appear to have moved to Carroll Shoals (later Grindal Shoals) in North Carolina, in 1771.  This area became a part of South Carolina in 1772.

It is impossible to know how John’s children met and married their spouses.   They all came from different locales.

Elizabeth Wyatt married Nicholas Jasper.  They married in Wytheville, Va., Wythe County, circa 1767.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: My Kentucky Family (Shannon)—Elizabeth Wyatt.)

 

Susannah McElfresh married John Jasper Jr.  She was from Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland.

(RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: Ogle, Colvin, Jones, Wunder—Susannah McElfresh.)

 

John McWhorter married Mary Jasper.  He was from Albemarle County, Virginia.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: a 2010 Geer Family Master File—John McWhorter.)

 

John George married Elizabeth Jasper.  He was probably from Lancaster County, Virginia.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Kerr and Related Families—John George.)

 

Benjamin Covenhoven married Rachel Jasper.  He was from Monmouth County, New Jersey.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Melia 72006—Benjamin Covenhoven.”

 

Mary Wheatley married William Jasper.  She was from Pennsylvania (possibly Philadelphia).

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project—R. K. West’s Master List—Mary Wheatley.)

 

William Cheney married Hannah Jasper.  He was from Frederick County, Maryland.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Deckard-Hollowell–William Cheney.)

 

James Moseley married Nancy Anna Jasper.  He was from Brunswick County, Virginia.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Spears and Allied Families—James Moseley.)

 

John Hames married Charity Jasper.  He was from Mecklenburg County, Virginia.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: My Haymes—Popp Family—John Hames.)

 

The key factor in the first removal to what later became South Carolina, was John McWhorter’s marriage to Mary Jasper.  After John’s father, John, Sr., died in 1757, his mother, Eleanor, applied for and received a grant of 300 acres on September 26, 1766, from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  The land was on both sides of Pacolet River.  The McWhorters were from Albemarle County, Virginia.

(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina,(McWhorter) by Brent Holcomb, p. 90, File No. 743 (1471), Gr. No. 314, Book 17, p. 377 (Mecklenburg County); RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Brummitt, Dismang, McWhorter, Burger–John McWhorter.)

 

A part of the Jasper family settled on Eleanor Brevard McWhorter’s land, and a part on John Portman Sr. and Jr.’s land.  John Portman Jr. married John McWhorter Jr.’s sister, Sarah. The Portman lands were also granted in the 1760s.

(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina (John Portmans), by Brent Holcomb, pp. 103-104, (Mecklenburg County); RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project, Goin Family of San Diego—John Portman.)

 

They were “squatters” on the land that later was granted to John Kirkconnell from North Carolina.  Most of the land was on the north side of Pacolet River.

(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina (Kirkconnell), by Brent Holcomb, p. 141, Tryon County).

 

The boundary line between North and South Carolina was changed in 1772, and the land became a part of South Carolina.

(North Carolina—South Carolina Border Surveys 1730-1815 (1772)–Internet.)

 

John Jasper, Sr. and his wife, Mary Herrington Jasper; John Jasper, Jr. and his wife, Susannah McElfresh; Hannah Jasper; Nancy Anna Jasper; Charity Jasper and Lydda Jasper remained in Augusta or Berkley County, Virginia.  John Jr. lived on his father’s land in Augusta County.

John Jasper Sr. purchased a tract of 256 acres in Augusta County, Virginia, from Samuel and Rachel Love February 6, 1775, for 400 pounds.  It was part of a tract of 300 acres conveyed to Samuel Love by deed of August 17-18, 1759.  The Loves were living in Orange County, North Carolina, at the time of the sale.

(Augusta (County, Virginia, Deed Book 21, p. 110; Unpublished Manuscript on Jasper Family by Nancy R. Roy of La Mesa, California.)

 

He sold this land to Manoah Singleton on April 26, 1779, for 1400 pounds.  It bordered Christian’s Creek.

(Augusta County, Virginia, Deed Book 23, p. 16; Unpublished manuscript on Jasper Family by Nancy R. Roy.)

 

The rest of the family that remained in Augusta or Berkley County, Virginia, except John Jr. and his wife, Susannah, moved to South Carolina, to be near the other children circa 1779.  They probably moved after they sold their land to Manoah Singleton or after they learned of the death of their son, William, in Savannah, October 9^th, 1779.

John Jasper Sr. was purchasing land in S. C., in 1781, and his two daughters, Nancy Anna and Charity, were courting and marrying in this state by 1781.

In the book, Horry and Parson Weems’ Life of Francis Marion, pp. 68-69, there are these words concerning the death of William Jasper: “You see that sword?—It is the one which governor Rutledge presented to me for my services at Fort Moultrie—give that sword to my father, and tell him I never dishonored it.  If he should weep for me, tell him his son died in hope of a better life.”

The sword was given to his wife, Mary, and she gave it to their son, William, and after his death it was given to their daughter, Elizabeth.

In 1888, a monument was unveiled in Savannah, Georgia, to Sgt. William Jasper on Washington’s Birthday.  President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland were in town on that occasion.

“William Jasper Dibble of South Carolina, was said to be the grandson of Sergeant Jasper’s widow by her second marriage to Christopher Wagner (through their son, Samuel Jasper Wagner).  (He was present for the unveiling of the statue of Sgt. Jasper.)

As the question has often been asked, what became of the sword that President John Rutledge gave to Sergeant Jasper, it is of interest to note that Dibble stated that the sword, on the death of Sergeant Jasper’s daughter (Elizabeth), had been coined into spoons and apportioned as heirlooms.”

(William Jasper by Thomas Gamble–Savannah, Georgia, Morning News: Sunday, February 21, 1932.)

 

John Jr. stayed in Augusta County, Virginia, and farmed his father’s remaining land purchased from Alexander Lackey.  It is possible that John Jr. served as a Patriot soldier and fought in Virginia for the independence of his country.  The Kentucky records indicate that he did.

(Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)

 

John Sr.’s daughter, Nancy Anna, married James Moseley and his daughter, Charity, married John Hames in 1781.  Moseley probably learned his blacksmithing trade from his father-in-law.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Dodge Family—Nancy Anna Jasper Moseley; Rootsweb’s WorldConnect Project: James Ralston Pace Ancestors—Charity Jasper Hames.)

 

John Sr.’s daughter, Lydda Jasper, died before her father, probably after they moved to South Carolina, and may have been buried in the Jasper cemetery.   By 1790, all of his children were married except Lydda.  In the 1790 Federal Census there is a female child listed as living with John Jasper, Sr., so this may have been Lydda.

On August 13, 1781, John McWhorter Jr. sold 121 acres on both sides of the Pacolet River to John Jasper Sr.  It was part of a tract of 200 acres that was originally granted to John Portman Sr. on October 13, 1765, and sold by him to John McWhorter Jr. on September 20, 1773.  It was the land that John McWhorter Jr. lived on.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 409-412.)

 

Stub Entries To Indents, Book X, Part II, p. 188, by A. S. Salley, show that John Jasper Sr. was reimbursed for corn and for long-time military use of a wagon during the Revolutionary War.  He probably did blacksmith work for the Patriot troops also.  “The blacksmiths shod the horses of the Militia enabling them to keep pace with the trained British army.”

(Sgt. William Jasper and His Kith and Kin by Jane H. Owen, published in The Genealogical Society Bulletin of Old Tryon County in August 1980, No. 3, pp. 120-133, Forest City, N. C.; The Life of a Colonial Blacksmith—eHow.com, Internet.)

 

Two of John Jasper Sr.’s sons fought under Col. and Gen. Francis Marion.  Sgt. William Jasper fought in the Second South Carolina Continentals under Marion before the Fall of Charleston, and Nicholas Jasper fought under Marion after the Fall of Charleston.

(The Life of Gen. Francis Marion by Brig. Gen. P. Horry and M. L. Weems, p. 41; General Francis Marion’s Men compiled by William Willis Boddie, p. 22.)

 

John Sr. and Mary visited John Jr. and his wife, Susannah, in 1783, after the end of the Revolutionary War, and stayed with them for awhile.  During this time Mary Jasper visited the Augusta County Courthouse on October 2, 1783, and relinquished her dower rights to the 256 acres of land sold to Manoah Singleton.

(Augusta County, Virginia, Order Book No. XVIII, p. 131.)

 

The writer has a copy of a letter written by John Jasper Jr. from Augusta County, Virginia, to his parents in South Carolina, September 17, 1786.  He tells his father that James Davis says that he is to give him fifty pounds if he is to sue Capt. Riddle.  He also tells of a fire that destroyed his shop, tools, wagon and a saddle.  Asks to be remembered to his brothers and sisters and to all their husbands and wives and to John Foster and Molley.  Molley was a sister of John Jr.’s wife, Susannah.

(Copy of letter & wills sent to the writer by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)

 

Augusta County Tax Records show that John Jasper, Sr., Blacksmith, continued to pay taxes on his remaining land until 1788, when John Jr. moved to South Carolina to be near his father and mother.  John Jr. was listed as a resident of Union County, South Carolina, when the 1790 Federal Census was taken.

(Ref. Mrs. Emma Matheny, Genealogist, Richmond, Virginia; Unpublished manuscript of Jasper Family by Nancy R. Roy.)

 

On September 23, 1788, John Henderson of Union County, South Carolina, sold John Jasper, Blacksmith, 214 acres of land on the eastside of Big Sandy Run Creek.  This tract was on the southside of Pacolet River and was the land on which the Jasper Cemetery was eventually located.

At this time, Nicholas Jasper and Charles Hames owned lands adjacent to this tract.  John Jr. built his cabin on his father’s Sandy Run Creek land.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, p. 226.)

 

John McWhorter sold John Jasper Sr. 45 acres of land on the south- side of Pacolet River on December 28, 1790.  It was part of the land that had been granted to John McWhorter on May 3, 1790.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book, pp. 408-409.)

 

Benjamin Covenhoven purchased a tract of 200 acres on June 26-27, 1788, from Peter Johnston of Rutherford County, North Carolina, executor of the estate of John Kirkconnell.  It was originally granted to John Kirkconnell December 6, 1771.

(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina, Tryon County, by Brent Holcomb, p. 141.)

 

At this time, Covenhoven was living on the land and probably had lived there since 1771, before it was granted to Kirkconnell.  The land was on the northside of Pacolet River.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 169-171.)

 

Lemuel James Alston of Greenville, S. C., step-son of John Henderson, sold John Jasper “one negro girl named Let between the ages of 10 and 11 years of age”, on April 1, 1793, for 40 pounds sterling.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book C, p. 244.)

 

Robert Powell was an out-of-wedlock child of John Jasper Sr.  Two letters have been preserved that he wrote to John Jasper.  The writer has copies.  He lived in Berkley County, now in West Virginia.

He addressed one of the letters: “Dear Father and Mother”.

He tells of receiving a letter from his father.  He spoke of the difficulty of selling his place and of visiting South Carolina.  He may have lived on the land in Berkley County, Virginia, given to Benjamin Covenhoven by his father.  The land was possibly purchased by John Jasper Sr. and given to his out-of-wedlock son.

He spoke of William and Hannah Chaney visiting him and listed his children in another letter as: Polly, Patty, John, Hannah and Lydia.  He signed the letters “Your Loving Son”.  The letters were written in 1793 and 1795.

(Copy of the letters were sent to the writer by Loubeth R. Hames, State University, Arkansas, in 1981.)

 

John Jasper Sr. possibly lived on the Covenhoven land in Berkley County, Virginia, for a period of time before moving to South Carolina.

John Jasper Sr. purchased a tract of 54 acres from Benjamin and Rachel Covenhover on September 1, 1794.  The land was on waters of Pacolet River and included the mill and plantation on which John Jasper was living.  It was a part of the Kirkconnell grant and was on the northside of the river.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book C, pp. 387-388.)

 

Robert Gault sold a 100 acre tract of land on waters of Pacolet to John Jasper Sr. on June 16, 1794.  The transaction was witnessed by John Jasper, Jr.

(Union County, S.C., Deed Book C, pp. 379-380.)

 

This land was purchased by Gault from John Hames on September 4-5, 1787, and was described as lying between John’s Creek and Pacolet River.  It was on the northside of Pacolet River.  The original tract of 200 acres was granted to John Hames on January 21, 1785.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 27-29.)

 

John Jasper Sr. died in October of 1799.  His will was written September 29, 1799.

(It was recorded in Union County, S. C., Will Book No. 1, pp. 119-120, Nov. 16, 1799.)

 

“September the twenty ninth in the year of our Lord, 1799…I, John Jasper of Union County and State of South Carolina do make this my Last Will and Testament to wit: I leave to my beloved wife all my Reale Estate to gather with my Goods and Chattles to gather for her maintenance During her Life of Widowhood with a proviso that N C property be made way with but Sutch as is necessary for her support, then to be Divided Equally amongst my children which are Living to wit: Nicholas  John  Rachel  Anna or Nancy  Hannah  and Charity.

Item to those of my children that are dead I give and bequeath to each of their heirs, five Shillings and I appoint and approve of my son John Jasper and my Son-in-law Benjamin Covenhoven as my Executors as witness my hand and Seal this twenty ninth Day of September 1799.”  Witnesses to the will were John Foster and Benjamin Covenhoven.

“The Last Will and testament of John Jasper, Senr.  Proven in Open Court by the Oath of John Foster, the 16^th of November 1799.  John Jasper and Benjamin Covenhoven qualified as Executors.”

(This statement was recorded in Union County, S. C., Will Book 1, pp. 199-120.)

 

“In 1803, Mary Jasper for the sum of one dollar paid by her son, John Jasper, “granted, bargained, sold and released unto the said John Jasper my just right and title to all the lands whereof John Andrew Jasper was in possession of at his Decease or the third part thereof and shall be bounded as follows (viz)

Beginning at a stake by or on the Bank of Pacolet River joining Land Now held by John Foster and running Southeast one hundred and eighty poles to a poplar and shall extend eastward in such shape and form as shall include the building wherein I now am in possession of and dwell and contain one third of the Land as above mentioned.”

Witnesses to the document were Robert Martin, John George and John Crownover.  It was signed by Mary Jasper’s mark.

(Copy provided to the writer by Loubeth R. Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.  It was never recorded.)

 

John Jasper’s will restricted the sale of his property during the lifetime of his wife.  “This provision sent his children into court and resulted in the will being set aside and the property sold.”

(Sgt. William Jasper and His Kith and Kin by Jane H. Owen, p. 124; Union County, S. C., Common Pleas Minutes, Oct. and Nov., 1804.)

 

Following is an abstract of a deed of Mary Jasper dated November 20, 1807, and attested to by George Foster:

“Mary Jasper of Union District being deprived of the privilege of enjoying the portion of property left me by my husband John Jasper decd., which said act was done by the legatees to the said John Jasper’s estate, breaking & making void the will of said John Jasper on consequence of which I, Mary Jasper, claimed my share of said estate both real & personal as law directs in that case, & my son John Jasper by virtue of a power of attorney from myself to him,

If he the said John Jasper does by himself causes me to be decently & sufficiently clothed & supported during life Y&at death to bury me as a Christian ought to be, I give to my son all my estate real and personal, being one third of tract of land whereon I now live, one bed and furniture, one chest & my wearing apparel, 30 Nov 1807.”

Witnesses to the document were: George Foster, William Hames and James Lane.  It was signed by Mary Jasper’s mark.

(It is recorded in Union County, S. C., Deed Book I, pp. 384-385.)

 

“Joseph Hughes, Esquire, Sheriff of Union District, Jan. 30,1808, to John Jasper of same, whereas John Jasper died intestate & he being seized of three tracts of land, one containing 120 acres, part of 200 acres granted to John Portman 30 October 1765 by Gov. Tryon (North Carolina), on both sides of Pacolet River, conveyed by said Portman to John McWhorter to said John Jasper Senr;

One other tract of 45 acres on said Jasper’s line; also one other tract on waters of Pacolet, 100 acres, which by virtue of a writ of partition from the court of Union district on the third Monday I October 1807, directed the sheriff to sell to the highest bidder on a credit of 12 months, and sold to John Jasper for $621.00.”

“Jos’h Hughes, S. U. D., Wit. Isaac Gowing (Going), James W. Darby.  Proved in Union District by the oath of Isaac Gowing (Going) 1 February before Jer’h Lucas, J. Q.  Recorded 1 Feb 1808.”

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book I, pp. 383-384.)

 

“John Jasper of Union District bound to Joseph Hughes of same in the sum of $1500, 16 Jan 1809, to keep said Joseph Hughes harmless in delivering to said John Jasper a note of hand for $621, the purchase money for three tracts of land sold by order of court as the property of John Jasper Sen’r deceased.  John Jasper—Wit. James W. Darby.  Recorded 16 Jan 1809.”  John Jr. was under a $1500.00 bond and payment for the land was $621.00.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book I, p. 542.)

 

John Jasper Sr. had two other tracts of land: one for 214 acres on Sandy Run and one for 54 acres on the north side of Pacolet River.

It appears that John Sr. sold or gave the 54 acres back to Benjamin Covenhoven.  John Jr. seems to have acquired the Sandy Run property, where he had built his cabin, from his father or mother.

William C. Lake wrote an unpublished article entitled: “Jasper Born In Union County”.  Though Sgt. William Jasper was not born in Union County, S. C., but probably in Virginia, he does give an adequate description of the place where John Jasper Sr. lived.

He stated that he lived “at the old Jasper place, about one and one half miles opposite the mouth of Mill’s creek, in what is now Cherokee County, then a part of this County (Union).  The house stood beyond the old John Hames place, on the right hand side of the new road leading from Union to Gaffney.”

After the death of her husband, Mary Herrington Jasper lived with her son, John, on the property that her husband had purchased from John Henderson on Sandy Run Creek.  It was also the property that contained the Jasper Cemetery.

(Union County, S. C., Will Book A, pp. 171-172; Union County, S. C., Deed Book 0, pp. 177-178.)

Photos: Greg Foster 2006

Some records speak of the cemetery being washed away by the Pacolet River flood of 1903, but only the field stones that marked the graves were washed away.  Sometime after the flood, a government marker was placed at the grave of James Moseley in the Jasper Cemetery and can still be seen today.

The roadway into this old cemetery is located .6 of a mile on the left of Tump Road (off of Bobby Faucett Road).  The cemetery was on the left of the end of this roadway in the wooded area.

 

The writer believes that John and Mary Herrington Jasper were possibly buried in the Jasper Cemetery as were: John Jr. and his wife, Susannah McElfresh Jasper; Nancy Anna Jasper Moseley and her husband James (High-Key) Moseley.  Also, possibly Lydda Jasper, John Sr.’s daughter.

John, Jr. died in 1811, and Mary Jasper was still living with her daughter-in-law, Susannah McElfresh Jasper.  Mary died after the death of her son and before the death of her daughter-in-law, Susannah (1829).

(Union County, S. C., Will Book A, pp. 171-172; Union County, S. C., Will Book B, pp. 139-140.)

 

When Nicholas Jasper left South Carolina and moved to Kentucky, he took with him valuable information concerning the John Andrew Jasper family.  This writer believes that the Kentucky list of John and Mary’s children is correct.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts Book H, p. 374.)

 

These Kentucky Jaspers insisted through the years that Abraham Jasper, the Tory, and Sgt. William Jasper of Sullivan’s Island were part of their family.

(Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)

 

John Hames, Patriot Revolutionary War soldier, who settled in  Georgia, declared that his wife was the sister of Sgt. William Jasper.

Mary Polly Moseley, daughter of Nancy Anna Jasper, and wife of John Long Sr., insisted that her mother was the sister of Sgt. William Jasper, and this information was added to the Long family genealogy over 100 years ago.

(Georgia’s Landmarks, Memorials and Legends by Lucian Lamar Knight, Byrd Printing Co., 1913, p. 463; Unpublished Manuscript of Jasper Born in Union County, by William C. Lake.)

 

Elizabeth Moseley Fowler, oldest child of James and Nancy Anna Jasper Moseley, and wife of Mark Fowler, was born November 30, 1782, and died March 4, 1883, living over 100 years.   With a clear mind until the end, she possibly told the Reverend J. D. Bailey that her mother was Sgt. William Jasper’s sister.  Bailey attended her 100^th birthday celebration.

(History of Grindal Shoals by Rev. J. D. Bailey, pp. 37-38, 70.)

 

The story of Abraham Jasper’s loyalty to the King concurs with the story of Sgt. William Jasper’s visits with his Tory brother at the British camp called Ebenezer.  This occurred during the American Revolutionary War.

(The Life of Gen. Francis Marion by Brig. Gen. P. Horry and M. L. Weems, pp. 53-56.)

 

Kentucky records state that before Nicholas Jasper died on May 14, 1827, he named his grandson, Francis Marion Jasper, after his old commander.  His grandson became a medical doctor.

(A History of Jessamine County, Kentucky by Bennett H. Young, pp. 240-242; General Francis Marion’s Men, Privates and Non-commissioned Officers, compiled by William Willis Boddie, p. 22.)

 

The writer believes that the Kentucky descendants story of the birth of John Jasper Sr. at Caevmarthen (Carmarthen), Wales, is a true story.

(Obituary of Dr. James Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)

 

However, as this material passed through the hands of his descendants they became confused at times with dates; about the place where John Jasper Sr. originally settled in South Carolina; and about his middle name.

They were confused about the place of settlement because they were given information about Sgt. William Jasper’s settlement in South Carolina, and thought it also referred to his father, mother and their children.

William did live at one time at Haddrell’s Point on the Cooper River, while they were building the fort on Sullivan’s Island.  When he married Elizabeth Wheatley, they lived in a small house on Sullivan’s Island.  The house later was converted into a building for the Episcopal Church, probably a mission of Grace Church parish.

(Swamp Fox, by Robert Bass, pp. 15; Jasper’s Heroic Deeds Live in the Memorials in Bronze and Granite That Have Been Erected by a Grateful People by Thomas Gamble—Savannah, Georgia Morning News: Sunday, February 21, 1932.)

 

On June 23, 1777, Sgt. William Jasper was living in Charleston, S. C., at “the new barracks”.  After his death, Mary and her children lived in Charleston, S. C.

(Swamp Fox by Robert Bass, p. 21; Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrat, Nicolasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892; William Jasper by Thomas Gamble–Savannah, Georgia, Morning News, Sunday, February 21, 1932.)

 

Sgt. William Jasper’s son, William Jr., was given a grant of 200 acres in the District of Georgetown on March 26, 1784, on the northeast side of the Little Pedee River on Treadwell Swamp.

(Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicolasville Democrat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892; William Jasper by Thomas Gamble–Savannah, Georgia, Morning News, Sunday, February 21, 1932.)

 

William’s father and mother did not leave Augusta County, Virginia, or Berkley County, Virginia, and come to South Carolina until the middle of the war years, and they settled on the Pacolet River in what is now Cherokee County, S. C.

(Unpublished manuscript on Jasper Born in Union County, S. C. by William C. Lake; Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 409-412.)

 

Mary Herrington Jasper, wife of John Andrew Jasper, did not conform to the colonial custom of naming the first born for oneself or one’s spouse.  She probably named her first born for her husband’s father.

Some of the Kentucky relatives thought that Abraham Jasper was given this name because it was a middle name of John, his father, but this was not true.  John’s middle name was Andrew.  Nicholas Jasper knew this and named one of his sons, Andrew.

(Rootsweb’s World Connect Project: R. K. West’s Master List—Andrew Jasper.)

 

All of the Jasper family originally lived on the north side of Pacolet River in what is now Cherokee County.  Later, John Jasper Jr.’s family and Nicholas Jasper’s family lived on Sandy Run Creek on the south side of Pacolet River.  Nancy Anna Jasper moved to the south side of the river after she married James Moseley.

 

The Children Of John Andrew And Mary Herrington Jasper

The writer has carefully researched the names of their children.  All resources available were used to make this determination.  However, the birth dates of these children may not be absolutely correct or the names of their spouses’ parents.  Family information has come largely from Rootsweb’s WorldConnect Projects on the Internet.  Other sources are properly marked.

1. Abraham Jasper.  He was born circa 1743.  The Kentucky records tell us that he was the oldest son and also a Tory.  Records are silent as to his marital statis.  No one seems to know if he had a wife and family.

(A history of Jessamine County, Kentucky, by Bennett H. Young, Louisville, Kentucky, pp. 240-242.)

 

The writer believes that he came to South Carolina with his brothers and sisters, possibly by 1771.  The recurrence of the name, Abraham, seems to indicate that he may have been named for his grandfather in England.

The only additional source that mentions Sgt. William Jasper’s brother does not record his name.  From the book, The Life of Gen. Francis Marion, by Brig. Gen. P. Horry and M. L. Weems, p. 53, is found the following:

“Jasper (Sgt. William) had a brother who had joined the British, and held the rank of sergeant in their garrison at Ebenezer.  Never man was truer to his country than Jasper, yet was his heart so warm that he loved his brother, though a tory, and actually went over to see him.”

Sgt. William Jasper made a second trip to Ebenezer to see his brother, but after this there is no mentioning of him.  Since he was not included in his father’s will in 1799, it is presumed that he either died or was killed during the American Revolutionary War.

2. Nicholas Jasper.  He was born October 1, 1744.  He came to South Carolina with other members of his family circa 1771.  He brought with him his wife, Elizabeth Wyatt.  She was born circa 1750.  The writer has been unable to secure the names of her parents.  Databases suggest that they were married in Wytheville,
Virginia, in 1767.  She was not the daughter of Francis and Lucy Mary Rowe Wyatt as some suggest.

At the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, Nicholas Jasper is said to have fought under Colonel William Moultrie and Major William Richardson Davie as a continental soldier.

(A Sketch of Nicholas Jasper, Pioneer of Pulaski County, Kentucky by William J. Moore, p. 1—Internet.)

 

Dr. Bobby Moss in his book, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, p. 495, states: “He served as a sergeant, lieutenant and captain in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon before and after the Fall of Charleston.”

He witnessed a real estate transaction in Union District, S. C., between John McWhorter and John George on February 12, 1778.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, by Brent H. Holcomb, p. 1.)

 

According to the book, General Francis Marion’s Men, compiled by William Willis Boddie, p. 22, he served at various times as a non-commissioned officer of General Francis Marion.   He was paid for the loss of a horse in action, 1780.

(Receipt Book for S. C. Revolutionary Soldiers, pp. 74, 75, 112—Posted by Marsha O’dell Young—Internet.)

 

He sold Peter Howard of Spartanburg County, S. C., 200 acres on both sides of Tyger River on September 17, 1786.  He had received this land as a grant from Gov. Benjamin Guerrard on January 21, 1785, probably for his services to his country.

(Spartanburg County/ District, South Carolina Deed Abstracts Books A-T, 1785-1827, by Albert Bruce Pruitt pp. 7, 108.)

 

He purchased 93 acres on waters of Pacolet River (Sandy Run Creek) from Theodorous Pridmore, adjacent to lands owned by Robert Gault, Nicholas Jasper and Charles Hames on January 24, 1789.  It was part of a grant of 393 acres to Theodorous Pridmore on January 17, 1788.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 135-137.)

 

Though it is not recorded it appears that he had received a 200 acre grant on waters of Sandy Run that joined this 93 acres circa 1785, probably for his services as an officer in the American Revolutionary War.

He purchased nine lots on the north side of Main Street in Union, S. C., from John McCool of Chester County, on January 17, 1795.  He sold these nine lots of one half acre each to Alexander Macbeth & John Moncrieffe, merchants of Union, S. C., November 11, 1795.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book D, pp. 87-89; 413-415.)

 

Before moving to Kentucky he agreed on November 12, 1795, to sell John Foster his remaining 293 acres on Sandy Run that joined lands of John Jasper, Sr. and Charles Hames.  John Foster was to pay $500.00 for the land on March 10, 1800.  He was living in Kentucky in 1800, when he had a deed recorded in Union County, S. C., to John Foster for the land.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book H, p. 374.)

 

He disposed of his lands the latter part of 1795, anticipating a move to Kentucky.  He moved to Kentucky in 1796.  Mary, Nicholas’ daughter, married William Spears in Lincoln County, Kentucky, on October 1, 1798.

Nicholas had a land entry listed by the Filson Club, Kentucky Land Grants, p. 34, “Nicholas Jasper, 200 acres, Lincoln County, January 14, 1799, Little Sinking Creek.”

In A Sketch of Nicholas Jasper, Pioneer of Pulaski County, Kentucky, by William J. Moore, p. 1, is found the following: “Nicholas Jasper is acknowledged to be a very instrumental person in the founding of Pulaski County, Kentucky.  He is said to have named the county for Count Casmir Pulaski.  His brother, William Jasper, was killed during the Battle of Savannah in 1779, along with Count Pulaski.”

Nicholas may possibly have fought in this battle for he seems to have either known the Count personally or known about him.

He was elected Justice of the Peace in Pulaski County, June 25, 1799.

“On December 24^th, 1799, ordered that it be entered on records that this court will meet at Nicholas Jasper’s Esquire on the second Friday in next month for the purpose of viewing the different proposal’s made to the Court for the purpose of fixing the seat of Justice of the County.”

He was appointed County Commissioner in 1801.

March Court 1805–“Nicholas Jasper Esquire, produced a commission from his Excellency the Governor of Kentucky, appointing him Sheriff of the County, who took the necessary oaths, and Entered into and acknowledged bond with security conditioned as the law directs.”

“Nicholas Jasper was one of the noble pioneers of Kentucky.  As a soldier, senior justice or sheriff, his character seems to have been faultless, and his intercourse with his fellowmen was always marked with integrity and honor.”

(A Sketch of Nicholas Jasper, Pioneer of Pulaski County, Kentucky, by William J. Moore, pp. 1-7—Internet.)

 

His first wife, Elizabeth Wyatt died before 1810.  Some databases say that she died as early as 1803.  He did not marry Rebecca Hames.  This was his son, John’s wife.

He married Martha Irving in Fayette County, Kentucky, on January 2, 1810.  They later legally separated.  A son, Martin Jasper, was born to this union in 1812.

Databases suggest that a second son named John Jasper was born to Martha Irving on June 17, 1817.  This John died November 4, 1849.  The writer is uncertain about this because Nicholas already had a son, John, by his first wife, Elizabeth, and he was still living at this time.

However, John, son of Elizabeth, does mention a brother, John, in one of his letters.

(Letter of John and Rebecca Jasper to Charles Hames; copy sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth E. Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)

 

Nicholas died at his son, Thomas’s house, at Fishing Creek, on May 14, 1827, and was buried in the family plot at Sinking Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.  Thomas was his youngest child.

“Somerset Baptist Church (originally called Sinking Creek) is located in the town from which it derives its present name, in Pulaski County.  It was the second church organized in the large county, and was constituted of twenty-one members by Isaac Newland, Peter Woods, Henry Brooks and John Turner, June 8^th, 1798.

During the revival of 1801, it enjoyed a precious season, and its membership increased to one hundred.  Thomas Hansford was its first pastor.”

(A History of Kentucky Baptists, Vol. I, by J. H. Spencer, p. 418.)

Martha Irving Jasper was born circa 1780, and died in 1843.

 

Nicholas and Elizabeth Wyatt Jasper’s Children

(1). John Jasper.  He was born February 5, 1768, before they moved to South Carolina.  He was named for his grandfather.  He did not marry Rebecca McWhorter, but Rebecca Hames, daughter of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames, circa 1791, in South Carolina.  She was born July 5, 1776.

Three of the letters he wrote to South Carolina were preserved.   He wrote a letter from Pulaski County, Kentucky, to his wife’s parents, Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames, August 22, 1802.  It was a spiritual letter in which he refers to: “walking humbly with thy God”.  He speaks of “sinners coming to Christ”.  He wants to be remembered to his relations and acquaintances.  The letter was signed “Your Loving Son and Daughter till Death–John and Rebecca Jasper”.

Another letter was written to his brother-in-law, Edmond Hames, from Somerset, Kentucky, on October 7, 1834.  He speaks of the possibility of Edmond’s coming to visit them “in the country”.  He writes about the “religious awakening” in their area.  It was signed “John Jasper”.

He wrote again to Edmond and his wife.  He wants to know if Daniel Mabry has ever returned.  Speaks again of the “revival of religion” and states that if they never see each other again, “we shall meet in a better land”.  He signed the letter, “Your affectionate brother until death—John Jasper.”

(Copy of letters sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)

 

They had at least eight children, five sons and three daughters.  His wife died in Pulaski County before her husband.  He died April 28, 1849, also in Pulaski County, Kentucky.  They were buried in the Sinking Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.

(2). Elizabeth Jasper.  She was born in South Carolina, January 13, 1772.  She was named for her father’s sister.  She married John Chesney, son of Robert and Elizabeth Purdy Chesney, on August 26, 1791.  He was born in Dunclug, County Antrim, Ireland, on March 17, 1769.  He was the brother of the noted Tory, Capt. Alexander Chesney.

“Robert Chesney Sr. for love, good will and affection to my son, John Chesney of Union County, 50 acres with the use of my household furniture as long as I now live, also a bay mare, two cows and calves, two cows with calf, also all the labouring utensels as ploughs, hoes, axes, etc. 4 August 1791.”

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book C, p. 23.)

 

John wrote the following and had it recorded in Miscellaneous Records: “In consequence of my father, Robert Chesney, leaving me by deed of gift his remaining landed property and also several horses, cows, calves, etc. I do promise to support him in his old age…August 4, 1791.”  It was witnessed by John Haile and recorded March 2, 1793.

(Miscellaneous Record Book 1-2, pp. 142-143.)

 

They moved to Kentucky in 1796.  His father and mother stayed in Union District, S. C.  John and Elizabeth had eight daughters and four sons.  Two of the children were born in South Carolina.  Elizabeth died March 7, 1816, in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

After the death of his wife, Elizabeth Jasper, he married Elizabeth Roseau.  He died in September of 1840, in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

(3). Andrew Jasper.  He was named for his grandfather, John Andrew Jasper.  He was born circa 1774, in South Carolina.  He married Martha Cowan circa 1794, in South Carolina.  She was born circa 1778.

He was in Capt. Dollerhide’s 3^rd Company, Renick’s Battalion, September 18, 1812, in the Kentucky Mounted Militia.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Pioneers of Benton County, Oregon—Andrew Jasper.)

 

He and Martha had eight sons and one daughter.  She died before 1836.

He next married Elsey  ?   before 1836.  She was born circa 1808.  They had two sons.  She died before 1845.  His third wife was Elizabeth Trimble.  She was born circa 1807.  They married January 8, 1845.  He died circa 1858, in DeKalb County, Missouri.

(4). Mary Jasper.  She was born April 2, 1777, in South Carolina.  She was named for her father’s sister and her grandmother, Mary Herrington Jasper.  She married William Spears, son of William and Delilah  ?  Spears, in Stanford, Lincoln County, Kentucky, October 1, 1798.

He was born June 28, 1774, in North Carolina.  They had six sons and six daughters.  He died January 16, 1838, and she died September 24, 1838.  Both died in Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky.

(5). Achilles Jasper.  He was born circa 1779, in South Carolina.  He married Sally Paine in Pulaski County, Kentucky, circa 1810.

He and Sally had four daughters and three sons.

He emigrated to Hinds County, Mississippi, where he died in 1855.

(6). Sarah Jasper.  She was born in South Carolina in 1782.  She married William Hargrove on February 7, 1799, in Lincoln County, Kentucky.  He was born in 1773, in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

He fought as a captain under General William Henry Harrison in his campaign against the Indians in the autumn of 1811, at the Battle of Tippecanoe, which terminated in the overthrow of the Confederacy and the destruction of the Prophets’ Town.

(The Battle of Tippecanoe, Chapter XI, Roll of Companies, p. 1–Internet.)

 

They had five sons and four daughters.  They both died in 1846, and were buried in Columbia Township, Gibson County, Indiana, in the Hargrove Cemetery.

(7). Rachel Jasper.  She was named for her father’s sister.  She was born in South Carolina in 1785.  She married Thomas Hinton in Pulaski County, Kentucky, on April 7, 1810.  He was born circa 1780.  She died on August 9, 1810, in Pulaski County.

(8).  Nicholas Jasper.  He was born in South Carolina on 1786.  He was named for his father.   He married Polly Ann  ?  in Pulaski County, Kentucky.

(9). Abraham Jasper.  He was born in South Carolina on February 6, 1789.  He was named for his father’s brother.  He married Elizabeth Baker, daughter of Jacob and Annie Turner Baker, on September 19, 1808, in Pulaski County, Kentucky.  She was born May 31, 1791, in Madison County, Kentucky.

They had eight sons and four daughters.  He died in 1860, at Sommerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky, and his wife died in Somerset in 1863.

(10). Thomas Jasper was born August 21, 1792, in South Carolina.

“Thomas Jasper bore his part as a brave soldier in the company commanded by Captain Harry James.  He was at the Battle of the Thames, when Tecumseh lost his life, also at the Siege of Fort Harrison and witnessed the fight on Lake Erie when Commodore Perry destroyed the British fleet, September 10, 1813.”

(A Sketch of Nicholas Jasper, Pioneer of Pulaski County, Kentucky, by Wiliam J. Moore, p. 2—Internet.)

 

He married Elizabeth Betsy Denham in Pulaski County, Kentucky.  She was born September 9, 1796.  They were married January 17, 1817. Thomas later became a Colonel in the Kentucky Militia.

(Pulaski County, Kentucky, Fact Book II, Chapter 9, Biographical Sketches, p. 2–Internet.)

 

They had three sons and two daughters.  One of their sons, Francis Marion Jasper, was named by his grandfather for his old commander during the American Revolution War and was a physician in Jessamine County, Kentucky.

(Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, in the Nicholasville Democarat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)

 

He was elected a Representative of Pulaski County in the Legislatures of 1833, 1834 and 1835.

(Pulaski County Kentucky, Fact Book II, Chapter 9, Biographical Sketches, p. 2—Internet.)

 

He died in Pulaski County, Kentucky, in July 1838.  His wife died in Pulaski County, Kentucky, January 9, 1866.

2.  John Jasper, Jr. was born June 18, 1746.  He married Susannah McElfresh from Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland.  She was born circa 1750, and was named for her mother.

Her parents were Richard and Susannah Green McElfresh.  They were married circa 1745, in Montgomery County, Maryland.  Richard was born on June 28, 1724, at All Hallows Parish, Anne Arundel, Maryland, and died in February of 1808, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Susannah was born on September 6, 1723, in St. Paul’s Parish, Baltimore, Maryland, and died in 1810, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Richard was the son of David Jr. and Mary Alice Leeke.  David Jr. was the son of David Sr. and Alice Jones.

(Richard McElfresh Family History Wiki and Susannah Green Family History Wiki—Internet; The Third Generation; Richard McElfresh (1724-1808), Beginnings of Western Migration by Charles E. Moylan—Internet.)

 

John Jasper Jr. and Susannah McElfesh Jasper lived for several years in Augusta County, Virginia, before moving to South Carolina.  They lived in Virginia during the Revolutionary War years.

Kentucky records state that John was a Patriot soldier in the war, but the writer lacks Virginia sources to confirm this.

John Jr. remained in Augusta County, Virginia, when his father and mother moved to lands on the Pacolet River in South Carolina, and farmed his father’s land there.

He wrote to his father and mother on the Pacolet River in 1786, while he was living in Augusta County, Virginia.  In the letter he indicated his appreciation to “God and His mercies which we daily receive”.  He talked about the loss of his shop, tools, wagon and saddle by fire.

He expressed “Thanks to God” that he now had a better shop and  bellows.  He may have been a blacksmith like his father.

(Copy of letter to John and Mary Herrington Jasper by John Jasper Jr. sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)

 

John Jr. and his wife, Susannah, moved to South Carolina circa 1788.  He seemed to be close to his father and mother.  His mother lived with him after her husband died.

When the other children went to court to have the will broken, he took no part in the litigation but sided with his mother.  She expressed her appreciation by deeding all of her property and household furnishings to her son, John Jr.

When his father’s property was sold by the sheriff, John Jr. purchased the lands.

John Jr. made his will on August 11, 1805.  In his will he left his wearing apparel to his brother, Nicholas.  He left his rifle to John Jasper, son of Nicholas.  He left the remainder of his estate to his wife, Susannah.  He called her “Sukie”.

One of his slaves called Jack, he left to his nephew, John George, at his wife’s decease.  John George was the son of John and Elizabeth Jasper George.  It was his desire to allow his slaves, Ann, Peter and George to be taught to read.

Ann was to be liberated at age 18, and the boys were to be liberated at age 21.  There is no indication that his wife ever set them free, but sold them to Edmund Hames.  She did not abide by terms of her husband’s will to free Anny, Peter and George.

His wife was to “maintain and support his mother”.  “Sukie” was to be the executrix of his will.  The will was recorded May 16, 1811.

(Union County, S. C. Will Book A, pp. 171-172.)

 

Susannah wrote two wills.  The first was never recorded.

(a). The first will was written August 23, 1820.  Funeral expenses were to be paid out of the estate.  Sukie requested that they bury her beside her husband.  Graves were to be enclosed with stone wall.

Nancy (McElfresh) Bright, her sister, was to have $300.00.  Sister, Massy (McElfresh) Fitch was to have $100.00.  Molley (McElfresh) Foster, sister, was to have $100.00.  Sister-in-law, Nancy Moseley, was to have $100.00.  Sophia Gault, daughter of Henry Gault, was to have $100.00.  Niece, Sukey Hames, was to have $100.00.

John Martin was to have $75.00.  Robert Martin was to have $75.00.  John Fitch was to have my “big walnut chest”.

Edmund Hames to have “all my land except one acre for the family burying ground”.  He married Nancy Foster, Susannah’s niece.

Edmund Hames was the son of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames.  His wife was the daughter of John and Mary (Mollie) McElfresh Foster.  They had four children, two daughters and two sons.

Edmund was born February 18, 1777 and died October 21, 1840.  Nancy was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1774, and died July 17, 1867.  They were buried in the Hames—Gault Cemetery near Flat Rock, Union District, S. C.

Henry Farnandis Sr. was to have the privilege of purchasing her slaves for $5,000.00.  Slaves listed: Letty, Anny, Peter, George, Judy, Beckey, Daniel, Ben, James Lucindy and Cassey.  Slaves: Anny, Letty and Judy to have my wearing apparel and other slaves to have suit of clothes from estate.  “This I give them (my slaves) for their great attention to me.”

Rest of estate to go toward building a School House for the poor children.  Abraham Nott and Henry Farnandis were to serve as executors of will.  Will not recorded.

(Copy of first will sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)

 

Nancy McElfresh Bright was the sister of Sukie McElfresh Jasper.  Mollie Foster and Massey Fitch were also Sukie’s sisters.  Mary (Mollie) McElfresh Foster, was the wife of John Foster.  Massey McElfresh Fitch was the wife of John Fitch.

(Copy of material sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)

 

Nancy McElfresh Bright married Thomas Bright.  They were living in Sullivan County, Tennessee, when she wrote to John Jasper Jr., May 9, 1805.

Nancy speaks of John Jr. writing a letter telling them that they had found a church, but she says he neglected to tell them what denomination.   “We hope to meet you in heaven where we shall part no more.”

“Four of our daughters are married: namely Polly, Rachel, James and Sucky.  They have moved to the state of Kentucky (and live) in Livingston County, nearly four hundred miles from us.  Last November our little son, Toney, died with fever.  Living with us are: Jasper, Betsey, Nancy, Anna and Michael.  John Fitch is living within one mile distance from us and is well.”  Thomas and Nancy Bright lived at Bluntville, Tennessee.

There were only a few Churches in the Grindal Shoals area at the time.  John Jasper Jr.’s letter appears to have been written to Thomas and Nancy Bright in December of 1803.

(Copy of letter sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)

 

At this time there was in the Grindal Shoals area: the Sims-Marchbanks Meeting House, the Flat Rock Meeting House, the Fairforest Presbyterian Church, the Fairforest Baptist Church, the Scull Shoals Baptist Church and the Goucher Baptist Church.  Several denominations met in the Meetinghouses usually Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians.

Gilead Baptist Church was constituted September 27, 1804, near what later became Jonesville, S. C.  A part of the James Moseley family had connections with the Gilead Baptist Church.  At first the Gilead Baptist Church served the Grindal Shoals community.

(Records of Church Clerk, Gilead Baptist Church.)

 

Nancy Anna Moseley was John Jasper Jr.’s sister and wife of James Moseley.  She was Sukie’s sister-in-law.

Sophia Gault was the daughter of Henry and Mary (Polly) Foster Gault.  Mary, her mother, was the daughter of John and Mary (Mollie) McElfresh Foster.

Sukie Hames, Susannah Jasper’s niece, was probably the daughter of Charles and Martha ?  Hames.  Martha could possibly have been a daughter of John and Mary (Mollie) Foster, but the writer lacks decided proof.  There was a Susannah Hames, daughter of Charles and Martha, and she seems to be the only Susannah Hames in the Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames family.

The writer has been unable to find a family connection between Sukie Jasper, widow of John Jasper Jr., and John Martin and Robert Martin.

(Copy of materials sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)

The following is a copy of a deed from Susannah Jasper to Edmund Hames:  “Susannah Jasper of district (Union) aforesaid for love and affection for my friend Edmund Hames and for $2000.00, one negro woman named Letty aged 40, another named Anny aged 22, a negro boy named Peter aged 20, another boy named George aged 18, another girl named Judy aged 15, another girl named Rebecca aged 8, another boy named Daniel aged 6, another one named Ben aged 5, another boy named James aged 4, another girl named Lucinda aged 3, another girl named Cassey, aged one, 4 Feb. 1821.”  Susannah Jasper.

Wit: Joseph Gault, Charles Gault, William W. Johnson.  Proved by the oath of Charles Gault, 4 Feb. 1822, before J. Rogers, Q. U.”

(Recorded 4 Feb 1822, in Union County, S. C., Deed Book Q, pp. 420-421.)

 

Susannah Jasper confirmed the sale of her slaves to Edmund Hames in the publishing of her final will.

(b). Sukie’s next and final will was written August 15, 1823.  She requested that she be buried in a Christian manner and that all her debts be paid.  Left 155 acres of land to Edmond Hames.  Rest of land (one hundred acres more or less, stocks, household furniture, etc. to be sold and money to be equally divided between my two sisters, Mollie Foster and Massey Fitch.  “I bequeath unto Edmond Hames the twelve following negroes—Let, Anne, Peter, George, Jude, Beck, Daniel, Ben, Linda, James, Cassey and Lila.”

“I give the negroe Jack or the amount for which he has been sold unto the children of John George in case of his death before mine.   If John George is living, then the said negroe or his value goes to him under the will of my husband.

Sisters, Mollie and Massey, to have one dress each.  Rest of wearing apparel to be divided equally among the above mentioned negroes.  Isaac J. Foster and Edmund Hames are to serve as my executors.”

(Recorded in Union County, S. C., Will Book B, pp. 139-140, May 25, 1829.)

 

John Jasper Jr., son of John and Mary Herrington Jasper, died in Union County, S. C., in 1811, and his wife, Susannah McElfresh Jasper, died in Union County, S. C., in 1829.  They were buried in the Jasper Cemetery near Sandy Run Creek.  Mary Herrington Jasper, John Jr.’s mother, died shortly after her son, and was probably buried beside her husband in the Jasper Cemetery.

4. Mary Jasper.  She was born March 13, 1748.  She married John McWhorter Jr., son of John and Eleanor Brevard McWhorter, circa 1766.  He was born in 1749, in Albemarle County, Virginia.

In Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts Book B, pp. 409-412, is found proof that John McWhorter Jr. married Mary Jasper.  Mary signed the deed when her husband, John Jr., sold 121 acres of land to her father, John Jasper Sr., on August 13, 1781.

John Jr. did not marry Elizabeth Jasper as some have claimed.  Elizabeth married John George.  Elizabeth was the name of John McWhorter Jr.’s second wife.

John McWhorter Jr.’s father, John, was born in Ireland on April 28, 1720.  He gave an acre of his land on or near Rockfish River to construct the Presbyterian Meetinghouse.  He died in 1757, and his wife, Eleanor, and son, James, sold his remaining land in Albemarle County, Virginia, in 1758.

Eleanor remained in Albemarle County after the death of her husband.  Her oldest son, James, died there in 1763, unmarried.

That part of Albemarle County in which the McWhorters settled became part of Amherst County in 1761, and is now Nelson County, Virginia.  Albemarle and Augusta counties joined each other.

In 1766, Eleanor received a grant of land on both sides of Pacolet River in what later became South Carolina.  Eleanor brought her remaining family to the Pacolet River grant in 1767-1768.

Robert McWhorter married Sarah ? circa 1759; John Jr. married Mary Jasper circa 1765; Sarah was not married; and George had not yet married.

Sarah McWhorter married John Portman Jr., son of John Portman Sr., in 1770, in what was then regarded as Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

She and her husband were both born in 1750.  The Portman’s emigrated from Pennsylvania to Mecklenburg County, N. C. (later South Carolina) in the latter 1760s.

John Portman Jr. and his wife, Sarah McWhorter, had three children: George, John III and Margaret Portman, all born in Union District, S. C.

John Portman Jr. was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolutionary War.  Dr. Bobby Moss in his book on South Carolina Patriots, p. 780, states: “He served as a horseman in the militia under Col. John Thomas from 1 November 1780 to September 1781.”

In the book, A History of Kentucky Baptists, Vol. II, by J. H. Spencer, p. 583, he states: “John Portman Jr., son of a Venerable Patriarch, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and fought in the battle of Kings Mountain.”

John Portman Jr. and his father, John Sr., moved to Kentucky with the Nicholas Jaspers and the John McWhorters (his brother-in-law) in 1796.  His father died in Christian County, Kentucky, in 1799.  Date of death of John Portman Jr. and his wife, Sarah, is not known to this writer.

John Jr.’s son, John III, moved to Mississippi, where he died circa 1855.  His son, George, married Patsy Riffe on April 11, 1803, in Lincoln County, Kentucky.  George and Patsy had a son, Jesse Coffee Portman, who was a popular Baptist preacher in Kentucky.  George died in Casey County, Kentucky on June 12, 1857.

(A History of Kentucky Baptists, Vol. II, by J. H. Spencer, p. 583.)

 

John Jr.’s daughter, Margaret, married Samuel Simpson on November 9, 1802, in Lincoln County, Kentucky.

Robert McWhorter and Sarah ? had one child, James Robert McWhorter, born circa 1760.  James was born near the Rockfish River, in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Robert was a private in the French and Indian War and received a Land Grant Certificate for land in Albemarle County, Virginia.  He was administrator of his brother, James’ estate, in March of 1763.

(Family Tree Maker.com—Descendants of Hugh McWhorter.)

 

He moved with his mother, Eleanor, to her Pacolet River lands in Mecklenburg County, N. C., in 1767.  By 1772, the land became a part of South Carolina.  He purchased 200 acres from John Portman Jr. on both sides of the Pacolet River and sold it to his brother, George, on November 3, 1778.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, 1785-1800, by Brent Holcomb, pg. 25.)

 

He received a grant of 500 acres on the south side of Pacolet River on August 19, 1774, and sold it to James Wood of Lawson’s Fork in September of 1774.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 364-367.)

 

He died in Union District, S. C., before June 14, 1783.  Death of his wife is unknown.  She remained in Union District, S. C., after her husband’s death.

Their son, James Robert, married Winifred Hames, daughter of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames, in 1779, in Union District, S. C.  She was born April 9, 1762, in Richmond County, Virginia.

He was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolution.   Dr. Bobby Moss in his book, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, p. 644, states: “After enlisting during 1778, while residing in Union District, he served under Captain John Thompson and Col. James Steen.

In addition, he served under Capt. Nicholas Jasper, Maj. Benjamin Jolly and General Thomas Sumter.  He was in the Battle at Blackstock’s Plantation.  During 1782, he served as a sergeant under Col.

William Farr.”

James and his first wife were constitutional members of Gilead Baptist Church, Union District, S. C., constituted September 27, 1804.  This church is 2.8 miles from the Jerusalem Road and on the left just before entering the Town of Jonesville, S. C.

(A History of the Gilead Baptist Church by Robert A. Ivey, published in 2006, in the Reeves Family Cookbook.)

 

They had four sons and four daughters.  She died in Union District, S. C., on April 3, 1828.

He next married Treacy Coleman, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Treacy Smith Coleman, circa 1829.  She was born November 29, 1794.

He died in Union District, S. C., October 23, 1842.  His funeral was conducted at the Gilead Baptist Church.  Date of Treacy Coleman McWhorter’s death is not known to this writer.

(Church Clerk Records of Gilead Baptist Church, Jonesville, S. C.)

George McWhorter, son of John and Eleanor Brevard McWhorter, was born February 9, 1752, in St. Anne’s Parish, Albemarle County, Virginia.  He married Elizabeth  ?  , in Union District, S. C., circa 1773.  They had two sons and two daughters born in Union District, S. C.

He had a son, Frank McWhorter, by his slave, Juda, born in Union District, S. C., in 1777.  He sold his property in Union District in 1795, and moved with other members of the McWhorter family to Kentucky in 1796.  He died in Lincoln County, Kentucky, before August 10, 1815.  Date of the death of his wife is not known to this writer.

Eleanor McWhorter had 300 acres on both sides of Pacolet River surveyed for a grant on September 5, 1765.  John Portman Sr. and her son, George McWhorter, were the chain bearers.  She received the grant on September 26, 1766.

(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p. 90.)

 

John Portman Sr. received a survey for 200 acres on both sides of the Pacolet River on September 3, 1765.

(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p. 103.)

 

John Portman Jr. received a 200 acre grant on April 27, 1767, on both sides of the Pacolet River that was adjacent to the Widow (Eleanor) McWhorter’s corner.

(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p.104.)

 

John Kirkconnell received a 200 acre grant on the north side of Pacolet River on April 25, 1771.  It was adjacent to the upper side of John Portman’s land.  John Williams had built a cabin on this land and was living in it at the time.

(North Carolina Land Grants in South Carolina by Brent Holcomb, p.141.)

 

After Sarah McWhorter married John Portman Jr., this opened up the McWhorter and Portman lands for family settlement.  Their friendship with John Kirkconnell also provided other land they could “squat on”.

Mary Jasper McWhorter probably wrote to her family in Augusta or Berkley County, Virginia, to join them on the Pacolet River.  So Abraham Jasper; Nicholas Jasper and Elizabeth Wyatt, his wife; Elizabeth Jasper and her husband, John George; Rachel Jasper and her husband Benjamin Covenhoven; and William Jasper joined her  and her husband, John McWhorter Jr., in 1771.

(Estimated date of their arrival in what later became South Carolina.)

 

At first they all lived on the north side of Pacolet River in what is now Cherokee County, S. C.  All lived on the McWhorter or the Portman grants except Benjamin and Rachel Jasper Covenhoven.  They “squatted” on the Kirkconnell grant possibly living in the cabin that had been constructed by John Williams.

On September 20, 1773, John McWhorter Jr. purchased the grant of 200 acres that John Portman Sr. had received on both sides of the Pacolet River.  Portman received the grant on October 30, 1765, from William Tryon, Governor of North Carolina.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, p.1-3.)

 

John McWhorter Jr. sold 83 acres of this purchase to John George on February 12-13, 1778.  The transaction was witnessed by Adam Potter, Nicholas Jasper and John Portman Sr.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, p. 1-3.)

 

John McWhorter Jr. was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolution.  According to his pension application, which he filed on July 27, 1832, in Casey County, Kentucky (W9560), he served in the following battles or skirmishes:

(1).  He was in the Snow Campaign December of 1775, and probably fought under Col. Thomas Neal of the New Acquisition and Capt. Robert Thomson.

He served at various times under Cols. Thomas Brandon, William Farr and Capt. John Thompson.  Mentions fighting under General Francis Marion.

(2).  He was in the Bush River Campaign in 1781.  This skirmish occurred May 1, in Newberry County, S. C.  Col. John Thomas and his troops killed three Tories and captured a dozen.  They took four wagons of supplies.

(3).  He fought under General Nathanael Green at the Siege of Ninety Six, the latter part of May in 1781.

(4).  Was in the Battle of Bacon’s Bridge.  This bridge was across the Ashley River.

He served as a guard at Wofford’s Iron Works, Cherokee Fort on the Reedy River and Fortainbury Station on Congaree River.  He received a pension.

(Pension Statement in Casey County, Kentucky; South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolutionary War by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 644.)

 

John Jasper Sr. purchased 121 acres of the tract John McWhorter Jr. had purchased from John Portman Sr. on August 13, 1781.  It was on both sides of the Pacolet River.  It was the land McWhorter was living on at the time on the north side of the river.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 409-412.)

 

Eleanor McWhorter sold her son, John McWhorter Jr., 100 acres of her grant of 300 acres on the south side of Pacolet River on August 28-29, 1786.  Her grant was received December 20, 1766, and was “deemed to be in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina”.  This was the last listed transaction for Eleanor McWhorter.  She probably died in Union District shortly after this.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 269-272.)

 

John McWhorter Jr. sold 10 acres of land on the south side of Pacolet River to John George on October 17-18, 1786.  It was from a part of his mother’s original grant.  The transaction was witnessed by Nicholas Jasper, John George Jr., and John Pridmore.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 332-334.)

 

Charles Hames purchased 100 acres on the south side of Pacolet River from John McWhorter Jr. on September 22, 1788.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, p. 212.)

 

John Jasper Sr. purchased 45 acres on the south side of Pacolet River from his former son-in-law, John McWhorter Jr., on December 28, 1790.  The land was granted to McWhorter on May 3, 1790.  It was part of a grant of 225 acres.  George Wells purchased 180 acres of the grant.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 408-409; Deed Book C, pp. 229-230.)

 

As John McWhorter Jr. began to make preparations for his move to Kentucky, he sold 300 acres to Joshua Wilborn October 26, 1795.  A portion of this land was a part of the grant to his mother, Eleanor, part was land he had purchased from William Steen and part was from his own grant.  It was signed by John McWhorter Jr. and his second wife, Elizabeth.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book D, pp. 293-294.)

 

On October 27, 1795, John Jr. sold Cushman Rugles Edson part of two tracts containing 30 acres.  One was a portion of the grant to Eleanor, his mother, and the other was from John McWhorter Jr.’s grant, containing a mill seat on Portman’s Creek.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book D, p. 309.)

 

He was still living in Union District as late as March 29, 1796.

 

Children of John and Mary Jasper McWhorter Jr.

(a). George McWhorter was born in 1775, in Ninety Six District, South Carolina (later Union District, S. C.).  He married Agnes Anne Simpson, daughter of Reuben and Sarah Sherill Simpson.  She was born January 8, 1773, in Tuttle, North Carolina.

They were married in Lincoln County, Kentucky, on February 23, 1799.  They had three sons and two daughters.  He died in 1840, in Henry County, Tennessee.  She died circa 1855.

(b). Jesse McWhorter.  He was born in Ninety Six District (later Union District, S. C.), circa 1778.  Date of death unknown.

“Jesse never married.  He lived with his brother Robert (half-brother).  He was a soldier in the War of 1812.  He enlisted September 1, 1812.  He served until October 1, 1812, in the company of Captain Henry James, 2^nd Regiment Militia.  He was mustered on August 26, 1813, and served until November 9, 1813, in Captain Jesse Coffee’s Company, Kentucky Mounted Militia.

He enlisted on November 10, 1814, and served six months in the Kentucky Detached Militia commanded by Lt. Col. Gabriel Slaughter.  He was captured by Indians and crippled for life when forced to run a gauntlet on ice.”

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Goin Family of San Diego—Jesse McWhorter.)

 

(c). James W. McWhorter.  He was born circa 1782, in Ninety Six District (later Union District, S. C.).  He married Nancy Pigg, daughter of William D. and Mary (Polly) Fields Pigg on June 4, 1804, in Lincoln County, Kentucky.

They had three children, two sons and a daughter.  The daughter apparently died in infancy.  Nancy, his wife, died in Clay County, Kentucky in 1810, the year that her daughter died.  James W. McWhorter died in Clay County, Kentucky, before 1815.

Mary Jasper McWhorter, wife of John McWhorter, died circa 1783, in Ninety Six District (later Union District, S. C.).  She was probably buried in a single grave on the McWhorter property.  The Jasper Cemetery had not been established at this time.

 

John McWhorter Jr.’s Second Wife and Family

John McWhorter Jr. was remarried April 14, 1784, in Ninety Six District to Elizabeth McClure.  She was born in 1763, and this was her first marriage.  She was not married to Thomas George as some have asserted.  Thomas married Elizabeth Haney.

John Jr. and Elizabeth had four children born to this union while living in Union District, S. C.  They were:

(a). Sarah, born January 23, 1786, in Union District, S. C.; died, November 15, 1857, Ray Co. Mo.; married, Lewis Pigg, son of William and Mary Fields Pigg, June 21, 1805, Lincoln Co., Ky.  He was born February 8, 1783, in Pittsylvania Co., Va.; died April 15, 1845, Ray Co., Mo.  They had five sons and four daughters.

(b). Elijah, born in 1790, Union District, S. C.; died, circa 1866, in Benge, Clay County, Kentucky; married, Mary Polly Pigg, daughter of William D. and Mary Polly Fields Pigg, on June 13, 1811, in Clay County, Kentucky; died circa 1872, in Benge, Clay County, Kentucky.  They had four sons and six daughters.

(c). William “Buck” Thomas, born July 8, 1791, Union District, S. C.; died July 4, 1877, in Collins, Texas; married Mary E. Moore, August 18, 1819.  She was born September 4, 1798, in Kentucky; died in 1890, in Collins, Texas.  They had five sons and three daughters.

(d). Mary Jensey, born December 20, 1792, Union District, S. C.; died 1844, in Ray County, Missouri; married John Riffe, Casey County, Kentucky, born 1789, in Casey County, Kentucky; died in 1868, in Ray County, Missouri.  Couple buried in Riffe Cemetery, Orick, Ray County, Missouri.  Colonel John Riffe served in Mexican-American War.

John McWhorter Jr. moved his family to Lincoln County, (later Casey County) Kentucky in 1796.  He was granted 150 acres on the south side of Green River about 1½ miles below the mouth of Knob Lick Fork.  It was first surveyed November 17, 1798.  The surveyor was J. Jones, assisted by chainmen, Reubin Simpson and George McWhorter.

(McWhorter Lives and Times—McWhorter Land Claims in Lincoln County, Kentucky, later Casey County–Internet.)

 

He and his wife, Elizabeth McClure McWhorter, had four more children after moving to Kentucky: Willis, John, Richard and Robert.

(e). Willis McWhorter was born in 1800, in Lincoln County, Kentucky.  He died in Orrick, Ray County, Missouri.

(f). John McWhorter III was born May 11, 1802, in Lincoln County, Kentucky; died September 18, 1866, in Casey County, Kentucky; married Elizabeth Hight, daughter of Patrick and Elizabeth Hight, on June 20, 1825, Casey County, Kentucky.

She was born February 5, 1805, in Lincoln County, Kentucky; died in 1882, in Casey County, Kentucky.  They had four sons and seven daughters.  “Big John” was a wagon maker.

(g). Richard Woodrem McWhorter was born in Middleburg, Casey County, Kentucky, November 3, 1803; died September 10, 1878, in Casey County, Kentucky.  Married Elizabeth M. Sutherland, daughter of Owen Southerland on January 6, 1827, Casey Creek, Adair County, Kentucky.

She was born May 31, 1810, in Lincoln County, Kentucky; died December 28, 1892, Casey Creek, Adair County, Kentucky.  They had seven sons and three daughters.  He served in Civil War as per Muster Rolls of 13^th Kentucky Calvary.  Was a farmer and land surveyor.

(h). Robert H. McWhorter was born in Casey County, Kentucky, in 1807; died April 27, 1853, in Casey County, Kentucky.  Married Juliana Royalty Hight in Casey County, Kentucky, on December 30, 1829.  She was born in 1810, in Kentucky; died after 1860.  They had three sons and five daughters.

John McWhorter Jr. died in Middleburg, Casey County, Kentucky, on June 7, 1833.

On January 23, 1839, Elizabeth McClure McWhorter, 76, applied for a widows pension in Clay, Casey County, Kentucky.  She had moved to Ray County, Missouri, when she applied for a transfer of her pension benefits on May 4, 1840.

At the time she was afflicted with palsy which rendered her helpless.  Two of her sons and two of her daughters had moved to Missouri, and she had moved with them so that they could take care of  her.

John McWhorter Jr.’s second wife, Elizabeth, died in Orrick, Ray County, Missouri, on December 2, 1841.

(McWhorter Lives and Times—Elizabeth McWhorter applies for widow’s pension; McWhorter Lives and Times—Elizabeth McWhorter moves to Missouri–Internet.)

 

5. Elizabeth Jasper.  She was born June 7, 1752.  She married John George circa 1767.  The reason there are so many differences in the databases on dates for this couple is the significant error that John George married Mary Jasper.  Mary was older than Elizabeth.  Deed abstracts in Union County, S. C., absolutely prove that John George did not marry Mary Jasper.

Some suggest that John married Mary Elizabeth Jasper, but there was no Mary Elizabeth Jasper for there were two daughters of John Jasper, one named Mary and one named Elizabeth.

It is also difficult to figure out the names of his parents.  William and Mary  ?  George are possibilites.  The estate papers do not list the names of all of William’s children.

Some think that he had sons named John and David and that these two both moved to Union District.  Both of them were Patriot soldiers during the American Revolutionary War and lived in this district.  If there is a connection here then this family is from Lancaster County, Virginia.

(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 351.)

 

John and his wife, Elizabeth Jasper George, moved to the Pacolet River area in 1771.  They had three children:

(a). Mary George was born circa 1768, in Virginia.  She married John Pridmore, son of Theodorus and Mary Hull Pridmore, in Union District, S. C., on February 18, 1785.  He was born circa 1763, in Cranberry, Middlesex, New Jersey.  They had five sons and 10 daughters, all born in Union District.  John served on juries in Union District in 1797-1798, and appraised an estate on October 16, 1799.

They moved to Pickens County, Alabama, with most of their family except Thomas.  He married Nancy Crocker and Mahala Taylor and remained in Union District.  John Pridmore died in Ethelville, Pickens County, Alabama, in 1841, and Mary died there after 1841.

(b). John George was born circa 1770, in Union District, S. C.  He married Sarah Reid, daughter of William H. and Jane Anderson Reid, in 1788, in Union District.  She was born January 23, 1767, in Augusta County, Virginia.  They had three sons and one daughter. He died after 1823, and she died before 1860, in Union District, S. C.

When Sukie Jasper died in 1829, the children of John George received the money from the sale of the slave, Jack, left to John by his uncle, John Jasper Jr.

(Union County, S. C., Will Book B, pp. 139-140.)

 

(c). Thomas George was born circa 1775, in Union District, S. C.  He married Elizabeth Haney.  She was born circa 1780.  She did not marry John McWhorter Jr. as some have said.  They married circa 1808, and had two sons, Thomas Jefferson George and Andrew Jackson George.  She died after 1824, in Union District, and he died in Union District circa 1833.

John George was a Patriot soldier in the American Revolution.  He first enlisted in the Sixth South Carolina Continental Regiment on May 15, 1776.  He served with James (Horseshoe) Robertson, David George and their neighbor, William Henderson.

He was probably recruited by Major William Henderson and served under him and Capt. Alexander Boyce.  Col. Thomas Sumter was commander of the Sixth.

The Sixth Regiment was guarding the coasts when the Battle of Sullivan’s Island was fought on June 28th of 1776.  They fought at the Siege of Savannah where Capt. Alexander Boyce, Sgt. William Jasper and General Casimir Polaski were killed.

(Gamecock, The Life and Campaigns of General Thomas Sumter by Robert D. Bass, pp. 36-37, 48.)

 

David George, John’s brother, was serving in the First Continental Regiment when it surrendered at the Fall of Charleston.  His commander was Col. Charles Pinckney.

After the Fall of Charleston, John George served in the militia under Col. Thomas Brandon.  He attained the rank of sergeant, serving in a calvary unit.

(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 351.)

 

On February 11-12, 1778, John George purchased 83 acres on the north side of Pacolet River from John McWhorter, his brother-in-law, for 300 pounds current money.  It was part of the John Portman Sr. grant of 200 acres.  Witnesses were: Adam Potter, Nicholas Jasper and John Portman Sr.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 1-3.)

 

William Gault sold 100 acres on the north side of Pacolet River to John George on October 16-17, 1786.  It was the plantation that George was presently living on, a part of the John Portman Sr.  grant.  Witnesses were Nicholas Jasper, John George Jr. and John Pridmore.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 329-332.)

 

John McWhorter Jr. sold 10 acres of land on the south side of Pacolet River to John George on October 17-18, 1786.  It was part of the grant to his mother, Eleanor McWhorter.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 332-334.)

 

John George died in 1791.  He wrote his will March 16, 1791, and it was recorded September 6, 1791.

He left his son, John, the plantation, where he now lives, and land adjacent to it.  He left him a ten month old colt.  He left his daughter, Mary, 200 acres on the north side of Pacolet River, which she now possesses.  Also, he left her one sorrel colt, six head of cattle and his loom.

He left his son, Thomas, the plantation “whereon I now live” and one bay horse.  He left his wife, Elizabeth, his gray horse, four calves, one bed and furniture.  He left the rest of his goods and chattles to his son, Thomas, and his wife, Elizabeth.  He appointed his brother-in-law, John Jasper Jr., and his son, John, executors of his estate.

(Union County, S. C., Will Abstracts, 1787-1849, by Brent Holcomb, p. 16.)

Elizabeth Jasper George died after her husband and before the death of her father in 1799.

6.  Rachel Jasper.  She was born November 23, 1754.  She married Benjamin Covenhoven, son of John and Lydia Pridmore Covenhoven, circa 1770.  He was born circa 1752, in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

John was the son of Willmse Kowenhoven and Jacoba Cornelisse Vanderveer.  He was born December 4, 1719, and baptized on April 12, 1719, at the Dutch Reformed Church, Marlboro, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

He and Lydia Pridmore obtained a marriage license on August 14, 1752, at Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey.  They were married August 15, 1752, in New Jersey.  Lydia was the daughter of Jacob Benjamin and Hannah Mellot Pridmore.  She was born in 1727.  They had five sons and four daughters.

The name is also spelled Covenhover and Crownover.

John Covenhoven and Lydia bought 324 acres in Berkley Country, Virginia, June 1772.  In May 1776, they conveyed 43 acres to Benjamin and Rachel Covenhoven.

John Jasper Sr. may possibly have lived on this land for several years thus purchasing it from his son-in law.  His out-of-wedlock son, John Powell, lived in Berkley County, Virginia, and may have been given the land by John Jasper Sr.

John Covenhoven died on March 18, 1778, at Martinsburg, Berkley County, Virginia.  John Jasper Sr., Rachel’s father, witnessed his will, written on February 24, 1778.  Berkley County (now West Virginia) and Frederick County, Virginia, were adjacent to each other.

Berkley County was created in 1772, from the northern third of Frederick County, Virginia.

Lydia Pridmore Covenhoven was remarried to Lt. Richard Prather, son of Col. Thomas Prather Jr. and Elizabeth Claggett, on August 3, 1782, at Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland.   She died in 1809, in Washington County, Maryland.

Her brother, Theodorous Pridmore, received a grant for 393 acres on the south side of Pacolet River in South Carolina on January 17, 1788.  He married Mary Hull.  She was born in 1733, in Middlesex, New Jersey, and died at Grindal Shoals, S. C., in 1809.  He was born in 1730, and died in Union District, South Carolina, in 1806.  They had sons: John, Theodore, Jonathan and Benjamin.

Rachel and Benjamin came to the Pacolet River section of Carroll Shoals in 1771.  It was then a part of Tryon, North Carolina.  They settled on land that was soon granted to John Kirkconnell on the north side of the river.  They continued to be “squatters” on his land for a number of years.

In 1772, this land was declared to be a part of South Carolina, and in 1773, Carroll Shoals became Grindal Shoals.  It is a part of Cherokee County, S. C., today.

The Second Spartan Regiment was organized in January or February of 1777, and Col. Thomas Brandon was made commander.  Benjamin Covenhoven was elected sergeant of the Regiment and fought under Col. Brandon, Col. William Farr and Major Samuel Otterson.

(Organizational Chart of Second Spartan Regiment–Internet.)

 

His little brother, Daniel, moved to the area and also served as a Patriot soldier.  He was also a member of the Second Spartan Regiment.  He served under Capt. Zachariah Bullock.

He was a substitute for his brother, Benjamin, from March 1, 1779, for four months.  He was in the Battle of Stono Ferry.  After this Daniel enlisted in a Virginia Unit and was at the Siege of Yorktown, Virginia.

(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 206, 221.)

 

Benjamin purchased 200 acres, the Kirkconnell tract on June 26-27, 1788, from Peter Johnson, executor for the estate of John Kirkconnell.  It was described as “the tract that Benjamin Covenhoven now lives on”.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 169-171,173.)

 

When John and Mary Herrington Jasper came to South Carolina, in 1779, they “squatted” on the same Kirkconnell tract of land that their son-in-law, Benjamin Covenhoven, lived on.

Benjamin was given a grant of 200 acres February 5, 1787, for services rendered as a Patriot soldier.  He sold this land on Little Sandy Run to William Johnstone on March 25, 1791.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 442-443.)

 

After purchasing the Kirkconnell land that he and John Jasper Sr. had “squatted on”, Benjamin sold 54 acres of the tract to John Jasper Sr. on September 1, 1794.  It was described “as the plantation on which the said John Jasper now lives, including the mill”.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book C, pp. 387-388.)

 

When John Jasper Sr. wrote his will on September 29, 1799, he made Benjamin Covenhoven one of his executors.  The will was challenged by the family, and Benjamin’s services were not needed.

(Union County, S. C., Will Book A, pp. 119-120.)

 

Apparently, Benjamin reacquired the 54 acres from John Jasper and sold 44 acres of the land “with the mill seat” to Archabald Cathy.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book H, pp. 360-361.)

 

He sold 156 acres, the remainder of the 200 acres purchased from the John Kirkconnell estate, to Alexander Purdy on October 25, 1800.  The land was on the north side of Pacolet River.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. II, Deed Books G-K, 1800-1811, by Brent Holcomb, p. 124.)

 

Alexander Purdy was the son of William Jr. and Ann Chesney Purdy.  Ann was the sister of Robert Chesney Sr.  William Jr. was the brother of Robert Chesney’s wife, Elizabeth Purdy.

(Journal of Alexander Chesney, Edited by Dr. Bobby Moss, pp. 1-5.)

 

William Jr., son of William and Martha Peden, and his wife, Ann Chesney, daughter of Alexander and Jane Fulton Chesney, along with their children: Hugh, James, Sabala and Mary journeyed to Kentucky with the group that left Grindal Shoals, S. C., in 1796.  They lived in Logan County where William died in 1799.

William and his son, Hugh, owned land in this county in the latter 1790s.  Hugh married Mary Palm in Logan County, Kentucky, February 10, 1799, and Ann married Ambrose Maulding in Logan County in 1801.

(GenForum, Genealogy.com—Purdys in Logan County, Ky. 1790s; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Abel/Kizer Family tree—William Purdy.)

 

Alexander Purdy remained in Grindal Shoals, S. C., until at least  October 29, 1805, or afterwards, when he sold 50 acres to Jesse Mabry.  This land was part of a tract granted to Robert Chesney Sr. and by him conveyed by deed of gift to his son, John Chesney.

John Chesney sold the land to Alexander Purdy.  The transaction was proved by oath of James Moseley on October 2, 1820, before Davis Goudelock, J. P.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. IV, Deed Books Q-S, 1820-1828, by Brent Holcomb, p. 201.)

 

Benjamin and Rachel Covehoven’s daughter, Lydia, married Robert Chesney Jr. and their son, John, married Elizabeth Chesney, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Purdy Chesney.

Benjamin Covenhoven was listed in the 1800 Federal Census of Union County, S. C.

Rachel Covehoven married Abel Fike in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C., in 1805, indicating that the family had moved to this area by the early 1800s.  Annie Covenhoven also married in that district about this time.

In 1810, Benjamin Covenhoven was listed in the Federal Census of Hopkins County, Kentucky.  Abraham Covenhoven married in Illinois on December 2, 1813, thus indicating another move by the family.

Rachel Covenhoven died in St. Clair County, Illinois, in 1814, and her husband died there in 1815.

Benjamin’s brother, Daniel, remained in the Grindal Shoals section of South Carolina, after his brother moved.  He was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey, June 13, 1763, and had married Martha  ?  in Union District, South Carolina, circa 1783.

He served as a substitute for his brother, Benjamin Covenhoven, from March 1, 1779, for four months under Capts. Zachariah Bullock, Joshua Palmer and Cols. William Wofford and John Thomas.  He fought in the Battle of Stono Ferry.

(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 221.)

 

After serving as a Patriot soldier in South Carolina, Daniel served for three months in Virginia, and was in Capt. Cinder’s Company, under Cols. Morgan and Meriwether.  He was at the Siege of Yorktown, Virginia.

Daniel received a pension October 28, 1833, in Union District, S. C. (S32189).

Daniel Covenhoven moved to Pope County, Arkansas, and had his pension transferred in 1840.  They had one son and three daughters.  He died July 29, 1844, and was buried three miles north of Danville, Yell County, Arkansas, in the Spring Creek Cemetery.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Birds of a Feather—Daniel Covenhoven.)

Children Of Benjamin And Rachel Covenhoven

(a). Lydia Covenhoven was born circa 1772, at Carroll Shoals, S. C. (Grindal Shoals—1773).  She married Robert Chesney Jr., son of Robert and Elizabeth Purdy, in 1790, at Grindal Shoals.  He was born September 15, 1766, in Ireland.  He was the brother of the noted loyalist Capt. Alexander Chesney.

(Journal of Capt. Alexander Chesney, Edited by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 5.)

 

Robert’s brother, William, served as a Patriot soldier in the American Revolution though a mere boy.  He served under Col. Thomas Brandon and lost a horse on one of the Cherokee Indian expeditions.

(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 167.)

 

Robert and Lydia had eight daughters and three sons.  Most of their children were born before they left South Carolina.  They left for Kentucky in 1796, with several other families.  They left Kentucky and moved to St. Clair, Illinois, where Lydia died in 1803.

Robert Chesney, husband of Lydia, moved to Brunswick County, Missouri, where he died November 14, 1845.

(b). John Covenhoven was born October 1, 1774, at Grindal Shoals, S. C.  He married Mary Elizabeth Chesney, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Purdy Chesney, in January of 1794, in Union District, S. C.  She was born in Union District, S. C., on June 21, 1778.

Their first three children were born at Grindal Shoals, S. C.  “They moved to Buncombe County, North Carolina, then to Hardin County, Kentucky, to Illinois, and later to Arkansas and Texas.”

“He was a hat maker by trade.  He made men’s tall silk hats. He received $20.00 for each hat.”

In 1830, John Covenhoven moved to Texas from Arkansas with his wife, Elizabeth, and one daughter.  He applied for a land grant in May 1835.  His grant was located in Madison County.  Their eleven children preceded them to Texas.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Bennett and Related Families of Texas—John Covenhoven.)

 

“John Covenhoven and his wife, Elizabeth, were an elderly couple living alone.  One day, afraid of dying, they wanted to take communion and lacking the necessary ingredients, they had their servant to brew up some strong coffee and make some cornbread.  This they ate and drank, hoping this would be pleasing in God’s eyes.”

John Covenhoven’s will was dated August 18, 1842.  He died September 8, 1842, at La Grange in Fayette County, Texas.  His wife, Elizabeth, died on April 8, 1844, at La Grange.

(RootsWeb’s World Connect Project: A Wood Family’s Branches and Twigs—John Covenhoven.)

 

(c). William Covenhoven was born circa 1777, in Grindal Shoals, S. C.  The name of his first wife is unknown.  They had four children.

He next married Anna ? .  She was born circa 1802.  They had two sons: John and Giles.  They moved to Louisiana.

(d). Melissa Covenhoven was born circa 1779, in Grindal Shoals, S. C.

(e). Elizabeth Covenhoven was born circa 1781, in Grindal Shoals, S. C.  She married David Cunningham.  He was born circa 1780.   They had a child, John Hamilton Cunningham, born in 1812.  Another database lists Mattias Fulcord as a second husband.

(f). Abraham Covenhoven was born circa 1783, in Grindal Shoals, S. C.  He married Margaret Morrison Walker, born circa 1795. They married December 2, 1813, in Illinois.  They had six sons and four daughters.  He died circa 1857, in Bossier Parish, Louisiana.

(g). Rachel Covenhoven was born in March of 1785.  She married Abel Fike in 1805, in Pendleton District, South Carolina.  He was born April 15, 1777, in Granville County, North Carolina.

They had four sons and one daughter.  Their first two children were born in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C.  Their third child, John Jasper Fike, was born in Hopkins County, Kentucky.  The last two children were born in St. Clair County, Illinois.

Rachel died in March of 1815, in St. Clair County, Illinois.  After the death of Rachel, Abel Fike, married Nancy Land Covenhoven, widow of her brother, Joseph Covenhoven.

(h). Jesse Covenhoven was born in 1787, in Grindal Shoals, S. C.

(i). Annie Covenhoven was born October 14, 1789, in Grindal Shoals, S. C.  She was married to Samuel Wilson Hillhouse, son of John and Margaret Chambers Hillhouse, in 1804, in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C.

He was born in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C., in May of 1780.  They had nine daughters and six sons.

He died November 11, 1849, in Canton, Cherokee County, Georgia, and she died there September 6, 1855.  They lived four miles below Canton, Georgia.

(j). Joseph Covenhoven was born circa 1790, in Grindal Shoals, S. C.  He married Nancy Land, daughter of Moses and Charity Brashear Land, on March 16, 1806, in Pendleton District, Anderson, S. C.

She was born May 22, 1792, in Pendleton District, S. C.  They had one son and one daughter.  He died January 20, 1815, in St. Clair County, Illinois.

Many of the family members died in St. Clair in the early 1800s.  They must have been stricken by a similar disease.

After the death of Joseph Covenhoven and his sister, Rachel, their spouses were married to each other.  Abel Fike married Nancy Land Covenhoven in December of 1815, in St. Clair County, lllinois.

Abel and Nancy had four sons and four daughters.  Abel died February 10, 1852, in Mascoutah, St. Clair County, Illinois, and was buried

in the Fike Cemetery.  Nancy died December 12, 1879, in Warrensburg, Johnson County, Missouri.  She was buried in Macoutah, St. Clair County, Illinois.

7. William Jasper.  He was probably born in Pennsylvania, or Virginia, September 11, 1757.  According to the Nicholas Jasper historical data in Kentucky, the Jaspers were from Wales.

(Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)

 

There is one group that insists that he was an Irishman and another group that he was of German descent.

It reminds the writer of an individual frequenting an antique store to purchase just any old pictures so that he could have a grandpa and grandma picture to display.

“Sgt. Jasper came from Ireland, period,” said St. Patrick’s Day Parade committee chairman, Jimmy Ray.

(Savannah NOW: Top Stories, Sgt. Jasper was one of their own, two groups say–Internet.)

 

Retired history professor Fenwick Jones said that Jasper was a German who was naturalized after arriving in the American colonies.  In 1980, the local Savannah German Heritage Society said he was of German ancestry and formally inducted him into the society with a slight name change.

“He was Johann Wilhelm Jasper, according to ship records, the society said.”

(Evidence Shows Jasper Not Irish, Savannah Morning News and Evening Press, Sunday, September 21, 1980.)

 

They seek to present him as being married in Pennsylvania when actually he married a Pennsylvania girl at Mt. Pleasant, S. C., or Sullivan’s Island, S. C., in 1776.

(Article on William Jasper  by Thomas Gamble, Savannah Morning News, Sunday, February 21, 1932.)

 

They make no allowance for his Tory brother.  The Kentucky records call this brother, Abraham, and refer to him as a Tory.  The Peter Horry and Parson Weems book, Life of Francis Marion, pp.53-54, tells of Sgt. Jasper’s visits during the war with this Tory brother.

(Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)

 

William Jasper probably came to the Carroll Shoals (later Grindal Shoals) section of South Carolina with his older brothers and sisters in 1771, at the age of fourteen.

This area was later known as Union District, S. C., and is now known as Cherokee County, S. C.

The writer believes that William Jasper quickly made friends with Elijah Clark, who had moved from North Carolina, in 1769, and lived just across the Pacolet River from the Jasper families.

(Notable Women Ancestors, A Biography of Hannah Harrington Clark, by Beverly L. Pack, p. 1, Internet.)

 

Elijah Clark was the son of John Clark Jr. and Mary Gibson Clark. John Clark Jr. was first married to Ann Alston, daughter of John and Mary Clark Alston.   His second wife, Mary, was possibly the daughter of John and Martha Browne Gibson.  His third wife was Martha Nesbit Pickens, widow of Israel Pickens, the brother of Capt. Andrew Pickens and uncle of General Andrew Pickens.  Capt. Andrew Pickens was a captain and commander of the Anson County, North Carolina, Militia, after 1750.

(Pickens Company, Anson County, 1750s, p. 1—Internet; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: The Trask Family—John Clark; World Connect Project: Add Ons to My North Carolina Family—Capt. Andrew Pickens.)

 

Martha and Israel Pickens had two sons and three daughters.  Israel, her husband, died or was killed in 1749, and Martha married John Clark Jr., after the death of his second wife, Mary Gibson Clark, who died in 1757.

(Genealogy.com GenForum: John Clark’s Marriage to Mary Gibson)

 

The Israel Pickens Family and Pickens Origins by E. M. Sharp from Pickens Families of the South, p. 6—Internet; RootsWeb’s World Connect Project: The Trask Family—John Gibson; RootsWeb’s World Connect Project: Xavierdefreitas.ged—William Henry Pickens.)

John and Martha were married circa 1758.  Martha still had three children at home at this time: Samuel, age 15; Rebecca, age 12; and Hannah, age 9.  John and Martha had one son, Gibson Clark, who was born in 1760.  Her children by Israel Pickens were grown when John Clark died circa 1768.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: John Clark; Genalogy.com GenForum—John Clark’s Marriage to Mary Gibson and Martha Pickens; Part II: The Early Clarks of Carolina by Douglas C. Tucker, May 1997—Internet.)

 

Elijah, a veteran of the French and Indian wars, married Hannah Harrington, daughter of Thomas and Hanna Haynie Harrington, in 1765.

(Part II, The Early Clarks of Carolina, p. 2, by Douglas C. Tucker, May 1997; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Raney-1920—Hannah Harrington.)

 

Col. John Clark Jr., an officer in the Anson County, N. C., Militia, sold his Broad River lands to Richard Hughes and moved to the Pacolet River tract January 16, 1753.  He died on the Pacolet River lands circa 1768.

(Upper Broad River Basin Pioneers—1750-1760, by Miles S. Philbeck, 264-D; The Early Clarks of Carolina by Douglas C. Tucker, May 1997, p. 2.)

 

Elijah’s father, John Jr., left an 800 acre tract of land on Pacolet River to him.  John Jr. received the grant March 16, 1751, (SS 586) “On the South side of Broad River on both sides of Pacolet including his improvement.”

(Upper Broad River Basin Pioneers, 1750-1760, by Miles S. Philbeck, 108 E.)

 

Elijah moved to the land left him by his father to take care of his step-mother and his half-brother in 1769.

(Part II, The Early Clarks of Carolina, p. 3, by Douglas C. Tucker, May 1997—Internet.)

 

Martha apparently moved to Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and lived with her son, Samuel, until she was remarried to John Falls.  She left her son, Gibson Clark, with his half-brother, Elijah.

(The Israel Pickens Family and Pickens Origins by E. M. Sharp from Pickens Families of the South, p. 6 & 10; RootsWeb’s World Connect Project: The Davis Family Tree—John Falls.)

 

Samuel, son of Israel and Martha Nesbit Pickens, was a Patriot Soldier in the American Revolutionary War and an officer.  He had a son, Israel, named for his grandfather, who was governor of Alabama.

(History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Vol. 4, p. 1360, by Thomas McAdory Owen and Maria Bankhead Owen; The Israel Pickens Family and Pickens Origins, by E. M. Sharp from Pickens Families of the South, p. 7.)

 

Elijah’s wife, Hannah Harrington, was first cousin to Charles, Drury and John Harrington who lived between Abington and Gilkie creeks in Ninety Six District (later Union District).

(RootsWeb’s World Connect Project: Raney-1920—Thomas Harrington Sr.; Thomas Harrington Jr.; Charles Harrington Sr.)

 

John and Drury both became Patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War.

(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 418.)

 

The writer has no information concerning a possible kinship between the Harringtons and Herringtons.  William Jasper’s mother was Mary Herrington, daughter of Jacob Herrington.

Elijah liked to hunt, fish and trap, and young William Jasper and Elijah’s half brother, Gibson, probably became his partners.

In her book, Hero of Hornet’s Nest, A Biography of Elijah Clark, p. 5, Louise Frederick Hays wrote: “Elijah showed little John, his oldest boy, how to make rabbit traps, and though the child was only five, he was big for his years, and sometimes Elijah took the boy hunting and carried him on his back when the walking became too much for his sturdy little legs.”

The Clark place was on the right side of Pacolet River just off highway 18 from Gaffney, S. C., and across the river in present day Union County, S. C.  The Fernandez Cemetery is located on this land.

Clark began to plan for a caravan to leave the Grindal Shoals area of South Carolina, and journey to Georgia.  Louise Frederick Hays, on page 7, of her book, has Hannah Clark saying, “Thar’s some folks planning to move from around these parts.  Nancy Hart rode by yesterday, while you were out in the swamp and said how she and Benjamin were ready to go and would rather live among the Indians than here whar you had to buy a stamp every time you turn around.”

(Nancy Hart, Revolutionary Heroine, Internet.)

 

This writer believes that young William Jasper joined Clark on his journey to Georgia.  It must have been an interesting experience to have lived in the Carroll Shoals (Grindal Shoals), S. C., community with such people as Elijah and Hannah Clark, Benjamin and Nancy Hart and the Jaspers.

Elijah, his wife, Hannah, four small children and his half-brother, Gibson, left with their friends in September of 1773, and traveled by wagon train to Georgia.

(Notable Women Ancestors, A Biography of Hannah Harrington Clark, by Beverly L. Pack, p. 1, Internet.)

 

Elijah Clark served as a Patriot Soldier in the American Revolution and was an officer.  His brothers, John III, Lewis and his half-brother, Gibson, were also Patriot Soldiers.

(Georgia’s Roster of The Revolution–1920 byLucian Lamar Knight.)

 

John Clark III was wounded at the Battle of Wofford’s Iron Works and carried by Capt. Vardry McBee Sr. to his house where his wife and daughters hurriedly attended to his wounds.  After the war he returned to Vardry McBee Sr.’s home and married his daughter, Rebecca.

(Vardry McBee, Man of Reason In An Age Of Extremes, by Roy McBee Smith, pp. 34-35.)

 

Elijah’s son, John, became a Patriot officer at the age of 16, and later Governor of Georgia.  His son, Gibson, was an attorney and was the first valedictorian of the University of Georgia.

(Anson County, North Carolina, Archives Biographies—Families, Clark—p. 2–Internet; General Elijah Clark Was Father of Gov. John Clark—Internet.)

 

Two years after moving to Georgia, William Jasper was recruited in St. George’s Parish, now Burke County, Georgia, by Captain Bernard Elliott on July 7, 1775, and signed to serve in the Second South Carolina Continental Regiment.  Thomas Gamble wrote: “Jasper, when enlisted, was a member of a Georgia militia company of the Halifax District.”

(Sergeant William Jasper, Georgia Soldier, Enlisted from St. George’s Parish, Savannah Morning News, Sunday, January 24, 1932.)

 

William went immediately to Charleston, S. C., where he began his service under Colonel William Moultrie and Captain Francis Marion.

Capt. Bernard Elliott, in his dairy, wrote: “This Jasper was enlisted by Capt. Elliott of the Grenadiers of the Second Regiment, in Halifax County, Georgia, as a common soldier, but his extraordinary sobriety, his punctuality and readiness in obeying all orders while a private recommended him to his captain as a proper man for a sergeant, accordingly he appointed him to that office in October last, while he had the command of the battery at Fort Johnson.”

At the time of William Jasper’s enlistment, Charleston was still occupied by Royal Governor Lord William Campbell.  “Campbell soon realized that he could no longer reside and govern in safety in Charleston.

In September 1775, he fled Charleston on a British warship and returned to England.  In 1776, during the British attack upon Fort Moultrie, he was wounded by a splinter in the side, while aboard Sir Peter Parker’s flagship, HMS Bristol.  He never fully recovered, and died of its effects two years later.

(Lord William Campbell, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia—Internet.)

 

Much could be written about young William, but perhaps General Moultrie in his Memoirs of the American Revolution, Vol. II, best describes him: “He was a brave, active, stout, strong, enterprising man, and a very great partisan.”

The Charles Town Gazette, in its first issue after the Battle of Fort Sullivan, gave this account: “In the beginning of the action the flagstaff was shot away, which, being observed by Sergeant Jasper of the Grenadiers, he immediately jumped from one of the embrasures upon the beach, took up the flag, and fixed it on a sponge staff.  With it in his hand he mounted the merlon and notwithstanding the shot flew as thick as hail around him, he leisurely fixed it.”

Thomas Gamble wrote: “In a spirit of utter defiance of the foe Jasper faced them and gave three cheers before he returned to serve the gun with which he had given his full share of punishment to the British ships.”

The Union County, S. C., Museum has a pen staff made from the broken staff of the Fort Sullivan flag recovered by Sgt. William Jasper.

Gamble wrote: “On July 4, 1776, while the Continental Congress was adopting the Declaration of Independence, President Rutledge visited the garrison on Sullivan’s Island to express the thanks of the South Carolina Provincial Congress.  It was on this occasion he took his sword from its scabbard and presented it to Sergeant Jasper.”  “Edward Savage was allowed 70 pounds on 30 May 1777 for a sword in Room (place of) one Given Sergt Jasper.”

(American Revolution Roster Fort Sullivan 1776-1780, Battle of Fort Sullivan, by Georgia Muldrow Gillmer, p. 192.)

 

Thomas Gamble wrote that William Jasper married Mary Wheatley from Pennsylvania in 1776.  They had twins in 1777, and named them William and Elizabeth.

Speaking of Sgt. William Jasper, General Moultrie, in his Memoirs of the American Revolution, Vol. II, pg. 24, wrote: “I had such confidence in him that when I was in the field, I gave him a roving commission and liberty to pick out his men from my brigade.  He seldom would take more than six: he went often out and returned with prisoners before I knew he was gone.

I have known of his catching a party that was looking for him.  He has told me that he could have killed single men several times, but he would not, he would rather let them off.

He went into the British lines at Savannah and delivered himself up as a deserter, complaining at the same time of our ill-usage of him.  He was gladly received (they having heard of his character) and caressed by them.  He stayed eight days, and after informing himself well of their strength, situation, and intentions, he returned to us again; but that game he could not play a second time.”

Bowen in his Life of Lincoln, p. 316, “Mentions a letter from Jasper to General Lincoln ‘ill written and worse spelt’, dated at Purysburg, July 23, 1779, in which he informs General Lincoln that in company with three of the Georgia Continentals he had gone up the river, two days before, hoping to surprise a picket guard.  It turned out, however, to be only a patrolling party from which he had made four prisoners and brought off some negroes, all of whom he had sent to Charleston.”

Mary Wheatley gave birth to a daughter in 1779, but the little girl died.

Alexander Garden, an aid-decamp to Major General Nathanael Greene, wrote in his, Anecdotes of the American Revolutionary War, that Jasper was “a perfect Proteus in his ability to alter his appearance, perpetually entering the camp of the enemy without detection, and invariably returning to his own with soldiers he had seduced or prisoners he had captured.”

In one incident recorded in the April 21, 1779, South Carolina Gazette, “The brave Sergeant Jasper giving new proof of his courage, crossed the Savannah River with another soldier, perhaps Sgt. John Newton, and captured two British officers, Captains Scott and Young.”

A monument was erected at Jasper Spring, Savannah, Georgia, Chatman County, in 1932.  Inscription on the monument reads: “At this spring close by the entrenchment of the British who held Savannah, Sergeant William Jasper and Sergeant John Newton in 1779, effected their heroic rescue of a number of American Patriots who were being taken to Savannah for military trial. These prisoners were under a guard of ten British soldiers.

Sergeants Jasper and Newton had followed them for many miles almost within sight of the British fortifications.  The escort here stacked arms.  Two soldiers guarded the prisoners while the others refreshed themselves at the spring.

Rushing from their concealment in the heavy underbrush, the gallant Americans shot down the two guards, seized the guns, disabled two others of the enemy and made the remainder prisoners.  The rescued patriots were released and armed with the captured guns.  The British prisoners were then marched to the American camp in South Carolina.”

Sergeant John Newton was a son of the Reverend John Newton, a constituent member of the Congaree Baptist Church in South Carolina, and Keziah Dorsett Newton.  His father was also listed as co-pastor of the Charleston Church with the Reverend Oliver Hart in 1779.

Sergeant Newton was taken prisoner at the surrender of Charleston in 1780, and died aboard a British prison ship.

(South Carolina Baptists, 1670-1805, by Leah Townsend, pp. 30, 142-144; Sergeants William Jasper and John Newton, Savannah, Georgia, Specific Veteran Memorials on Waymarking.com—Internet.)

 

From the story, Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Hero; the Story of Sergeant William Jasper (Internet), is recorded the following account of the Siege of Savannah on October 9, 1779:

“A lieutenant Bush carried one of the regimental flags of the 2^nd South Carolina into battle that day, supported by Sergeant Jasper.  At the height of the action, Lt. Bush took a wound and transferred his flag to Jasper.

The gallant sergeant rushed forward to plant the flag high on the enemy’s works, but was mortally wounded as he neared the top.  Lt. Bush recovered the flag almost immediately and made another effort to rally the faltering troops into the redoubt, only to fall mortally wounded with the blood-soaked flag beneath him.

Jasper’s wounded body was recovered from the battlefield by members of the 2^nd South Carolina Continentals.  He lingered for a few agonizing hours before succumbing to his wounds.

After the battle, Colonel Isaac Hayne recorded the names of those who had died during the assault.  Among the names listed was ‘The Brave Sgt. Jasper’.

That extraordinary display of honor bestowed by Colonel Hayne illustrated the high level of regard Jasper enjoyed among his contemporaries.

Jasper’s remains are thought to lie in an unmarked grave somewhere near the field of battle.  But the exploits of the soldier who possessed a patriot’s heart and a love of liberty have not been forgotten.”

Thomas Gamble wrote: “The state of South Carolina was not unmindful of the service Jasper had given to the American cause.  His widow, Mary Wheatley Jasper, probably then had been married the second time.”

“An ordinance was passed on March 26, 1784, in conformity with an act passed by the General assembly of South Carolina on March 28, 1778, granting to William Jasper, ‘heir at law to Sergeant William Jasper, his heirs and assigns a plantation or tract of land containing 200 acres in the District of Georgetown on the northeast side of the Little Pedee River, on Threadwell Swamp.’”

From the City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser  of Charleston, S. C., August 4, 1819, is found the following obituary of William Jr.:

“Died on Friday the 30^th ultimo (error, should be 29th, funeral was on July 30^th) in the 42^nd year of his age, Mr. William Jasper, the son of the gallant Jasper, who so bravely distinguished himself in the defense of Sullivan’s Island at the attack made upon it by the British naval forces under the command of Sir Peter Parker during our Revolutionary War.

The subject of these remarks was born on Sullivan’s Island in the building, which is now used as an Episcopal Church.  At an early period in life Mr. Jasper left his native state on his travels, in the course of which he visited Sicily, Naples, Palermo, and different parts of Asia.

After several years absence he returned to America, and fixed his residence in the Town of Beaufort, N. C., and during the late war with Great Britain was called upon by the unanimous voice of the citizens of Beaufort to take the command of Fort Hamilton, a trust which at once evinced their confidence in him as a man of courage and high honor.

He was modest and unassuming in his manners, sincere and candid in his friendship, and possessed, as he richly merited, the esteem and confidence of all who knew him.  As a brother he was most affectionate, as a husband kind and endearing.  With a most undaunted spirit he possessed an amiability of temper which gained the approbation of his fellow citizens.

He returned to his native state a few years past, and continuing to practice the virtues, which so eminently distinguished his character, no one lived more beloved than William Jasper.  His widow disconsolately mourns the loss of a tender husband, and his sister, a friend and brother.”

Thomas Gamble in the Savannah Morning News, Sunday, February 21, 1932, wrote: “At the time of the death of William Jasper (1819) Sergt. Jasper’s widow was living on Pinckney street, Charleston, a widow for the second time, she having married Christopher Wagner who died in 1805, and by whom she had a son, Samuel Jasper Wagner, who was a custom house inspector at Charleston.

Sgt. Jasper’s son, William, evidently had not returned to Charleston until after 1813, as his name is not in the city directory for that year, but does appear in the directory for 1816.  His sister, referred to in the obituary notice, was Elizabeth Brown.

Gen. Kershaw refers to her as Elizabeth Martin Jasper—who was then living on Wentworth Street.  This sister survived for many years.  In 1844 an act was passed by the South Carolina legislature to give ‘Elizabeth Brown, the daughter of Sgt. Jasper, for and during the period of her natural life’ a pension of $100 a year, to be paid quarterly, beginning March 1, 1844.  As the act was passed December 18, and made to cover the nine preceding months, it is probable that Elizabeth became a widow early in the year.

Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw, in an address at the centennial celebration of the Battle at Fort Moultrie, stated that Elizabeth Jasper was married three times and had three children, all of whom died young.”

Thomas Gamble appropriately connects Sgt. William Jasper to the Jasper family of South Carolina (Union District), citing the note of John Hames in Georgia Landmarks that Sgt. Jasper was his wife’s brother.  Gamble did not know that Nicholas Jasper was Hames’ brother-in-law or that they both were from the Grindal Shoals, S. C., area.  Nicholas Jasper died in Kentucky and John Hames died in Georgia.

“A monument to William Jasper is located in the center of Madison Square, in Savannah, Georgia.  It was erected in 1888, and is fifteen and one-half feet high and consists of a heroic scale bronze statue of wounded Sgt. Jasper, with sword in hand, raising the flag aloft; the bronze is mounted on a granite-stepped pedestal.  It has four bas relief bronze plaques.

The entire monument is elevated on an earthwork of unknown composition, which is surrounded by benches.  The monument is in memory of Sergeant William Jasper of the Second South Carolina Regiment, who was killed at the Siege of Savannah on 9 October 1779.”

(The Jasper Monument, Savannah, Georgia, Sergeant William Jasper, Brother of Nicholas Jasper, Internet, p. 1.)

 

Eight counties and seven cities and towns throughout the nation are named for this great hero.  The Jasper counties are: Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas.  The Jasper cities and towns are: Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Minnesota.

South Carolina has a county named for him, but the statue at Battery Park in Charleston, S. C., was erected to commemorate all the heroes of the Battle of Fort Sullivan.

There is a county named for Sgt. John Newton in Georgia but none in South Carolina, his native state.

(Unpublished article of William Jasper by Robert S. Davis Jr., Jasper, Georgia; William Jasper, Wikipedia, Internet.)

 

There are many who claim that all references in the Weems-Horry book concerning William Jasper are simply from the imagination of  Weems.  This writer contends that this is not true.

There are those who have contended that the Tory brother is an imagination of Weems, but the historical data from Kentucky disproves this for they even give the Tory’s name.  He was called Abraham in these sources.

(Obituary of Dr. Francis Marion Jasper, Nicholasville Democrat, Nicholasville, Kentucky, July 8, 1892.)

 

Robert S. Davis, Jr. of Jasper, Georgia, in his unpublished article on William Jasper, has made a statement that is troubling to this writer.  He wrote: “Despite contemporary claims of his heroism in battle, however, these honors were bestowed on this Georgian more because of a work of historical fiction than on his real exploits.”

It is true that Weems “furnished up the stories a bit”.  But historical fiction in those days was usually based on true stories or true accounts of events.

Most of this writer’s references to William Jasper have been taken from other sources and not the Weems-Horry source to show that he was indeed “The Brave Sgt. Jasper”.

Apparently, his son, William Jr. had no children, and the children of his daughter, Elizabeth, died young.  South Carolina should be proud of the part she has played in the young man’s life, and Union and Cherokee counties should be glad to reflect on the two years that he lived in our midst as a young man preparing with Elijah Clark to be Patriot soldiers.

8. Hannah Jasper.  She was born April 12, 1759.  She married William Cheney, son of Jeremiah and Naomi Twigg Cheney of Hagerstown, Maryland.

Jeremiah Cheney was a son of Charles and Mary Powell Cheney, of

Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and Naomi Twigg was a daughter of Robert and Hannah Leseure Twigg of Frederick County, Maryland.

William was Jeremiah and Naomi’s oldest child and was born April 20, 1754.  He had five brothers and six sisters.

They lived at Middleton, Frederick County, Maryland.  William replied to a letter that John Jasper Jr. had sent to them on January 12, 1804.  His letter was written on April 15, 1804.  It was addressed to Brother, & Sister and Mother.

The letter basically deals with a possible settlement of Hannah’s father’s estate.  John had requested that they come to South Carolina in October.  William wrote: “It may be that one of us may come at your request next October but if not carry on the business as though we were there.”

Hannah wrote a letter to her brother, John, on November 14, 1804, and told of her husband’s very sudden death the first of September, 1804.  She stated that her husband had left no will and that his father was giving her only a third of the estate.  She hoped that there was a possibility of getting her part of their father’s estate.

(Copy of letters sent to Robert A. Ivey by Loubeth Hames, State University, Arkansas, 1981.)

 

Hannah died after November of 1804.  They were both buried in Frederick County, Maryland, and apparently had no children.

9. Nancy Anna Jasper.  She was born March 3, 1763.  She married James Thomas Moseley, son of John and Ann Abernathy Moseley, in 1781, before the Revolutionary War was officially over.  He was born December 24, 1756, in Brunswick County, Virginia.

A John Moseley Jr. was born in Middlesex County, Virginia, in 1727.   He married Ann Williams in 1751, in Goochland County, Virginia.  She was born in Goochland County, Virginia, in 1733.  She died before March 2, 1774, in Warren County, North Carolina.  John Jr. died in Warren County, North Carolina, in 1795. 

They also had a son, James (Jurist), who married Frances Colclough.  He died in Warren County, North Carolina, in 1806.  This John and Ann were not James (High Key) Moseley’s parents. 

John Moseley, father of James (High Key) Moseley, was probably the son of George and Hannah Hartwell Moseley.  He was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, circa 1737, and married Ann Abernathy, daughter of David and Ann Liles Abernathy.  She was born circa 1735.  The writer has records of only three known children: James, Elizabeth and Baxter.

George Moseley was born circa 1700.  He married Hannah Hartwell, born circa 1720.  He lived on the side of Fountain Creek in Meherrin Parish, Brunswick County, Virginia.  He died July 7, 1758, in Brunswick County, Virginia.  They had three sons and three daughters.  After the death of George, Hannah married Sylvanus Stoker Stokes before 1762.  Sylvanus was born circa 1710.

David Abernathy was born circa 1710.  He married Ann Liles in 1730.  She was born circa 1714.  They had eight sons and four daughters.  He died in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, in 1783.

In the book, A History Of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, p. 39, by John H. Logan, the following story concerning James (High Key) Moseley and John, his father, is given: “He came originally from Virginia, and settled first on the headwaters of the Yadkin, at the foot of Yellow Mountain.

He was then 14 years of age (1770).  Here he was associated for a time with the celebrated Daniel Boone and was preparing to join him in the expedition to Kentucky, when he was prevented by his father (John) on the plea of youth.”

John and Ann Abernathy Moseley had moved their family to the Grindal Shoals section of Union District, S. C., before April 2, 1774.

He purchased a tract of 190 acres of land in Ninety Six District, South Carolina, from James and Sarah Mason Huey shortly after moving to South Carolina.  This was part of a tract of 600 acres granted to John Clark, father of Colonel Elijah Clark, on September 3, 1752.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 322-323; Deed Book E, pp. 107-111.)

 

John Moseley sold this land in 1776, and moved his family to Chester County, S. C., the latter part of that year or in 1777.  His son, James, had already joined the Spartan Regiment.  They must have returned to Union District circa 1780.  In his pension application James wrote: “I lived in Union District and in York District (Chester) at the time of my services.”

(James Moseley’s Pension Application—S9421.)

 

Ann Abernathy Moseley, James (High Key) Moseley’s mother, was living in Union District, S. C., January 26, 1790, when she gave her son, Baxter Moseley, power of attorney, “ to Ask, Demand, Recover or Receive all my Right of Legacy of my Father David Abernathy’s Estate, lately deceased in Dinwiddie County in Virginia.”

(Library of Virginia Accession No. 21440; Author–Abernathy Family; Title– Papers, 1768-1845—Margaret Ogilvie.)

 

Ann, wife of John, and her son, James (High Key) Moseley, acknowledged the sale of 190 acres to James Mabry by John and Ann Moseley on January 9, 1776.

The land was on the south side of Pacolet River and on both sides of Mill Creek.  “Ann Moseley acknowledged the deed in Union County and stated that she saw her husband John Moseley sign the same, and James Moseley acknowledged that he believes the within to be his father John Moseley’s writing, 10 July 1797.”  This indicates that John was deceased possibly before 1797.  His wife, Ann, was still living at this time.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book E, pp. 107-111.)

 

James (High Key) Moseley, in his pension application (S9421), before Judge J. B. O’Neall, on October 10, 1832, states that he entered the service in the then Ninety-Six District in that part of it now called Union, in the month of June 1776, in Captain (Zachariah) Bullock’s Company in Colonel John Thomas Regiment under General (Andrew) Williamson, as a volunteer to fight the Cherokee Indians.

The Spartan Regiment of Militia was established September 1775 with Col. John Thomas as Commander.  Capt. Zachariah Bullock, a soldier in this regiment, lived very close to James Moseley and probably recruited him.

They fought at Lyndley’s Fort on July 15, 1776; Seneca Town on August 1, 1776; Cherokee Towns on August 8-11, 1776; Tamassee on August 12, 1776; participated in the Ring Fight on August 12, 1776; and were at Coweecho River, North Carolina, on September 19, 1776.

(The Spartan Regiment of Militia, established in September 1775, Commander, Col. John Thomas Sr.—Internet.)

 

The records are strangely silent about his services in 1780.  He did receive pay for services rendered while serving under Col. Thomas Brandon.

“He served under General Thomas Sumter in 1781, and fought with him at the Battle of Fort Granby, February 9^th.   He stated that in March 1781, he served in Col. Thomas Gill’s Company, Col. Edward Lacey’s Regiment, commanded by General Thomas Sumter.

He was at the Battle of Orangeburg, May 10, 1781.  He states that he was with Sumter at the destroying of a Fort on the Eastside of Cooper River, nearly opposite Monks Corner, and several other light engagements.”

(Pension statement S9421.)

 

“He was sent from the High Hills by Thomas Sumter to Col. Thomas Taylor of Columbia, with a valuable express.  Taylor’s cabin stood on the high hill that (since) overlooked the waterworks and much of the valley of the Broad River.  He says that Taylor was sitting at a table when he walked in, his sword by his side.”

(A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, p. 39, by John H. Logan.)

 

In May of 1782, he served a month’s tour at Orangeburg in Captain John Thomson’s Company and Col. William Farr’s Regiment, commanded by General Thomas Sumter.  In September, he marched in Capt. John Thomson’s Company, under Lieutenant Francis Lattimore, Col. Farr’s Regiment, commanded by General Francis Pickens, against the Cherokee Indians.

In his pension application he states: “Under General Sumter, I was frequently with Colonel (William) Washington and  (Col. Henry ‘Light Horse Harry’) Lee before (Col. William) Washington was taken prisoner at the Battle of Eutaw Springs.”

(Pension statement S9421.)

 

The Reverend J. D. Bailey in his book, History of Grindal Shoals, p. 69, states that “his service was principally, that of a scout”.  In A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, p. 39, by John H. Logan, is stated: “He did much valuable service as a scout—always on foot.”

“By orders of General Sumter, I am Directed to give James Moseley a pass to travel into Ninety Six District and do therefore Desire that no person may interrupt the said Moseley on his way going or returning back as he has behaved himself as Becometh a Citizen since he has has been in Camden District.”  S/Edw Lacey, Col. (Edward Lacey) 24^th May 1781.

(Pension statement S9421.)

 

“This is to Certify that the Bearer James Moseley hath behaved himself True to his Country and hath Done a tour of Duty at the Congaree Fort.  Given under my hand May 25^th day 1781.”  S/Thomas Gill Capt.

(Pension statement S9421.)

 

He referred to “the Reverend Thomas Greer, General Elijah Dawkins, Major Joseph Stark Sims and John Gage Sr. to prove his character for truth and moral deportment”.

(Pension statement S9421.)

 

It is possible that the John Moseley mentioned in the Roster of South Carolina Patriots In the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 706, was the father of James (High Key) Moseley.

“He served in the militia during 1781 and 1782.  He was a horseman under General Thomas Sumter and a footman on the Four Holes Expedition under General William Henderson.”

In A History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, Vol. II, p. 39-40, by John H. Logan, he relates the following James (High Key) Moseley story:  “He was a famous hunter and woodsman; his trade that of a blacksmith.  A post oak, known as Mosely’s Tree, is still standing immediately on the road to the Grindal Shoals ford, just below the house of Garland Meng.  Everybody knows it in that country, and no sacrilegious hand would dare touch it.

Moseley was out hunting and having taken a small deer, was returning home with it on his shoulders.  The wolves getting a scent of the blood, were soon on his trail; he heard them coming, and knew that he must make an effort to save both himself and meat.  The latter he sunk in a neighboring branch, and having climbed up into the post oak, waited their coming.

They bayed him all night.  ‘Why did you not shoot them, Mr. Moseley? was asked him afterwards.’  ‘You had your rifle.’  ‘Because’, he said, ‘I wanted to kill the leader of the troop, and it was too dark to distinguish him: as soon as light began to appear, they began to enlarge the circle they were constantly making around the tree.’  He then singled him out, and shot him.  The rest retreated to their dens.”

Garland T. Meng mentioned by John H. Logan was the son of Col. James Edward Meng and his wife, Sarah Lewis.  James Edward was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Garland married Susannah Thomas.

Before Logan had written his book, Sallie Sims, daughter of Major J. S. Sims, sketched Moseley’s Oak in 1844.  Her sketch is still in the Union County Museum.

In preparation for his History of Grindal Shoals, the Reverend J. D. Bailey made a picture of Moseley’s Oak April 3, 1922, and included it in his book.  He wrote: “It stands on the side of the old road leading from Grindal Shoals towards Kelly’s Station on the Lockhart branch of the Southern Railway.  It is a little more than a mile southeast from Elford’s Grove.  It must be more than two hundred years old.”

Describing the tree, Bailey wrote: “At this writing (1921) ‘the venerable tree still stands with only one dead limb on it.  It is a post –oak; about thirty-five feet high and twenty-one, or two inches in diameter at the base.  It looks to be about the same size as it was when first pointed out to us fifty-two years ago.”

Unfortunately, someone who did not know the history of the tree cut it down in the 1930s or 1940s.

In his History of Grindal Shoals, page 68, Bailey wrote: “The house in which the old hero lived is still standing and in a fair state of preservation.  In traveling the road from Grindal Shoals towards Union, Sandy Run is crossed at the ancient ford.  Proceeding up the hill a short distance, and on looking to the right, a log house is seen standing on a ridge a short distance from the road.  A brick chimney is built to the end, with the roof extending out over it.  This was the earthly habitation of James Moseley.”

The site of the house was revealed to the writer by Mrs. E. D. Whaley Sr. in the early 1980s.  The chimney was not standing but     a part of the bricks were still cemented together.  The floor joists and rock pillows were still in place.  The writer has a brick and rock pillow from his house.  This site is on the right of Bobby Faucett Road and is .8 of a mile from highway 18.

Bailey in his History of Grindal Shoals wrote: “Moseley was a blacksmith by trade and a sort of neighborhood tooth puller, as there were no dentists in those days.

Barney O’Neal was a good-natured, pestiferous Irishman that depended a good deal on his acquaintances.  One day he went to Moseley’s and informed him that he had come to get a tooth pulled.

Old Hi-ky went to his blacksmith shop and got an armful of tools, consisting of hammers, tongs, chisels, etc.  ‘Does it take all them instruments to pull a tooth?’ inquired Barney.  ‘Yes, and sometimes more,’ said Hi-ky.  I bid you good day, Mr. Moseley,’ and Barney was gone.  Being an old, experienced soldier and scout, he played this ruse on Barney to get rid of him.”

Barney O’Neal was listed in the 1850 Federal Census of Union County, S. C.  He was born in Ireland in 1791.  His wife was listed as Nancy, born in 1790, in South Carolina.  They had two children living with them at this time: Elizabeth, born 1827, and Martha, born 1832.

The tooth-pulling instrument that Moseley made in his blacksmith shop can still be seen in the Union County Museum.  He pulled many teeth for his neighbors with this instrument.

Bailey wrote: “He was a good citizen and well thought of by his neighbors.  Henry Fernandis, a man of considerable wealth and influence, joined lands with him.  One day Fernandis and a distinguished friend rode into the ford at Sandy Run and paused to let their horses drink.

Old Hi-ky was secreted in the bushes near-by fishing and overheard their conversation.  Fernandis’ friend commented on the fine bottom lands and inquired if they were his.  Fernandis said that they belonged to Moseley.  ‘It looks like you would want them.’  ‘I had rather have the man than the land,’ replied Fernandis, and ever after that Hi-ky would do anything in his power for him.”

James and his wife, Nancy Anna Jasper, had at least six daughters and three sons; possible an additional unnamed daughter.  Nancy died in 1832.

James Moseley was married a second time to Martha Pickens, daughter of James and Martha ? Pickens.  She had never married but had a child, John, born out of wedlock in 1818.

James Pickens purchased 375 acres from Ephraim Fowler on the waters of Sandy Run, a branch of Pacolet River, on November 2, 1797.  James Moseley, Robert Martin and Joshua Palmer were witnesses to this transaction.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. II, Deed Books G-K, 1800-1811, by Brent Holcomb, p. 221.)

 

John McWhorter of the state of Kentucky, County of Lincoln, sold James Pickens, Martha’s father, 92 acres on waters of Sandy Run of Pacolet River, for 50 pounds, but Pickens was deceased before McWhorter could give him a deed to the property, so the deed was made to Martha, wife of James, and mother of Martha Pickens, on November 10, 1807.  James Moseley and Sherod Jones witnessed the transaction.

(Union County Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, 1811-1820, by Brent Holcomb, pp. 9-10.)

 

James Pickens was born circa 1770, and died in 1807.  Martha Pickens, mother of Mary, Jane, Elizabeth and Martha Pickens, made her will on February 11, 1843, and it was proven by William D. Gault, February 2, 1846.  She died circa 1845.  Date of Martha’s birth is unknown to this writer.

(Union County, South Carolina, Will Abstracts, 1787-1849, Book B, Pp. 382-383, p. 156.)

 

James Moseley and Martha Pickens were married in the John M. Foster house in November of 1833, about 1 and ½ miles from his residence.  The John M. Foster house was on the Tump Smith Road.

(Personal research of Leonarde Andrea, 4204 Devine Street, Columbia, S. C.)

 

Jane Pickens Foster, was the second wife of John M. Foster; Mary Pickens Foster, was the wife of Frederick Foster; Elizabeth Pickens was the wife of Jordan Johnson; and Martha Pickens was the second wife of James Moseley Sr.  They were all sisters and daughters of James and Martha  ? Pickens.

John M. Foster was a brother of Jeremiah, Jared, Thomas, Frederick, Nancy and Martha Foster.  He was born circa 1788, at Grindal Shoals, S. C.

He was a lawyer and was first married to Catherine Adair, daughter of Gov. John and Catherine Palmer Adair.  Gov. Adair was born in Chester, S. C.

On the eastside of Governor John Adair’s monument in Frankfort, Kentucky, are these words: “As a Soldier he entered the Revolutionary Army at the age of seventeen (in S. C.) and served through War, first as a private, afterwards as aide-de-camp to General Sumter.  Moved to Kentucky in 1789.  Participated in Indian Campaigns in 1791-2-4; and the War with Great Britain, 1813-1815.”

“When Colonel Sevier was in need of money for provisioning the expedition to King’s Mountain, John Adair was the entry-taker who furnished the money and whose patriotic reply to Colonel Sevier on his request for the same has gone down in history.”

(Notable Southern Families, Volumes I & II.)

 

John M. and Catherine Adair Foster were married in Mercer County, Kentucky, on February 22, 1814.  She was born July 17, 1792.  They had several children: Catherine Adair Foster (born circa 1815, died unknown); Mary Foster (born 1-24-1818, died 5-18-1871); and Thomas J. Foster (born 10-2-1818—according to tombstone records; possibly erroneous—Federal Census records indicate that he was born in 1820; died 2-22-1888).

Catherine Adair Foster married the Rev. Daniel Lewis Gray on March 6, 1857.  She was his second wife.  His first wife was a ? Boyd, whose mother was a ? Means.

He was born on April 3, 1803, in Abbeville County, S. C., the son of John and Hannah Allen Gray.  He attended Union Academy in Abbeville District and studied under Dr. John S. Read.  In the fall of 1824, he attended Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, graduating in the fall of 1826.

He was licensed to preach in 1828, and called as pastor of the Fairforest Presbyterian Church, Union District, S. C., in June of 1829.  He also served as pastor of the Cane Creek Presbyterian Church in the same district.

He moved to the Western District of Tennessee in 1831, and thence to White River, Arkansas.

He was pastor of the Wattensas Presbyterian Church in Prairie County, Arkansas, when he married Catherine.  He died in Prairie County, Arkansas, after 1866.  Date of the death of his second wife, Catherine, is not known to this writer.

Mary Foster, daughter of John M. and Catherine Adair Foster, married Robert Charles McWhorter, son of James and Winifred Hames McWhirter.  He was born 12-6-1793, and died 3-24-1868.  Mary was born January 24, 1818, and died May 18, 1871.  She was his third wife.

He was first married to Elizabeth (Betsy) Fowler and then to Keziah Fowler, daughters of Godfrey and Nannie Kelly Fowler.  He had three sons and one daugher by his wife, Betsy.  There are no recorded children by his second wife, Keziah.  He had two sons and four daughters by his third wife, Mary Foster.

Charles and Betsy’s son, Shelton, married Jane Moseley, daughter of James and Martha Pickens Moseley.

Charles and Mary were buried in the Bogansville Methodist Church Cemetery in West Springs, S. C.  Their graves are marked.

Thomas J. Foster, son of John M. and Catherine Adair Foster, married Emma Kelly, daughter of Thomas Kelly and his second wife, Mary Hames.  She was born 7-19-1823, and died 6-24-1892.  They had two sons and a daughter.

Thomas was a Confederate Veteran and was a member of the 5^th South Carolina Volunteers.  Emma’s obituary can be found in the book, Union County Death Notices, p. 57.

“Mrs. Emma Foster died at the home of her son, J. H. Foster, in Spartanburg, Thursday, 24 January 1892, from an attack of dysentery.  Her maiden name was KELLY.  She was the widow of Thomas J. Foster, better known by the name of ‘Peter Hawk’.  She was buried the next day at Flat Rock Church (Union County) beside her husband.”  Their graves are marked.

There is a Peter Hawk road today in Union County.  The Tump Smith road runs into the Peter Hawk road.

There is a discrepancy in Thomas J. Foster’s birthdate.  He is listed as 40 in the 1860 Federal Census of Union County, S. C., and if this is correct then he would have been born in 1820 instead of 1818.  Since his sister, Mary, was born in 1818, the 1820 date of birth for Thomas seems more feasible.

Thomas J. Foster’s mother, Catherine, died in 1820, and could have died from complications from the birth of Thomas.  Year of Thomas’ birth listed on his tombstone may be erroneous.

Some databases list Thomas J. as the son of James and Jincy Foster from the Pinckneyville area of Union District.  Mannie Lee Edwards Mabry in her article on the Foster-Singleton Family, pages 87-88, of the Union County, South Carolna, Heritage book states that James and Jincy’s son, Thomas J. Foster, moved to Alabama.

(Union County Cemeteries, Compiled and Edited by Mrs. E. D. Whaley, p. 10 & 45.)

 

John M. moved back to Union District, S. C., and after his first wife, Catherine, died on November 16, 1820, he married Jane Pickens, daughter of James and Martha ? Pickens, circa 1822.  They had children: Nancy Abigail, William A., James, Henry M. and Susan E.

John and Jane’s son, Henry, was killed at Second Manassas, and John’s sister, Nancy, wife of Edmond Hames, lost two grandchildren, John and Charles Hames, in that battle.  They were children of her son, Lemuel and his wife, Nancy Jones Hames.

The story was well written by Alan D. Charles in his Narrative History of Union County, S. C., p. 190:

“Two weeks after Second Manassas, N. B. Eison, home on furlough, took three zinc-lined coffins specially made by John Rogers of Union and traveled from Jonesville, South Carolina, to Manassas Junction by train.

Once there he and a black servant exhumed from shallow battlefield graves the bodies of Eison’s brother’s-in-laws Captain John Hames and (Sergeant) Charles Hames.  Eison’s kinsman, Henry Foster, was also exhumed.

John had bled to death from a thigh wound.   Charles was killed by a shell, and Henry was shot in the stomach.  Eison placed the blanket-wrapped corpses in the coffins and had the coffins soldered shut at Manassas Junction.  The deteriorated remains obviously unviewable, the coffins were not opened on arrival at Jonesville, but were buried with due ceremony in Gilead Cemetery.”

These soldiers have marked graves in the Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery.

Bailey in his, History of Grindal Shoals, page 70, wrote: “He (James Moseley) was an unusually strong and vigorous man and lived to a great age. He was buried down near the river, not far from the mouth of Sandy Run.”   He was a blacksmith, tooth puller and knife maker.

 

Children Of James And Nancy Anna Jasper Moseley

(a). Elizabeth Moseley was born November 30, 1782, in Union District, S. C.  “She was married to Mark Fowler, son of Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler, in 1802, at the home of her parents by a Rev. Wheeler, a Methodist minister.  The preacher had come to visit her father at hog killing time.  Mark was born in May of 1780.

Mark’s father, Ellis, was a Patriot soldier and officer in Virginia during the American Revolutionary War.  He was mustered in at Albemarle Court House.  He moved to South Carolina after the war.

He originally owned 614 acres of land on Sandy Run in the Grindal Shoals community.”  He sold 100 acres of this land to John Kiger, on Jan. 5, 1795.

John Kiger borrowed $74.90 from Martha Pickens on February 20, 1808, and mortgaged this land, one bay mare four years old, one black mare about 8 years old, and one bay horse colt one year old to her on March 25, 1808.  The transaction was witnessed by Henry Farnandis before James Lane, J. P.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book I, p. 467;  History of Grindal Shoals by J. D. Bailey, pp. 34-35; Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, 1785-1800, Brent Holcomb, p.149.)

 

J. D. Bailey in his History of Grindal Shoals, S. C., p. 37, wrote: “Mark Fowler, known as ‘Big Mark’, was probably the second son of Lieut. Ellis Fowler.  He was a soldier in the War of 1812; belonged to Capt. (Samuel) Fawcett’s Company and fought behind the Cotton bales at New Orleans.

Being discharged there, he with his brother, Wymac, walked all the way home.  It is said that he lived in the White Hill section just above Grindal, but after his death, his family moved nearer to Jonesville.  His body is buried in Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery.”  His grave is marked with no dates.

Elizabeth was a member of the Flat Rock Methodist Church for 60 or more years.  She lived to be over one hundred years old.  In an article from the Union Times in 1882, is found the following: “The one hundredth birthday of Mrs. Elizabeth Fowler was celebrated today at her home about one half mile west of this place.

Being anxious to see the old lady I went out this morning to see the female Centenarian and enjoy the grand ovation in honor of her age.  At about eleven o’clock I arrived at the home of Mrs. Fowler, and found a large crowd who had come with baskets and presents for the aged one and take part in the celebration.  The Jonesville Band was present and furnished delightful music, which Mrs. Fowler enjoyed very much.”

J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, p. 37, wrote: “It was the pleasure of the writer to be present at the celebration of her hundredth anniversary.  She was the only woman we ever saw that had witnessed an hundred winters.  As I gazed upon her while sitting by the old fashioned fire-place, she turned her sightless eyes toward a small window and exclaimed: ‘Well, I am a hundred years old today, and if it was the Lord’s will, I would love to live another hundred.’”

An article from the Jonesville Times, issue of April 13, 1883, stated: “Mrs. Elizabeth Fowler, whose maiden name was Moseley, was born Nov. 30, 1782, and died near Jonesville, S. C., March 4, 1883, being one hundred years old.  She retained her mind and was very interested in her conversation to the last.  Her health and strength did not fail her until a very short time before her death.”

They had three sons and five daughters to grow to maturity and three children to die in infancy.  Only two of the children survived their mother: Mrs. Melissa Fowler Horn, wife of Isaac Creighton Horn and Miss Salina Fowler.

Isaac Creighton Horne served with Company B, 18^th South Carolina Volunteer Infantry during the War Between the States.  He was listed as a Confederate Pensioner in Union County, S. C., in 1899.  Melissa died in 1889 and Creighton died in 1904.  They were buried in unmarked graves in the Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: From Here to There, ID: 112915, Isaac Crayton Horn, Contact Rose Parks.)

 

Elizabeth Moseley Fowler had twenty-five grandchildren.  She was buried in an unmarked grave in the Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery.

(b) John Baxter Moseley was born in 1784, in Union District, S. C.  He married Mary Jane Fowler, daughter of Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler, circa 1806.  Mary was born circa 1791.

Ellis Fowler was the son of Godfrey III and Mary  ?  Fowler of Virginia.  He was born in 1746, in Albemarle County, Virginia.  He married Catherine Puckett, daughter of Ephraim and Hannah  ?  Puckett, in 1771, in Albemarle County, Virginia.  She was born in 1747, in the same county.

He was mustered into service at Albemarle County Court House, in 1776, and was made a 1^st Lieutenant in Capt. Charles Sims Company.  He fought through the Revolutionary War in the state of Virginia.

He moved to the Grindal Shoals area of Union District, S. C., right after the war, where he received a grant of 614 acres on Sandy Run Creek on January 7, 1788.  He lived near the James Moseley family.

They had 10 children, seven sons and three daughters.  Three of their children were born in Virginia.  Their daughter, Nancy Keziah, married John Kiger.

His first wife, Catherine, died in 1800, and he married her sister, Mary, in 1803.  Mary was listed as Mary Berry in her father’s will in 1800.  They had no children.

The Reverend J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, S. C., pp. 34-36, wrote: “He (Ellis) was of a large and excellent family, being a descendant of John Fowler, who came to Virginia in 1734 (from England), at the age of twenty four years.

Ellis was a man of powerful stature, great physical endurance, with unflinching courage, of strict integrity, truthfulness, and fidelity in all things confided to his trust.  His complexion was fair, and he had a deep heavy voice.”

Ellis died on January 20, 1808, and was buried in the Joe Kelly Cemetery in Kelton, S. C.  His second wife, Mary, died after 1809.

John Baxter Moseley and his wife, Mary, had at least two known children (possibly other children): (1). Harriet Moseley, born 9-29-1824; died 12-9-1902. (2). Sarah Moseley, born 5-20-1832; died 4-4-1909.  They were buried in the Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery and their graves are marked.

Mary joined the Gilead Baptist Church on May 9, 1841, and her daughter, Harriet, was baptized by the Gilead Baptist Church on October 1, 1852. Sarah married Zachariah Reeves Jr., son of Zachariah Reeves Sr. and Cynthia Hodge Reeves.  Harriet died at the home of her sister, Sarah Moseley Reeves.

John Baxter Moseley was the great, great grandfather of the writer’s wife, Elizabeth Reeves Ivey.  Sarah Moseley Reeves was the great grandmother of the writer’s wife.

John’s wife, Mary, predeceased her husband, dying in the 1840s.   She was probably buried in an unmarked grave in Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery.

John Baxter was married on September 21, 1851, to Mrs. Jane Bonds (born in 1820) by Robert V. Harris, Esquire.  She was his second wife.  John died in May of 1856.

John Baxter Moseley left 16 ½ acres and his home-place to his daughter, Sarah.

(c). Mary Moseley was born in 1785, in Union District, S. C., and  married John Duckworth Long, son of Henry and Ann  ?  Long, circa 1800.  He was born in 1784, in Union District, S. C.

John D. Long Sr. witnessed a deed transaction, in Union District, S. C., 1807, between William Spencer and John Kizer (Kigar) and the transaction was proved before James Lane, J. P. on October 3, 1808.

(Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. II: Deed Books G-K, 1769-1811, Deed Book I, P. 498, p. 207, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

John’s son, John D. Long Jr., was born at Somerset, Kentucky, on February 14, 1811.  So their removal date from Union District, S. C., was between 1808 and 1811.

They moved to within a close proximity of her mother’s brother, Nicholas Jasper, who lived in Somerset, Kentucky.

John D. Long Sr. brought his family back to Union District in South Carolina, before 1820, for he was listed in the Federal Census of that year.  He died in Union District of South Carolina, in 1824, and was buried in this county.

Mary Moseley Long, wife of John D. Long Sr., remained in Union District until at least 1834, when John D.’s father, Henry, died.  Two of Nancy’s children, James and John, were listed as purchasers of items in Henry’s estate.

John D. Long Jr. was interested in marrying Missindy Fowler, so he stayed in Jonesville, S. C., and did not return to Kentucky with his mother and his other brothers and sisters.

Mary Moseley Long died and was buried in Kentucky before 1839, for she was not listed in her father, James Moseley’s will.

John Duckworth Long Jr. married Missindy (Lucinda) Fowler, daughter of Wymac and Susannah Moseley Fowler, his first cousin, in Union District, South Carolina, September 15, 1836.

He fought with W. J. T. Glenn’s Company of Sharpshooters and remained in service for four years during the War Between the States.  He was a Confederate veteran.  He joined the Presbyterian Church in Jonesville, S. C., just before his death.  The Rev. A. A. James was his pastor.

Lucinda Fowler Long died September 3, 1879, and John D. Long Jr. died November 27, 1897.

Mary Jasper Long and John D. Long Sr. had the following children: James, Henry, John D. Jr., Gideon, William, Anne, Mary (Polly), Patricia (Patsy), Patience and America Long.  Most of their children were born in Kentucky.

(d). Nancy Moseley was born in 1786, in Union District, S. C.  She was the second wife of Ephraim Fowler, son of Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler.  The databases list his birthdate as 1784, but this is incorrect.

It appears to this writer that Ephraim’s father, Ellis, was a son of Godfrey Fowler III and Mary ? Fowler, and grandson of Mark and Marjory ? Fowler, and was born in the early 1740s, in Albemarle County, Virginia.  Several birthdates are listed in the databases, but the most likely dates are either 1740 or 1746.

His mother, Catherine Puckett, daughter of Ephraim and Hannah ? Puckett, and granddaughter of Womack and Mabel Walthall Puckett, was born in 1747, in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Ephraim Fowler was named for his grandfather, Ephraim Puckett, and was probably born in the early to mid 1760s.  He may have been the oldest child of his parents.

He and his first wife were listed in the 1790 Federal Census.  He was listed with three white males 16 and upwards, 5 white males under 16 and 2 white females including heads of families.

He was listed in the 1800 Federal Census with 2 males under 10, 1 male 10 to 15, 1 male 26 to 44 (Ephraim), 3 females under 10, 1 female 10-15 and 1 female 26 to 44 (his first wife).

It is apparent that most of his children were born to his first wife (name unknown).

Through the listings in the Federal Census records we can determine that these children of Ephraim were born before 1800: Jasper Fowler, 1780; Lydia Fowler, 1785; Sarah Fowler, 1789, Milly Fowler, 1798.  John Fowler was probably born before 1800, but was not listed in his father’s will, so he must have been deceased before 1822.

Ephraim’s children born in 1800 or afterwards were: Stephen Fowler, 1800; Ellis Fowler, 1803; Betty Fowler, 1805, Mary Fowler, 1809, and Catherine, 1814.

Birthdates of Mary, Elizabeth and Catherine were from the databases and may be erroneous.  Nine of these children are listed in his will in 1822.  Several of his children may have been deceased before his death.

(1). Jasper Fowler, born circa 1780.  He was listed in the 1810 Federal Census with at least three children.  Name of his wife is unknown.  He was listed in the 1820 Federal Census with at least four children and unknown wife.

(2). Lydia Fowler, born circa 1785, married Charles Hames, son of William and Elizabeth Moseley Hames circa 1804.  He was born in 1782, and died October 7, 1847, in Union County, S. C., and Lydia died in Union County, S. C., on March 31, 1852.  They had five sons and six daughters.  Elizabeth, Nancy, Sarah, William, Treacy, Coleman, Cynthia Jeanette, Pressley, Joshua, Franklin and Mary Hames were children of this couple.

(3). Sally (Sarah) Fowler, born in 1789, married John M. Hames, son of William and Elizabeth Moseley Hames.  He was born October 23,  1788, and was a miller.  He died March 26, 1862.  They had one son and four daughters.  Andrew Jackson Hames, Matilda and Zillah were children of this couple.

(4.) John Fowler, date of birth unknown.

(5). Milly (Melinda) Fowler, born 1798, married James Millwood (born 1798, died December 26, 1894).  They were living in the Draytonville Township of Union County, S. C., in 1860, and both died in the area that later became a part of Cherokee County, S. C.  She died September 4, 1894.   Jackson, Tilman, Jefferson, James, Jane and Nancy were their children.

(6). Stephen Fowler, born circa 1800, and married Letitia, born circa 1821, possibly a second wife.  Caroline was born in 1833, and his wife, Letitia, would have been only 12 years old when she was born.  Children of Stephen listed in 1850 Federal Census of Union County, S. C., were: Caroline 17; Susan 15; Louisa 10; Marion 3 (son).

(7). Elizabeth (Betty) Fowler, born circa 1805.

(8). Ellis Fowler, born circa 1807.  He married Sally Clark, daughter of Winnifred ? Clark.  Sally was born circa 1825.  They had children: Elizabeth, Martha, Juliet and Jesse (son) listed in 1850 Federal Census of Union County, SC.

(9). Mary (Polly) Fowler, born circa 1809, married Newton Lipsey.

(10).  Catherine (Katy) Fowler, born circa 1814.

(1850 Federal Census of Union County, South Carolina, published by  Broad River Basin Historical Society, P. O. Box 215, Hickory Grove, S. C. 29717, March 1993, pp. 116, 122, 124, 142, 193.)

There is no record of Ephraim’s first wife’s death or date of his remarriage to Nancy Moseley Fowler.   Ephraim sold land on August 4, 1812, and his wife, Nancy Moseley Fowler, relinquished her dower rights on October 3, 1812, so Ephraim had married Nancy some time before this transaction took place.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project, From Here to There, Contact Rose Parks, Internet; Union County Heritage 1981, Edited by Mannie Lee Mabry, pp. 89-90.)

Ephraim Fowler purchased 100 acres of land on the head of Sandy
Run on February 3, 1790, from Col. Thomas Brandon of Union District, S. C.  This land was adjacent to lands claimed by his father, Ellis Fowler.

(Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, 1752-1800, D, pp. 156-157, p. 162, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

Benjamin Crownover sold 200 acres of land on Little Sandy Run in Union District, S. C., to William Johnstone on March 25, 1791, and Ephraim Fowler witnessed the transaction.

(Union County S. C. Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Books A-F, 1752-1800, B,  Pp. 442-443, p. 94, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

Ephraim was a member of the Grand Jury in Union District, S. C., January 1, 1795.

(Union County SC Minutes of the County Court, 1785-1799, p. 402,  by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

Ellis Fowler sold 100 acres of his 614 acre grant (Jan. 7, 1788) on Sandy Run to his son-in-law, John Kigar, on January 5, 1795.  This property bordered land belonging to Ephraim Fowler.

(Union County SC Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, D, Pp. 40-41, 1752-1800, pp. 149-150, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

On January 15, 1795, David Puckett of Union District, S. C., sold Ephraim Fowler 100 acres of land on waters of Sandy Run.  The transaction was witnessed by Godfrey Fowler and Coleman Fowler.

(Union County SC Deed Abstracts, Vol. I, Deed Books A-F, 1752-1800, D, 151-152, p. 161, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

Graff Edson & Co. brought suit against William Hightower & Ephraim Fowler for indebtedness on January 6, 1795.

(Union County SC, Minutes of the County Court, 1785-1799, p. 410, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

Ephraim served as a member of the Grand Jury in Union District, S. C., on June 1, 1795, and was drawn to serve on the next court on April 1, 1799.

(Union County SC, Minutes of the County Court, 1785-1799, p. 417, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

In 1797, Ephraim Fowler sold William Spencer a tract on Hows branch, waters of Big Sandy Run.

(Union County SC Deed Abstracts, Vol. II, Deed Books G-K, 1769-1811, I, pp. 154-155, p. 165, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

Ephraim Fowler sold a tract to James Pickens on waters of Sandy Run on November 2, 1797.

(Union County Deed Abstracts, Vol. II, Deed Books, G-K, 1769-1811, I, Pp. 590-591, p. 221, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

On November 19, 1810, Ephraim Fowler & Godfrey Fowler sold a “tract whereon Ellis Fowler (their brother) now lives on Little Sandy River (Run) adjacent Mrs. Johnson’s line” to James Gassaway.  This was a tract their father had previously owned before his death.

(Union County Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, 1770-1820, L, Pp. 31-32, p. 5, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

A “tract whereon I now live on waters of Sandy Run” was sold by Ephraim Fowler to James Hill of Lincoln County, N. C., on Aug. 4, 1812.  Nancy Fowler, wife of Ephraim, relinquished her dover rights October 3, 1812, before Joseph Gist, Q. U.

(Union County, South Carolina, Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, 1770-1820, L, Pp. 236-237, p. 32, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

Ephraim Fowler sold the tract of land where “I now live, on head waters of Sandy Run to Henry Gault on July 15, 1816.”  Nancy (Moseley) Fowler, wife of Ephraim, relinquished her dower rights on August 10, 1816.

(Union County S. C. Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, N, Pp. 227-228, p. 133, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

Ephraim Fowler wrote his will on February 8, 1822, and it was recorded May 6, 1822.  He died between these two dates.

The day he wrote his will he sold his son, Jasper Fowler, 50 acres of land adjacent to lands owned by John Gwinn, John Fowler, John B. Haney and William Gault.

(Union County Deed Abstracts, Vol. IV, Deed Books, Q-S, 1770-1828, R, Pp. 98-99, p. 75, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

In his will he left his sons, Stephen and Ellis, a tract of land where he lived, containing 300 acres.  He left his wife, Nancy, a Negro woman, Dorcas, during her widowhood.  Betty was left a Negro girl, Jane, a feather bed, cow and calf.

Rest of his estate he left to children: Jasper, Lydia, Sally, Polly, Stephen, Milly, Caty and Ellis.  If her husband, Charles Hames, would pay $300.00, Lydia was to receive 300 acres.

If her husband, John Hames, would pay $600.00, Sally and her children were to receive 107 acres called the Warwick place (except the house on the north side of Fanning’s Creek).  Coleman Fowler and Samuel Moseley were executors of his will.

 

COLEMAN FOWLER

Coleman Fowler was a very close relative of Ellis Fowler and of his children.  He, however, was not the son of Godfrey and Nannie Kelly Fowler as some databases have stipulated.

It is difficult to link him with the family even though it is known that he came with Ellis Fowler and his family to the Grindal Shoals area of South Carolina, right after the Revolutionary War.  He had a special relationship with his relative, Ephraim Fowler.

He was born circa 1774, in Virginia.  He married Ellender McWhirter, daughter of Robert and Sarah ? McWhirter, circa 1794.  The McWhirters were from Albemarle County, Virginia.

He was a farmer and Methodist preacher.  He was mentioned in the Methodist Journals of Enoree Circuit as early as 1805.  At that time his minister’s license was renewed to preach and exhort (evangelize).

In 1810, “a charge was brought against Coleman Fowler for proposing to go away with Hannah Briggs to the western country, and to which he was sentenced by a Committee.  The Quarterly Meeting confirmed The Sentence by a large majority.”

The 1810 Federal Census showed him livng next to John Briggs, and in 1832, he sold land to James Briggs (son of John).  Methodist records in 1813, 1818 and 1828, list him as a lay leader.  By 1834, he moved to the Pickens District of South Carolina.

From 1834 to 1844, he was shown in the records for Pickens Circuit, Methodist Episcopal Church, Hoston Conference.  This conference was transferred to South Carolina at this same time.

In 1834, “Foullers House” was established and Coleman was listed as an exhorter (evangelist).  He gave land for and helped build one of the first churches in Oconee County on Choestoe Creek.

In 1839, the name was changed to Salem Methodist Church and records show that two of Coleman’s grandchildren were baptized (William Carlile Fowler, son of Obediah and Polly Fowler; and Leonard Douty Fowler, son of Sarah Fowler).

His son, Obediah Fowler, was listed as one of the first trustees.  Records indicate that Coleman served as one of the early pastors of Hopewell Methodist Church near Westminister (orginally called Liles Church).

His wife, Ellender, died in 1841, and he died circa 1855.   He and his wife had four sons and one daughter.  He was buried on the Sloan Dickens farm.

(Union County SC Will Abstracts, Will Book B, Pp. 71-72, p.107, by Brent H. Holcomb; RootsWeb’s World Connect Project: David S. Payne Genealogy, Coleman Fowler, ID: 111865, David S. Payne.)

(The Fowler Family of Oconee and Union Counties, South Carolina, by William A. Lyles, Modified on March 19, 2000, Internet.)

 

Nancy Moseley Fowler’s Life After The Death Of Ephraim

Nancy’s husband left her no money and no land in his will.

Databases on the Internet suggest that Jared Foster, son of John and Mary McElfresh Foster, married Nancy after the death of her husband, Ephraim.  This data is inaccurate.

Nancy Moseley Fowler was not married to Jared Foster or she would have been censused as Nancy Fowler Foster when the 1830 Federal Census of Union County, S. C., was taken.

Jared Foster, born circa 1795, was possibly married circa 1821, to a daughter of James Moseley, since he was not in the 1820 Federal Census of Union District, S. C.  He had two sons that were born in the 1820s.

These two sons were listed in the 1830 Federal Census of McMinn County, Tennessee, as: one male between 10 and 15, and one male between 5 and 10.  His wife (name unknown) was probably deceased by 1825-26.

Jared’s sons were living with their father in 1830.  If they had been his sons by Nancy Moseley Fowler, she would have been reluctant to allow them to live with him while she was still living.  Jared was living with Nancy’s sister, Dorcas, when the 1830 Federal Census  was taken.

In an Internet article entitled: Who Killed John Bass Jones?—Part 2: The Odyssey of Mrs. Ady is found the following: John Foster was born in 1823, in South Carolina, and the boy with an unknown name was born in South Carolina, in 1825.  These were Jared’s children by his first wife.  This information was taken from the Cunningham/ Webster Family Tree on Ancestry.com.

John Foster, son of Jared Foster, married Jane ?  , and was living with her when the 1850 Federal Census of Jasper County, Missouri, was taken.  This census states that he was born circa 1822, and Jane was born in 1830.  They had three children listed in this census: Zachary, Mary and Martha.

Jane died, and he married Julia Ann Margraves, widow of Thomas W. Coffelt, on February 9, 1860, in Jasper County, Mo.  She was the daughter of Anthony Margraves and his wife, Ruth Simpson Margraves.  She died in Jasper County in 1864, and her husband, John, died in Jasper County, Missouri, after 1870.

Julia Ann first married Thomas W. Coffelt, son of Jacob and Susannah Wyatt Coffelt, on May 3, 1844, in Osage County, Mo.  They had two sons and three daughters.  He died circa 1856.

Nancy Moseley was listed as Nancy Fowler in the 1830 Federal Census of Union County, S. C.  Her household included: 2 males under five years, 1 between 20 and 30; 1 female under five years, 1 between 20 and 30; 1 between 50 and 60 (Nancy).

Nancy was a widow at this time, and she was probably living with one of her married children, which included the husband, wife and three grandchildren.

Benjamin Hodge’s Federal Census records in Union County, S. C., 1830, list: 2 males 5 under 10; 1 male between 10 and 15; 1 male between 15 and 20; 1 male between 30 and 40 (Benjamin); 3 females under 5.

Dorcas, Nancy’s sister, left her husband, Benjamin Hodge, and moved to Tennessee with Jared Foster circa 1827-28 and became his common law wife.

Benjamin Hodge and Nancy Fowler were living together some time after the 1830 census was taken.  They had a son, Jasper Hodge, born in 1831, in Union County, S. C., when Nancy was 44 or 45 years old.  She was Benjamin’s common law wife.

Benjamin and Nancy may have moved to Tennessee on or before 1840, for there is a Benjamin Hodges listed in the 1840 Federal Census of Bradley County, Tennessee.

Benjamin and Nancy were living in Ozark County, Missouri, when the 1850 Federal Census was taken.  Their son, Jasper, was living with them at this time and was age 19.

Benjamin was listed in the 1860 Federal Census of Douglas County, Missouri.  His son was not living with him at this time.  Nancy died in Ozark County, Missouri, in 1854, and Benjamin died in Douglas County, Missouri, in the 1860s.

(e). James Thomas Moseley Jr. was born in 1790, in Union District, S. C.  He married Lydia Crocker of Spartanburg County, S. C. She was the daughter of Arthur Crocker Jr. and his wife, Dorcas Poole.  She was born in 1792, and was the granddaughter of Arthur Crocker Sr. and his wife, Mary Ann Bryant.

Some sources indicate that James was a soldier in the War of 1812.

They had six children:

(1). James Thomas Moseley, born February 11, 1817.  He married Fannie Mariah Foster in 1840.  She was born June 1, 1825.  He died March 31, 1898, in Union County, S. C., and she died October 11, 1906.  They had four sons and three daughters.  They were buried in the Corinth Baptist Church Cemetery, Cherokee County, S. C.

(2). Arthur Moseley, born circa 1819.

(3). William Baxter Moseley, born circa 1822.  He married Nancy Newberry, born circa 1830, daughter of Henry Hahn and Linda Harris Newberry.  He and his wife had two sons and a daughter.

He was a Confederate soldier and was enlisted August 29, 1861, at Union, S. C., by Capt. C. W. Boyd, in the 15^th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers.  He was killed and left on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pa., on July 2, 1863.

Nancy was living in Union County, S. C., when the 1880 Federal Census was taken.  Her mother, Malinda, and her son, Franklin, were living with her at this time.  One source states that she moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where she applied for and received a widow’s pension.

According to tradition, Malinda Harris Newberry’s husband, Henry, was the grandson of the woman of that name made famous by the novel, Horse Shoe Robinson, who aided in the capture of 9 soldiers.

(4). Terrell Moseley, born circa 1825, and married Elizabeth ?  in 1849.  She was born circa 1820.

(5).  Dorcas Moseley, born circa 1827.

(6). Jane Moseley, born circa 1830.

James Thomas Moseley Jr. died in 1839, and Lydia Crocker Moseley died in 1859.

(Compilation of Moseley Material in Spartanburg Library; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: The Medders Family Tree, Nancy Newberry, ID: 123784, Richard Medders; RootsWeb’s; WorldConnect Project: A few family lines in my file, Henry H. Newberry, ID: 145602, Johnny;)

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: From Here to There, Fannie Mariah Foster, ID: 112971, Rose Parks; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: SafeBulletin-Board, James Thomas Moseley Jr., ID: 11147, Terrell Moseley, ID: 12329, Warren Forsythe;)

(f). Susannah Moseley was born August 10, 1792.  She married Wymac Fowler, son of Lt. Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler, on February 7, 1808.  He was born February 3, 1785.

J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, p. 36, wrote: “Wymac was a soldier in the War of 1812.  He belonged to Capt. (Samuel) Fawcett’s Company, which was organized and camped for a while at Lipsey’s Old Field near Adamsburg (Union County, S. C.)

He fought under Gen. Andrew Jackson at New Orleans and after that memorable victory was honorably discharged and walked all the way back to his home in South Carolina.  There is a family tradition that on this return trip, he in company with his brother, Mark, and some others, left Columbia, S. C., late one evening and all ate breakfast at home near Jonesville the next morning.

He was a stone mason by trade, and helped to do the stone work on the old Courthouse at Union, S. C., which was demolished some years ago.  It is said that the key-stone of the arch at the entrance was fitted and put there by his hands.”  They had four sons and four daughters.

Their daughter, Missindy, married John D. Long Jr., son of John D. Long Sr. and his wife, Mary Moseley Long.

Wymac died August 2, 1849.  He was buried in the Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery, Jonesville, S. C.  His stone has no dates.  Susan

nah died May 27, 1887, and was buried at Gilead in an unmarked grave.

(The Legacy of Father James H. Saye, 1808-1892, Edited by Robert J. Stevens, p. 406.)

 

(g).  Rhoda Moseley was born in 1796, in Union District, S. C.  She married William Fowler, son of Godfrey and Nancy Kelly Fowler, circa 1818.  Godfrey was the son of Lt. Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler.

William Fowler was born in 1795, in Union District, S. C.   This couple had no children listed in the databases.

William died after 1850, in Union District, S. C., and Rhoda died in Jonesville, S. C., after 1870.

(h). William Tracy Moseley was born in 1798, in Union District, S. C.  He died after 1854, in Union District, S. C.  He apparently never married.  He was still living when Jane Pickens Foster made her statement March 3, 1855.

(i). Dorcas Moseley was born in 1801, in Union District, S. C.  She married Benjamin (Berry) Hodge, son of John Hodge.  He was born in 1796, in Union District, S. C.  Name of his mother is not known. She died when her children were very young.

His grandparents were William Hodge Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Cook Hodge.  They came to the Grindal Shoals, S. C., area from York County, Pennsylvania, with William’s widowed mother, Margaret Cook Hodge (wife of William Hodge Sr.), and Elizabeth’s mother, Sarah Fulton Cook (widow of John Cook).  Margaret had two children and Sarah had seven.

On August 27, 1784, John Hodge and John Grindal appeared before J. Thompson, J. P., and “stated that they saw John Beckham of Ninety Six District in the year 1775 or 1776, deliver to William Hodge of Pacolet River, a lease and release for 400 acres, being the plantation on which said William Hodge now lives.”  Records were destroyed when Tarleton burned his house and new records had to be established.

(Union County, S. C., Miscellaneous Record Book 1 & 2, pp. 137-138, Recorded September 3, 1792.)

 

William Hodge Jr. was a Patriot soldier during the Revolutionary War.  William Jr. and Elizabeth Cook Hodge’s daughter, Margaret, married Capt. Alexander Chesney, noted Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War.  Alexander and Margaret were married on January 3, 1780.

(History of Grindal Shoals by J. D. Bailey, p. 54; Journal of Capt. Alexander Chesney, Edited by Bobby Gilmer Moss, p. 17.)

 

Adam Goudelock

Adam Goudelock was a neighbor and friend of William Hodge Jr.  He

was the son of William and Anne Duncan Goudelock, and his wife, Hannah Stockton, daughter of Davis and Sarah Anthony Goudelock Stockton.  He and his family moved to the Carroll Shoals (later Grindal Shoals) area from Rock Fish, Albemarle County, Virginia, circa 1765.

He had served in a company of rangers in guarding the frontiers of the colony against the Indians in 1756-1757 (French and Indian War).  He owned 1400 acres of land in that area and sold the last of his Virginia property in September of 1764.

(Adam & Hannah Goudelock by Daniel S. Goudelock—GenCircles.)

 

His historic cabin in Cherokee County, S. C., was moved in recent years from near the Goudelock Family Cemetery on Splawn Road to the back of the Elijah Dawkins (Goudelock) house.  The present owner of the cabin and Dawkins house is Jim Poole.

There is an article about Sallie Goudelock in Bailey’s History of Grindal Shoals, pp. 40-41: “She had known many notable characters of the times, both Whig, British and Tory, for her father was a lame man, a non-combatant; so it followed, his house was frequented by all parties.

She had visited Morgan (General Daniel) at his camp at Grindal ford, in company with her father and sister, and was escorted home by Col. William Washington and Col. Howard (John Eager).”  The girls were not married nor were the officers, so one can imagine that the officers and girls had a good time at the old Goudelock cabin.”

In his will, Adam Goudelock requested that four Bibles be purchased at Charleston, S. C., and given to his daughters, Ann Saffold, Elizabeth Johnson, Prudence Stockton and Hannah Blakey.

(Union County Will Abstracts, 1787-1849, by Brent Howard Holcomb, pp. 36-37).

 

J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, pp. 54-55, wrote: “After the battle of Blackstock in November, 1780, (Gen. Thomas) Sumter retreated towards King’s Mountain by way of Grindal Shoals.”

The wounded General Thomas Sumter was taken to the Adam Goudelock house at Grindal Shoals, S. C., where a doctor gave him a sedative and dressed his shoulder.

(Gamecock, The Life and Campaigns of General Thomas Sumter by Robert D. Bass, p. 108.)

 

The Henry Smith Family Of Smith Ford

Jonathan and Henry Smith Jr., sons of Henry and Amelia Hampton Smith, guided the soldiers, who were protecting the wounded Sumter from the Goudelock cabin to their father, Henry Smith Sr.’s cabin at Smith’s Ford, where he stayed for three days until he was able to travel.

(Virginia Family Group Sheet for the Henry Smith Family—Internet.)

Jonathan and Henry fought under Sumter at the Battle of Blackstocks.  Their grandfather, Capt. John Smith, a British office, was captured in the Massacre at Fort Vause (French and Indian War) on June 25, 1756, and two of his sons, John and Joseph, lost their lives in the fray.

(Massacre at Fort Vause, Augusta County, Virginia, Genealogy—Internet; Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, p. 878, by Dr. Bobby Moss.)

 

Sumter was taken from Smith’s Ford to Col. Samuel Watson’s home on Sugar Creek.  Robert D. Bass, in his book, Gamecock, p. 112, wrote: “Soldier Tom waited on him and the militia of the New Acquisition stood guard, and the Gamecock passed the crisis.”

All of the sons of Henry and Amelia Hampton Smith were Patriot soldiers in the American Revolutionary War and at least two were officers, Abraham and Gideon.  Their son, Daniel, was killed at the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779, and their son, Gideon, was wounded in this battle.  Henry, Jr. was “appointed to serve his brother, Daniel, until he died in ‘Old Barracks Hospital’ in Charleston, S. C.”

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Brian Liedtke’s Family 18—Gideon Smiith–Internet; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: This Is The New Tree of George Moss 8-8-2009—Abraham Smith–Internet; Southern Campaign American Revolutionary Pennsion Statements & Rosters–Henry Smith.  Transcribed by R. Neil Vance, W2183–Internet.)

 

Gideon died before August 23, 1783, from wounds received in one of the battles in which he was engaged.  Henry Sr.’s son, Henry Jr., was General Daniel Morgan’s pilot and led the General to the Pacolet River where Morgan and his men established an encampment at Grindal Shoals on December 25, 1780.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Brian Liedke’s Family 18—Gideon Smith–Internet; Pension Application of Henry Smith, W 2183–Internet.)

 

COL. BANASTRE TARLETON

J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, p. 54, wrote: “Tarleton (Col. Banastre) followed in pursuit (of the wounded General Sumter) and encamped for a night at the house of Jack Beckham on Sandy Run.”

“When Tarleton encamped at the Beckham home, Mrs. Beckham first saw him while standing in the yard ordering his men to catch her poultry for supper.  She spoke civilly to him and hastened to prepare supper for him and his suite, as if they had been honored guests.

When about to leave in the morning he gave the house up to pillage, and ordered it to be burnt; but because of her earnest remonstrances, he recalled the order.”

(History of Grindal Shoals by J. D. Bailey, p. 25.)

 

“He (Tarleton) took all the bedding, except one quilt, and soon afterwards, a party of tories came and took that; hence when the war was over, he (Beckam) had little, or nothing left.”  (History of Grindal Shoals by J. D. Bailey, p. 24.)

“The next morning a little after sunrise he (Tarleton) and his army came to Hodge’s house and made him a prisoner.  His provisions and provender were seized, his stock shot down, and his house and fences burned to the ground.

On pages 54-55, Bailey wrote: “Jack Beckham, the noted scout, was sitting on his horse eating breakfast from a window (at William Hodges) when Tarleton came up.  Dashing off towards the (Pacolet) river he eluded his pursuers by plunging over a precipice and swimming the stream.”

John H. Logan, in his History of the Upper Country of South Carolina, p. 39, wrote: “He (Beckham) survived the war and lies buried on Hodge’s Plantation.”  This was where Beckham first lived when he moved to Carroll Shoals (later Grindal Shoals).

“When starting off, Tarleton told Mrs. Hodge that her husband should be hung to the first crooked tree on the road, but instead of hanging him, he was carried to Camden where he was put in prison and came near starving to death.

He was taken prisoner in November 1780, and did not escape from prison until April 1781, when Hodge with Daniel McJunkin and some others, succeeded in cutting the grating out of the prison widows and made their escape.”

(History of Grindal Shoals, by J. D. Bailey, pp. 54-55.)

 

William Hodge And His Three Sons, All Patriot Soldiers

During William Hodge Jr.’s imprisonment, the Battle of Cowpens was fought with three of his sons participating in the American service during the battle: William, John and Samuel.

J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, on page 57, wrote: “Samuel was at the battle of Cowpens, and it is said that he fought a hand to hand battle. The powder-horn that he carried on that occasion is still in the hands of one of his descendants, and has a rough plan of the battle carved on it.”

In his pension statement (November 20, 1832, Madison County, Georgia—W4233), William Hodge III wrote: “On the 16^th Capt. (John) Thompson and his company joined (Gen. Daniel) Morgan, marched up to the Cowpens near the line of North Carolina, and there prepared for battle.

On the 17^th we had an engagement where Col. (William) Washington & a few of us run the British to old Gandilocks (Adam Goudelock’s) & then returned back to Morgan.”  They were chasing Banastre Tarleton after the Battle of Cowpens.

J. D. Bailey, in his History of Grindal Shoals, p. 39, wrote: “At the time of the Revolution (Adam) Goudelock was too old and infirm to take any active part in that struggle, but was a Whig sympathizer.  Tarleton being defeated and routed at the Cowpens, with a few, horsemen, was fleeing with all possible haste to Cornwallis’ camp on Turkey Creek in York District for safety.

Not being acquainted with the country, he stopped at Goudelock’s and forced the old man (Adam) to go along with him as a pilot to Hamilton’s Ford on Broad River.  A few minutes after Tarleton’s departure, Col. (William) Washington and a squad of his cavalry came dashing up in hot pursuit.

He asked Hannah how long Tarleton had been gone.  Fear for the safety of her husband, in case the pursuit was continued, got the better of her patriotism, and she replied: ‘Almost three hours’.  This answer caused Washington to give up the chase and return to Cowpens.”

William Hodge III fought with Capt. John Thompson and Col. Thomas Brandon’s Regiment at Cowpens.

(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Moss, p. 451.)

 

John Hodge, father of Benjamin Berry Hodge, was apparently William Hodge’s twin brother.  They were born April 1, 1762.

John, in his pension statement (October 11, 1832, Union District, S. C.–S21825), wrote: “I was at the Battle of Cowpens.”

John Hodge joined the First Spartan Regiment in 1776, and fought in the Cherokee Indian Expedition under Col. John Thomas and Capt. Zachariah Bullock, joining forces under General Andrew Williamson.

He was probably recruited by Capt. Zachariah Bullock, who lived very close to him.

(The Spartan Regiment of Militia, established September of 1775, Col. John Thomas, Sr. Commander—Internet.)

 

After this, for three or four weeks, he was stationed at Grindal Shoals, building and guarding a fort.

Following the Battle of Kings Mountain, in the latter part of October in 1780, he joined the Second Regiment under Col. Thomas Brandon and fought under Lt. Col. William Farr, Capt. John Thomson and Lt. Francis Lattimore.

He fought under General Thomas Sumter at the Battle of Blackstock’s on November 29, 1780.

In December of 1780, he joined with General Daniel Morgan’s forces at Grindal Shoals, and while bivouaced there fought under Col. William Washington at the Battle of Hammond’s Store.

John Hodge fought in the Battle of Cowpens and afterwards spent time guarding prisoners and the baggage wagons.  He guarded prisoners under Capt. John Thomson at the Block House and Neal’s Mill.

(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, pp. 450-451.)

 

John began receiving a pension in Union District, S. C., on October 11, 1832, at the age of 70.

James Moseley Sr. witnessed his application.  “He stated that he had seen John Hodge guarding prisoners at the Block House on Fairforest Creek in Union District, S. C., during the war, and that he had good reason to believe that John was engaged in the American service during the Battle of Cowpens.”

William Jr. gave his sons John, Samuel and William, 400 acres of his land on January 8, 1787.  The transaction was proved by Mesheck Inman on March 22, 1790.  This was the land he purchased from John Beckham.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. II, Deed Books G-K, Deed Book H, Pp. 24-25, p.63, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

William Hodge Jr. sold 100 acres on the north side of Pacolet River on February 25, 1811, to Henry Crittendon, and Elizabeth, his wife, signed her right of dower.  Elizabeth died while they were living in Union District, S. C.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. III, Deed Books L-P, 1811-1820 Deed Book L, Pp. 69-70, p.11, by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

He sold his remaining lands to his three sons in 1820 and 1821 before moving to Georgia.  A part of this land had originally been granted to Joab Mitchell.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. IV, Deed Books, Q-S, Pp. 17, 31, 54 by Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

“For and in consideration of the great care and attention paid me in my infirm state & in which I have been for many years, to my son, William Hodge Junr., all the horses, cows, hoggs & other stock, as well as household & kitchen furniture, carpenter and joiners tools.”

(Union County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Vol. IV: Deed Books Q-S, 1779-1828, Book Q, P. 403, p. 54, Brent H. Holcomb.)

 

William Jr. moved to Madison County, Georgia, in 1822, and lived with his son, William III and his wife, Anne Saye Hodge.  William Jr. died in Madison County, Georgia, in June of 1830.  William III died in Madison County on December 19, 1836, and his wife, Anne, died there May 25, 1840.

(RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Petree and Associated Families, ID: 11446, 11447, William and Anne Lay Saye Hodge, Contact: Aleta Jean Pope Hudson, Internet.)

 

John Hodge died circa 1835, and was probably buried in an unmarked grave in the Hodge Family Cemetery, Union County, S. C.

To find the location of the cemetery one must travel 2.5 miles on the Jerusalem Road toward Pacolet, S.C., and turn right on Country Side Drive.  The cemetery is .4 of a mile on the right.

(John Hodge, Family of Sherry Ford, GenCircles—Internet.)

 

A few databases list Henry Hodge as the son of Benjamin, but this is incorrect.  Henry Hodge was a son of John Jackson Hodge and his wife, Martha (Patsy) Fowler, daughter of Wymac Fowler and Susannah Moseley.  His grandparents were Samuel Hodge and Martha Wright Hodge.

Benjamin Hodge was listed in the 1820 Federal Census with: 3 males under 10; 1 male 16-25 (Benjamin); 2 females under 10; and 1 female 16-25 (his wife).

If all of the above children belonged to Benjamin, he may have had a previous marriage.  His wife, Dorcas, was not born until 1801.

Dorcas and Benjamin had a daughter, Sarah, born October 11, 1826.

Dorcas left Benjamin, her husband, and moved to Bradley County, Tennessee, with Jared Foster, circa 1827 or 1828, thus leaving Benjamin with a small child.

The writer believes that Cynthia Hodge Reeves, wife of Zachariah Reeves, and sister of Benjamin, raised Sarah.  Sarah did not move with her father when he left the area, perhaps in the latter 1830s.

Sarah married Isaac Haile, son of John and Rachel Harris Haile, and grandson of Capt. John Haile and Ruth Henderson Haile.  He was born August 17, 1818, in Union County, S. C.  Sarah was living with the Reeves family at the time of her marriage.

Out of appreciation for what his wife’s aunt and uncle had done for Sarah, Isaac Haile, on September 8, 1858, gave 50 acres of land to Zachariah and his wife, Cynthia Hodge Reeves, with the understanding that the land was to belong to their children after this couple’s death.  Isaac and Sarah were residents of Texas at this time.

Isaac died on March 3, 1892, and Sarah died January 23, 1906.  They were buried in Hoover’s Valley Cemetery, Burnet County, Texas.

When his father and mother died, Zachariah Reeves Jr. purchased the 50 acres of land from his sisters.

(Internet—Re: Isaac S. Haile—S. C. to Llano TXpre 1860; Roots Web’s WorldConnect Project: ID: 12121, Contact Mark; Isaac Haile—Ancestry.com; Union County Heritage 1981, Mannie Lee Mabry, Editor, p. 233.)

 

After moving with Dorcas to Tennessee, Jared Foster fought in Elliott’s Company with the Tennessee Militia in the Cherokee War at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, April 2, 1838.  They captured 45 Indians.

Jared and Dorcas were living together in Bradley County, Tennessee, when the 1840 Federal Census was taken.  She had four children at this time by Jared from 1828 to 1840: Lucinda J., born in 1828; Sarah, born in 1830; Martha E., born in 1836; and Elizabeth born in 1840.

He was granted land in Jasper County, Missouri, for services rendered during the Indian War, and moved his family to Missouri in 1846-47.

When the 1850 Federal Census was taken, they were living in Jasper County, Missouri, in Jackson Township.  They had two additional children: Andrew Jackson, born in 1842, and Francis Marion, born in 1846.

Jared and Dorcas were still living in Jasper County, Missouri, Jackson Township, when the 1860 Federal Census was taken.  Three of their children were living with them at this time: Elizabeth, age 20; Andrew Jackson, age 18; and Francis Marion, age 14.

Jared, Dorcas and their sons, Andrew Jackson Foster and Frances Marion Foster were living in Kansas when the 1865 Kansas State Census was taken.  Dorcas died in Kansas after 1865.

Jared was living in Montgomery County, Kansas, with his youngest son, Francis Marion Foster, when the 1875 Kansas Territorial Census was taken.  He is thought to have died in Montgomery County, Kansas, after 1875, where he was buried.

Greg Foster, of Canada, indicated to the writer, that “on the papers that his great grandfather, Andrew J. Foster, signed to enter an Old Soldiers Home, he listed his father as Jared Foster and his mother as Dorcas Moseley.”

All of the databases state that Jared Foster was married to two of James Moseley’s daughters, Nancy and Dorcas, but this is inaccurate.  He was not married to Nancy, and Dorcas was his common law wife.  It is possible that Jared’s first wife (name unknown) was a daughter of James Moseley.

At least a part of Jared’s children were included in James (High Key) Moseley’s will.

Andrew Jackson Foster, son of Jared and Dorcas, fought as a Union soldier in the 2^nd Kansas Battery of Light Artillery during the War Between the States.  (Greg Foster’s notes.)

(j). Daughter possibly born circa 1803 or before.  Her name is unknown.  She is believed to have married Jared Foster circa 1821.  Leonardo Andrea in his research of 1965, sought to make a list of James Moseley’s children.  In his list he refered to “the deceased wife of Jared Foster”, thus indicating that she had died before her father’s death.

 

Child Of James And Martha Pickens Moseley, Jane Moseley

(k). Jane Moseley was born December 31, 1835, in Union District, S. C., and was the only child of James and Martha Pickens Moseley.  James was 79 years old and Martha was about 40 years old when their daughter was born.  Martha died suddenly October 2, 1839,  and James Moseley died May 19, 1840.  Their daughter was only five years old when her father died.

She married James Shelton McWhorter, son of Robert Charles and Kezia Elizabeth Fowler McWhorter, on July 16, 1850, in Union District, S. C.  He was born March 15, 1823, in Union District, S. C.  They were married and living with his parents when the 1850 Federal Census was taken.

Robert Charles McWhorter was the son of James Robert McWhorter and his wife, Winifred Hames McWhorter.  Kezia Elizabeth Fowler was the daughter of Godfrey and Nancy Kelly Fowler.

Jane and Shelton had seven sons and one daughter all born in Union District, S. C.

“On April 29, 1856, Jane McWhorter in Union District, S. C., (formerly Jane Moseley) filed an affidavit stating that she is the daughter and only minor child of James Moseley, a revolutionary war pensioner of the United States; that she was born at her father’s residence in Union District on the 31^st day of December 1835;

And was married to her husband, Shelton McWhorter, on the 16^th day of July 1850; that her father died at his residence in Union District on May 19, 1840, and left no widow, her mother (Martha Pickens Moseley) having died about the 2^nd day of October 1839; she made this affidavit in pursuance of her claim for a bounty land entitlement.”

Testimony received in Jane’s request for bounty land:

“John Foster and his wife, Jane Foster, stated that James Moseley resided within 1 ½ miles of their home.

Mrs. Jane Foster, the wife of J. M. Foster on 3 March 1855, testified that she was a full sister of Martha Pickens, who married James Moseley as his 2^nd wife, and that James Moseley and Martha Pickens were married in the Foster home in the fall of 1829 (1833), she thinks.

Martha Pickens Moseley had been married once before, and by her 1^st marriage had a son named John Pickens and that John Pickens was a small boy (15 years old) when his mother married James Moseley, and that John Pickens lived with Mr. Moseley until his mother died.”

(Part of this sworn statement was erroraneous.  Martha Pickens had the child, John Pickens, out-of-wedlock.  She had never been married.  James Moseley, in his will, stipulates that John Pickens was born out-of-wedlock.)

 

“Mrs. Jane Foster testified 31 March 1855, that James Moseley was married before and that by his first wife he had several children and the youngest child by the first wife is now past the age of 45 years.  Some of the children by the first wife are dead.

These are still alive however:  William Moseley; Elizabeth (the wife of Mark Fowler); Wymac Fowler is a son-in-law (He was deceased, but his wife, Susannah was still living); John B. Moseley; the wife of Berry (Benjamin) Hodge (Nancy, common law wife); Rhoda Fowler; Jared  Foster (and his common law wife Dorcas); were still living.

John Pickens stated that he was the legal guardian of his half sister, Jane Moseley (daughter of James Moseley by 2^nd wife, Martha Pickens), and served as her guardian until she married Shelton McWhirter.  The land warrant as a Revolutionary Bounty was issued to Jane Moseley, now the wife of Shelton McWhirter of York County, S. C.”

(Pension statement of James Moseley—S9421.)

 

Shelton and Jane moved with five of their eight children to Hunt County, Texas, in 1875.  They lived six and one half miles southeast of Wolfe City, Texas.  He was a farmer and a rancher.

He died July 1, 1892, in Hunt County, Texas, from a stroke of paralysis, and Jane died in 1900, while living in Hunt County.  They were buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery, South Sulphur, Hunt County, Texas.  Shelton and his wife, Jane, were Methodists.

Shelton, his sons and many of his grandsons belonged to the Masonic Order.  His daughter, Janie, was an Eastern Star.

(k). John Wylie Pickens (out of wedlock child of Martha Pickens, and James Moseley’s stepson) was born on January 7, 1818, in Union District, S. C.

He was twenty-one years of age when his stepfather, James Moseley, died.  He was unmarried, but about seven months later he married Elvira McWhirter, daughter of John Allen and Mary Fowler McWhirter, December 24, 1840, in Union District.  She was born in 1824.

She was the granddaughter of James Robin McWhirter Sr. and his wife, Winifred Hames, and granddaughter of Godfrey and Nannie Kelly Fowler.

She died February 7, 1848, and was buried in the Kelly Cemetery in Union County, S. C.   He and Elvira had three daughters.  She was his first wife.

He next married Nancy Shell.  She was born circa 1819, and married John Pickens before 1850, for she was listed as his wife in the 1850 Federal Census of that year.  They had two sons and two daughters.

His third wife was Nancy Barnette from Spartanburg County, S. C.  She was born in December of 1828, and died the night of December 31, 1903, of cancer.

John Wylie Pickens died at the home of his daughter, Hattie Harmon, wife of Golden Harmon, on April 7, 1909, after a long illness.  Services were held at the New Hope Methodist Church in Jonesville, S. C.

Abstract of James Moseley’s Will

He wrote his will on October 4, 1839.  He left his youngest child, Jane, “the land whereon I now live known as the Home Place.”  He left half the land he received from his late wife, Martha, to John Pickens, her out of wedlock son.

“Since my last wife, Martha, inherited a considerable estate from her father, and Martha died some six months ago, she and I planned to make a deed of one half of her estate to her son, JOHN PICKENS, which she had before she married me.”

He left his son, John Baxter Moseley, “the tract known as the Berry tract, 100 acres except 15 acres where William Fowler now lives”.  He left his son-in-law, Mark Fowler, “the tract whereon said Mark Fowler now lives, 50 acres”.

He left his daughter, Rhoda Fowler, “tract whereon she now lives”.

He left his son-in-law, Womack Fowler, “all of my blacksmith tools”.

He stated that his son-in-law, Berry (Benjamin) Hodge “has been provided for and has demeaned himself unkindly to me.  I give him one shilling.”

He stated that his deceased son, James, has “all ready been given all that I am able to do”.  “I give to each of his children one shilling.”  I give to “Jared Foster’s children one shilling”.  He gave “to his son, William, the old rifle”.  He left his son, John Baxter, “the small shot gun”.

“All my pocket and hunting knives are labeled and I want each knife to be given to whomsoever it is labeled for.”  (This seems to indicate that he was a knife maker.)

James Moseley did not mention the children of his daughter, Mary, who married John D. Long Sr., in his will.  Mary and her husband were both deceased before Moseley’s will was written, though his grandson, John D. Long Jr., was still living in Union County, S. C., and had already married his grandaughter, Missindy Fowler, daughter of Wymac and Susannah Moseley Fowler.

He also did not refer to any of Nancy’s children by Ephraim Fowler.

When he wrote his will, he was fully aware that Dorcas had left her husband, Benjamin Hodge, and gone to Tennessee with Jared Foster.  He left Jared’s children one shilling each.

Benjamin Hodge and his daughter, Nancy, had a son, Jasper Hodge, before the will was written.

Major Joseph Stark Sims was to act as his executor and guardian of “my minor child, Jane”.

The will was witnessed by William B. Hames, Jordan Johnson and John M. Foster.  William B. Hames was the grandson of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames.

It was proven by Jordan Johnson and John M. Foster on June 6, 1840.  Johnson and Foster married sisters of Moseley’s second wife, Martha.

“Sims having renounced, letters of administration, with the will annexed, was granted to John Pickens.”  Pickens was James Moseley’s stepson and his daughter, Jane, stayed with Pickens for about ten years until she married Shelton McWhorter.

(Union County South Carolina Will Abstracts, 1787-1849, p. 143.)

 

Brother of James (High Key) Moseley, Baxter Moseley

Baxter, son of John and Ann Abernathy Moseley, was born circa 1760, in Brunswick County, Virginia.

He married Henrietta Fowler, daughter of Ellis and Catherine Puckett Fowler, circa 1790, in Union District, S. C.  She was born circa 1775.

Her father, Ellis, born in Albemarle County, Virginia, was the son of Godfrey III and Mary  ?  Fowler.  When Ellis Fowler first moved to Union District, S. C., he lived in the Grindal Shoals section.  His sons sold a part of his land on Little Sandy Run Creek in 1810.

Henrietta and Baxter had the following children: Samuel, John, Lemuel, Henrietta, Mary and Daniel.

Baxter made his will on October 29, 1820, and it was recorded November 6, 1820.  He left his estate to his wife, Henrietta, for herself and the small children “until the youngest son, Daniel shall arrive at the age of 21”.

At her death or marriage the estate was to be converted to the use of their children.  William Henderson and Edmund Hames were to be his executors, but they refused to qualify.   His brother, James Moseley, witnessed his will.

(Union County, S. C., Will book B, pp. 60-61.)

 

Daniel Moseley, their youngest child, was born in 1814, and married Biddy ?  .  She was born circa 1820.  They had at least seven children: Samuel James, Mary, Damon, Martha, Sarah, John and Henry.

Daniel died on Saturday, March 3, 1894, and was buried at Gilead Baptist Church on Sunday.  “He fell ten days before his death and 2 or 3 ribs were fractured and from this he took pneumonia, which soon ended his life.

He was in his 81^st year of age and had lived near Jonesville nearly all of his life.  He pulled teeth, bled people and horses and made walking sticks.”  His grave is unmarked.

(Union County, South Carolina, Death Notices From Early Newspapers, 1852-1914, compiled and abstracted by Tommy J. Vaughn, p. 68; 1850 Federal Census of Union County, South Carolina.)

Henrietta Fowler Moseley’s death date is not known to this writer.

 

Sister of James (High Key) Moseley Elizabeth Moseley Hames

Elizabeth, daughter of John and Mary Abernathy Moseley, was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, on July 31, 1763.

She married William Hames, son of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames, circa 1780.  William was born on February 6, 1759.

She and William had five sons and two daughters.  He died in Union District, S. C., on September 23, 1823, and she died in Union District in 1839.

10. Charity Jasper.  She was born on February 1, 1765.  She married John Hames, son of Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames, in 1781.

Charles Hames was the son of William Hames Jr. and his wife, Winifred Fann Hames.  Catherine Krugg Hames was the daughter of John and Mary Krugg of Karlsruhe, Germany.  Catherine was born in Germany.

Two deeds prove that John Hames was the son of Charles and Catherine Hames.

On August 25, 1798, Charles Hames sold 175 acres on the north side of Pacolet River to his son, John, for 50 pounds sterling.  It was part of a tract surveyed for Charles Brandon on the north side of Pacolet in the fork of the Mill Pond.  The land was in what is now Cherokee County, S. C.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book F, pp. 250-252.)

 

John Hames, of Union District, sold his tract of 175 acres to George Foster on March 4, 1805, for $350.00.  It was part of a tract surveyed for Charles Brandon on the north side of Pacolet River on Mill Creek in the fork of the Mill Pond at the upper corner of Brandon’s Old Field.  Charity Hames, wife of John, relinquished her dower claims on March 5, 1805.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book H, pp. 291-292.)

 

John Hames built his cabin on the north side of Pacolet River in what is now Cherokee County, S. C.  He lived beside his father-in-law, John Jasper.

William C. Lake, in an unpublished article entitled: “Jasper Born in Union County”, wrote: “The Jasper house stood beyond the old John Hames place, on the right hand side of the new road leading from Union to Gaffney.”

There is a significant problem with the age of John Hames.  In his Revolutionary War Pension statement (S16409) on the third day of September 1832, he declares that he was born in Mecklenburg County (Lunenburg County, Virginia, until 1765), April 28, 1752.

John is listed in his father’s Bible record as being born April 28, 1764, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, (Lunenburg County until 1765).

If he was not born in 1752, then he would have been 12 years old when he volunteered for service in the Continental Army.  When he left the service in 1781, he would have been 17.

In Dr. Bobby Moss’ article on John Hames in Roster of South Carolina Partiots in the American Revolution, p. 404, he states that he was both a private and brevet-major.  If he was born in 1764, as the Bible record declares, he possibly would have been a brevet-major at the age of 17.

John seems to have been a bit confused about his age in the 1850s.  A later addenda to his pension records in 1855, refers to his age as 119.

An article in the Abbeville Banner, Thursday, March 12, 1757, refers to John Hames as the “Oldest Man in America”.  The article states that he was ten years old when Washington was in his cradle.

This writer believes that he was either born April 28, 1752, according to his pension records, or he was born April 28, 1764, according to the Bible records.  His war records seem to substantiate a birth of 1752.

However, the Bible records state that Charles and Catherine Krugg Hames were married May 8, 1757, so if the Bible records are correct, he would have been born in 1764.

(South Carolina Bible Records, Pinckney District Chapter, S. C., Genealogical Society, Edited by Dorothy Harris Phifer, pp. 106-107.)

 

Either the pension records are wrong or the Bible records are wrong.  Charles was born in 1732, and Catherine was born in 1735, and they could have given birth to a child in 1752, if they were married earlier than the Bible records indicate, or John Hames was born to this couple before they were legally married.

The writer has no way of knowing when John Hames was born, but if we accept the sworn pension statement of John, then he was born in 1752, and the Bible records are inaccurate.  Sometimes Bible records are assimilated much later and thus can contain errors.

From the Revolutionary War Pension application (S16409) of John Hames in Hall County, Georgia, on September 3, 1832, the following information was abstracted:

“John Hames joined the First Spartan Regiment under Col. John Thomas, Commander, in 1776.  Thomas Brandon was a major and Zachariah Bullock was a captain.  Capt. Bulllock probably recruited Hames.  He also served under Capt. Robert Montgomery.

He fought the Cherokee Indians under General Andrew Williamson in 1776.  He joined the 2^nd Spartan Regiment, commanded by Col. Thomas Brandon in 1777, and served under Capt. John Thompson and Major Benjamin Jolly.

He was in the following battles:

(1). The Battle of Briar Creek on March 3, 1779.

(2). The Siege of Savannah on October 9, 1779.

(3). The Siege of Augusta, Georgia, on September 14-18, 1780.

(4), The Battle of Blackstocks on November 20, 1780.

(5). The Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781.

(6). The Battle of Guilford’s Courthouse on March 15, 1781.

(7). The Battle of Fort Granby on May 15, 1781.

(8). The Battle of Ninety Six on May 22 to June 19, 1781.

(9). The Battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781.

He was at the Siege of Savannah, where his future brother-in-law, Sgt. William Jasper, was killed.

He tells of fighting under General Sumter at the Battle of Blackstocks, and of the General being wounded in the shoulder.

He tells of building a Block House on Fair Forest Creek and of spending three months at a place called Four Holes.

He tells of marching towards Charleston to a place called Monks Corner, where ‘the enemy heard that we were coming and left the place before we got there.’

He speaks of their taking Fort Granby.  He fought under Col. “Light Horse Harry” Lee, General Robert E. Lee’s father, in this battle.

He states that he was in two skirmishes or engagements under the command of General Francis Marion.  He was with him “at the massacre of the Tories on the Pedee River”.

He states that he was a Brevet Major for two years under Col. Thomas Brandon.  He states that he served as major at the Battle of Choy Old Fields against the Cherokee Indians.

He tells of being encamped with General Daniel Morgan at Grindal Shoals before the Battle of Cowpens.

He tells of being “called out by Col. William Henderson, Capt. John Thompson and Lt. Francis Lattimore and marching to Cambridge (Ninety Six)”.

He tells of fighting at Eutaw Springs under General Nathanael Greene.  Here Col. William Henderson (his neighbor) was badly wounded, and “I carried him on my back to General Green’s Camp.”

He states that he was “honorably discharged at Edisto being with the entire company to which I belonged”.

(The Encyclopedia of the American Revolution by Mark M. Boatner III; Touring South Carolina’s Revolutionary War Sites by Daniel W. Barefoot; and lists of the First and Second Spartan Regiments–Internet.)

 

In the Revolutionary Pension application of John Whelchel of Hall County, Georgia, (W6498), John Hames tells of living in the same neighborhood with John Whelchel in Union District, S. C., and of serving with him in Col. Thomas Brandon’s Regiment.

He tells of being in engagements with him at Blackstocks, at the Cowpens, where John Whelchel “received a severe wound on the head by the cut of a sword”, and at Cambridge (Ninety Six) and Eutaw Springs.

On September 4^th and 5^th, 1787, John Hames sold Robert Gault 100 acres of a 200 acre tract between John’s Creek and Pacolet River, that he had receive by grant on January 21, 1785.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book A, pp. 236-239.)

 

He sold the other 100 acres of the grant to his brother, William Hames, on December 24^th & 25^tk, 1787.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book, B, pp. 76-79.)

 

He purchased 200 acres on Little Sandy Run Creek from William Wofford of Burk County, North Carolina, on September 15^th & 16^th, 1788.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book B, pp. 118-121.)

 

John Hames lived on the north side of the Pacolet River on his father’s land, which he purchased from him in 1798, and sold to George Foster in 1805.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book F, pp. 250-252; Deed Book H, pp. 291-292.)

 

He moved his family to Pendleton District, S. C., circa 1805, but had moved back to Spartanburg County, S. C., by 1808, when he sold 150 aces of land to Edmond Chapman and John Lucas for $320.00 on December 22, 1808.  His wife, Charity, renounced her dower rights on the same date.

(Spartanburg County, S. C., Deed Abstracts, Books A-T, 1785-1827, p. 395.)

 

John witnessed a land transaction between Ephraim Fowler and Henry Gault in Union District, S. C., on July 15, 1816.

(Union County, S. C., Deed Book N, pp. 227-228.)

 

He and his wife, Charity, joined the Scull Shoals Baptist Church.  (Church Records of Scull Shoals Baptist Church.)

 

Children of John and Charity Jasper Hames

(a). Charles Hames was born circa 1782, in Union District, S. C.  He first married Catherine Brandon, daughter of Charles and Sarah Cook Brandon, circa 1805.  She was born circa 1775.  Catherine’s mother, Sarah, was the daughter of John and Sarah Fulton Cook, both from Ireland.

Catherine’s first husband was William Kilpatrick, son of Alexander and Judith Clarke Kilpatrick, of Spartanburg District, S. C.  William was born circa 1770, and they were married circa 1794.  Three children were born to this couple: Mary, Elizabeth and Sarah.  He died circa 1800.

Charles Hames and Catherine had a daughter, Nancy Hames, born August 8, 1806.  Catherine died December 25, 1840, in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama.

After the death of Catherine, Charles Hames married Elizabeth Howell.  She was born October 11, 1810, in South Carolina.

Charles died July 20, 1854, in Bedford County, Tennessee.  Elizabeth Howell Hames died August 5, 1860.

(b). Polly Hames was born circa 1783, in Union District, S. C.  She married Thomas Cook Jr., son of Thomas and Ann  ? Cook, in 1802, in Union District, S. C.  He was born circa 1780.

Thomas Cook Sr.’s parents, John and Sarah Fulton Cook, came to this country from Ireland.  After John died his widow, Sarah, moved from York County, Pennsylvania, to the Ninety Six District of South Carolina.  Sarah’s daughter, Elizabeth, married William Hodge Jr.

Martha, Charity, John, Thomas and Hugh were children of Thomas Cook Jr. and Polly Hames.  After the death of Polly, Thomas Cook Jr. married her sister, Sarah Hames, in 1813.  She was born circa 1797.  They had thirteen children.

(c). Daughter (name unknown) was born circa 1785, in Union District, S. C.  She married Churchwell Tucker, born circa 1780.

(d). Mary Hames was born circa 1787, in Union District, S. C.  She married Timothy Haney, son of Robert and Elizabeth Bailey Haney.  He was born April 15, 1787, in Rutherford County, North Carolina, and died after 1838, in Rutherford County, North Carolina.  Date of death of Mary Hames Haney is unknown.

(e). Patti Hames was born circa 1789, in Union District, S. C.  She married  ? Hood.

(f). John Hames Jr. was born circa 1795, in Union District, S. C.  He married Harriett  ?  .  They had children: John, Lura, Wade and Theoplis Hames.

(g). Thomas Henry Hames was born July 9, 1796, in Union District, S. C.  He married Annis Robinson February 8, 1818.  She was born circa 1800.

They had seven sons and three daughters.  They had a son named, Jasper Hames.

Annis died May 6, 1844, in Lylerly County, Georgia, and was buried in Lylerly Cemetery.

Thomas father, John Hames, lived with his son, Thomas, after he lost his second wife.  They were living in Murray County, Georgia, when his father died.  Thomas worked in the gold mines.

Thomas died March 18, 1874, in Bedford County, Tennessee.

(h). Sarah Hames was born circa 1797, in Union District, S. C.   She was the second wife of Thomas Cook Jr.  He married Sarah circa 1813, his first wife’s sister.

They had twelve children.  He died in DeKalb County, Georgia, in the 1840s.  Sarah also died in DeKalb County.

(i). Rebecca  Hames was born in Union District, S. C., circa 1802.  She married Elijah Wade on December 30, 1823, in Hall County, Georgia.

They had five sons and four daughters.  Elijah died in Marshall County, Alabama, and his wife, Rebecca, died there in the 1860s.

John  Hames and Charity Jasper Hames followed the gold rush to Georgia before 1820, and were living in Hall County, Georgia, on March 24, 1826, when Charity died.  She was buried in White Path Cemetery, Gilmer County, Georgia.

(Union County Heritage, 1981, article on John Hames by Mrs. Roy E. Hames, pp. 124-125.)

 

John Hames Sr. married Martha Pierce on August 17, 1826, in Hall County, Georgia.

She was the widow of James Harrison Pierce, who died in South Carolina, in the early 1820s.  He was born circa 1760 in New Hampshire.

James Pierce served one hundred sixty-seven days in the militia during 1781 and 1782.  He was living in Edgefield District at the time.

(Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution by Dr. Bobby Gilmer Moss, pg. 773.)

 

James and Martha had eight children, all born in Edgefield District, in South Carolina.  Six of the children were: Elizabeth M., Nancy, John, Hampton, Levi and Ruben Harrison Pierce.

Their daughter, Elizabeth, married James R. Russell, son of Richard Anthony and Margaret Black Russell, in 1818.  She was the mother of the Russell brothers, William Greeneberry Russell, Joseph Oliver Russell and Levi Jasper Russell, who found gold in Colorado and started the settlement that became Denver, Colorado.

Martha  ? Pierce Hames was born circa 1770, in North Carolina, and died in Lumpkin County, Georgia, in the 1840s.

(Research of Charles Dorman Thomas of Arlington, Texas, a great-great grandson of Reuben Harrison.  Submitted by Dorman Thomas on March 4, 1999; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Phillips and Allied Familes of the South—Martha ? Pierce.)

 

John Hames died October 9, 1860, in Murray County, Georgia, and was buried in the Sardis Cemetery, a very old cemetery in the Woods of Murray County, Georgia.  His coffin was constructed by John Shannon, and Henry Bemis dug the grave.  Shannon married John’s granddaughter.  Depending on which birth date is utilized, he was either 108 years old or 96 years old.

He was re-interred in the Federal Cemetery at Marietta, Georgia, on July 11, 1911.  The grave is located in Section D, gravestone #10390, with his name, John Hames Sr., S. C.

(Hames Heritage, pp. 233-234; RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Crabtree-Osburn—John Hames.)

 

11. Lydda Jasper.  She was born in February of 1769.  She never married, but from the 1790 Federal Census it appears that she came to Union District with her parents, John and Mary Herrington Jasper in 1779.

She died sometime in the 1790s.  When her father’s will was written in September of 1799, she was not included thus indicating that she was deceased.

 

FAMILIES THAT JOINED THE WAGON TRAIN TO KENTUCKY IN 1796

John McWhorters (possibly 13)

George McWhorters (possibly 8)

John Portman Sr. (1)

John Portmans Jr. (possibly 5)

Nicholas Jaspers (possibly 10)

John Jaspers Jr. family (son of Nicholas—possibly 5)

Andrew Jasper family (son of Nicholas—possibly 3)

William Purdy family (Robert & John Chesney’s uncle—possibly 6)

Robert Chesneys (possibly 9)

John Chesneys (possibly 4)

POSSIBLE TOTAL 64—In addition there was a slave and her child thus increasing the number to 66.  There were possibly other slaves who traveled with them.