From the Probate Files: John Chappell - Monroe County, Georgia - 1828

An obituary found for John Chappell, one of my paternal fourth great grandfathers, gave his age as 65 years at the time of his death on December 1, 1828. If that date is correct, his death must have been anticipated because two of his sons who were named as executors of this 1827 will appeared in court on December 8th and probate was recorded on December 10th.
 



Georgia              }
Monroe County  }  In the name of God, Amen.
I, John Chappell of the State & County , aforesaid being of Sound mind & good
bodily health but considering the uncertainty of human life, do make this my
last will & Testament in manner following viz.
First I recommend my South to God who gave it, & my body I committ
to the earth & as to my worldly estate, I give & bequeath to Nancy
Bonner, Martha ^Heath^ Eliza Douglas, Abraham H. Chappell, George A
Chappell, & Sarah H Chappell & John d. Chappell one thousand
Dollars each with the following understanding & limitation, viz. it is
to be considered that I have heretofore advanced & paid over to Nancy
Bonner the sum of nine hundred & twenty dollars which ^last is to be
computed in making the sum of one thousand dollars to said
Nancy. I have also advanced & paid over to Martha Heath the
Sum of one thousand dollars which is to considered as a full
payment of the above mentioned Legacy to said Martha.
I have also heretofore advanced & paid over to Eliza Douglas the
Sum of Six hundred & twenty five dollars which amount is to be
computed in making the sum of one thousand dollars to Said
Eliza. I have also heretofore advanced & paid over to Abraham H
Chappell the sum of Seven hundred dollars, which amount is to
be computed in making up the aforesaid Sum of one thousand
dollars to the said Abraham H. I have also heretofore ^advanced &^ paid over
to Said John d. Chappell the Sum of Fifteen hundred dollars
which is to be considered as a full Satisfaction of the above 
legacy, one thousand dollars & five hundred dollars on 
advance of the Share of the Said John D. of my residuing
Estate,     after the payment of my Specific legacies,

I have also heretofore advanced & paid over the George A. Chappell
the Sum of one thousand dollars which is to be considered a
full payment & Satisfaction of aforesaid legacy of one thousand
dollars to said George A.
I give & bequeath to Joseph T. Chappell the Sum of fifteen
hundred dollars, as an estate for the life of the Said Joseph T.
to be divided equally between all of the before named Legacies
after the death of the Said Joseph T & the Said Joseph T. is to
be at liberty to live with either of his brothers viz. Abraham H.
Chappell, John D.Chappell & George A Chappell who are
to share equally the use & benefit of the last mentioned
legacy to the Said Joseph T., during the natural life of the
Said Joseph T. on the condition of their contributing to his
Maintenance,
To my beloved wife Sara P. Chappell I give & bequeath Lot Aa.
one hundred and forty five in the Sixth district of Monroe County
I also the three negroes Mysich, Mary, & Beeley the property so
bequeather to my beloved wife, is to be enjoyed By her during her
Natural life, & at her death is to return to my estate to be distributed
as hereafter mentioned,
All the residue of my estate not herein above disposed of & also
that part of ^which is^ bequeathed to my beloved wife, after her death is to be
divided equally between the above mentioned Nancy Bonner Martha
Heath, Eliza Douglas Abraham H Chappell John D. Chappell
George A Chappell & Sarah H Chappell Should either of the last
mentioned legaties viz. the Martha Nancy Eliza Abraham H. John D
George A or Sarah H. Die before me the portion herein bequeatherd
to Such Legacies Shall descend to the heirs of Such legated
Should either of Said Legacies die before my wife the Share of Such
legated in the property herein bequeather to my wife after he
death Shall descend to the heirs of such Lagaties.
I nominate & appoint my Son Abraham H Chappell John D
Chappell & George A Chappell Executors of this my will.
In witness thereof to this my ^Said^ will I have set my hand and Seal
The Twenty first day of October in the year of our Lord one thous-
and eight hundred & Twenty five                  John Chappell {Seal}
Signed Sealed published                              ---------   --------------
Declared in the presence }     Georgia         } Before us James H. Gorden
Robert T. H. Abeller       } Monroe County } and John Spoollin Justices
John F Brooks                 }  of the Inferior Court for the County afore
John Redding                  }  said personally appeared John Redding
Angus M.D. King           }  and Angus M.D. King who being
                                        }  Duly Sworn on oath Say that they

["Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893L-GWPH?cc=1999178&wc=9SYT-L27%3A267724601%2C267815001 : 20 May 2014), Monroe > Wills 1824-1866 vol A-B > image 31 of 448;

county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

John Chappell later of this county deceased Sign Seal and

acknowledge the foregoing instrument as his last will and Testa-

ment and that at the time of Said signing Sealing and

acknowledging he was of Sound & disposing mind and memory

and that they both Subscribed Said will and attesting 

witnesses in the presence of the Said John Chappell and Saw

John T. Brooks & Robert J. H. Abeller Subscribe the Same as

Witnesses

Subscribed & Sworn to in the presence of }        John Redding

John Trathin J JC.                                       }     Angus M.D. King

J. H. Geran  J J.C.                                       }

--------   ----------

Georgia             }  I Abraham H. Chappell and John D Chappell

Monroe County } Do Solemnly Swear that this writing contains

the true last will of the within named John Chappell 

Deceased So far as we Know or believe, and that I will

well and truly execute the Same by paying the debts and

then these legacies contained in the Said will as far as his

Goods and Chattles will thereunto extend, and the law charge

and that I will make a true and perfect Inventory of all Such

Goods and Chattles So help me God Sworn to this 8th

December 1828                           Abraham H. Chappell

Elias Beall C.C.O.    ordered       John D. Chappell

-------------  ------                        -------  -----  ----------

                    Recorded 10th December 1828

                              Elias Beall C.C.O.

And here's my relationship to John Chappell:

[Ancestry.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Valley Forge Anniversary

It's now 240 years since my paternal great grandfather Abraham Heath (c. 1740-c. 1807) went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania) with the rest of George Washington's Continental Army.

[March to Valley Forge - William Trego, Philadelphia, 1883. This painting is now in the collection of The Museum of the American Revolution]

My ancestor's term of enlistment in the Virginia Line of the Continental Army ended in February so he didn't spend the entire winter in Valley Forge. You can read about his life after he went home here and learn the terms of his 1807 Warren County, Georgia, will here.

And here's a reminder of how I'm descended from Abraham Heath:

[Ancestry.com]

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

From the Probate Files: Abraham Heath - Warren County, Georgia, 1808

It's clear from his 1807 will that my fifth great grandfather Abraham Heath had prospered during his lifetime. If my count is correct he named 30 enslaved persons he bequeathed to his wife, children and grandchildren. (Only his wife, two of his sons and a grandson merited the epithet "beloved".)

["Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-893T-8QSY?cc=1999178&wc=9SBQ-W3V%3A267818601%2C267885001 : 20 May 2014), Warren > image 104 of 362;

county probate courthouses, Georgia.]

     In the name of God, Amen, I, Abraham Heath
of the County of Warren & State of Georgia, planter being
weak in Body but in perfect mind & memory, thanks be given
to Almighty God calling to mind the mortality of my Body and
knowing that it is appointed for all Men once to die, do
make & ordain this my last Will & Testament (That is to say
principally and first of all I Recommend my Soul to God that
gave it and my Body I Recommend to the Earth to be buried
in a Christian like manner at the discretion of my Executors
nothing doubting that at the General Resurrection I Shall receive
the Same again by the mighty power of God, and as touching the
worldly goods wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me with in 
this life I Give devise and dispose of in the following Manner 
and form (Viz)
First I Give and bequeath to my Son John Heath one Negro Man
     named Isaac, one woman named Dice and one Negro Boy Named
     Tillman with their Increase to him & his heirs forever.
Item I Give to my Daughter Sally Chapple, the following Negroes one
     woman named Fanny Girl Mary Girl Lydia, Girl Ambry & Boy
     Henry with their Increase to her and heirs forever
Item I Give to my Son Benjamin Heath three negroes Viz Mymsy
     and her two Sons Henry & Charles with their Increase forever
Item I Give to my beloved Son William Heath two negroes Viz Jeffrey
     and Turner to him and his heirs forever
Item I Give and bequeath to my Grand Daughter Polly Clower one
     negro Girl named Sarah
Item: I Give to my beloved Grandson Stephen B Clower one Negro
     Boy Isaac
Item I give to my Grand Daughter Linney Clower one Negro
     Boy Sam
Item I Give to my Grandson Green Clower one Negro Boy Charles
Item I Give to my Grandson Abraham H Clower one Negro Woman
     Milley with her Increase
Item I Give to my beloved Son Adam Heath one Negro Man
     Ranger, two hundred Acres of Land which he has titles
     for one Black Gelden and one Gray also one Bed and
     furniture
Item I Give ^and bequeath^ to my Daughter Elizabeth Heath two Negroes Beck
     and Child Clary
Item I Give to my Daughter Polly Heath one Negro Girl Hannah
     also one Bed & furniture with Bed Sted to her and her &
     her heirs forever
Item I Give to my Daughter Frances B Highfield one Negro Woman
     Named Silvia with her Increase to her & her heirs forever
Item I Give to my Son Richard Heath, One Negro Boy Named
     Jacob, one Sorrel Filley and one Bed & furniture with Sted
Item I Give to my Son Abraham Heath One Negro Boy Nathan
     and one Bed and furniture with Bed Sted
Item I Give to my Grandson Abraham Heath Chappell
     one Negro Boy Ephraim.
Item I Give and bequeath to my beloved wife Winnyford
     Heath two Negro women Anckey & Amy to Enjoy the same
     free from any Incumberances forever I also Lend
     my Wife all the Rest of my Estate both Real and personal
     during her Natural Life or Widowhood and after [?]
     [?] marriage, it is my Request that my Sons Richard
     and Abraham jointly should heir my Real Estate


     and that Richard should have Big Negro Charles and
     Big Jack, and one Negro Girl Patience to be equally shared
     betwixt the afore mentioned Richard & Abraham, and the
     Rest of my personal Estate after my wifes death or Widowhood
     to be equally divided among all my children
     and I nominate and appoint my Son Adam Heath
     Solomon Slatter and Elisha Hest Executors to this my last
     will and Testament and futhermore I disannull and revoke
     all former will or wills by me heretofore made.
     Signed Sealed published pronounced and declared by --
     the Said Abraham Heath as my last will and Testament
     in the presents of us whose names are hereunto ? -------
    this 23'd day of November in this Year of our Lord one
    thousand eight hundred and Seven
                                                                      his
     Stephen W Burnley                            Abraham X Heath
     Britain Blunt                                                mark
            her
     Mary X Garrett
           mark

                                      Probate
Georgia
Warren County   }  Personally appeared Stephen W Burnley
and being duly Sworn and on the holy Avangelist and
God deposeth and Saith that he Saw Abraham [Heath]
make his mark and publish and declare this ?---------
of writings his last will and Testament [and at]
the time of his So doing he was of Sound disposing
mind and memory being then in his presence 
And in the presence of the other Subscribing [witnesses]
and at his Request they all became witnesses 
to the Same. Sworn to in open court this ?----
of January 1808
                                                          Stephen W Burnley
Septimus Weatherby
C.C.O.W.Co.

Next I'm going to see if I can find an inventory of his will.
                   



© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Abraham Heath (About 1740 - 1807), Revolutionary War Veteran & Planter

Returning home to the region around Surry County after serving his two years with the Virginia Line of the Continental Army my 5X great grandfather reunited with his family which included his young daughter Sallie, my fourth great grandmother.

[Virginia und Maryland. Dominia Anglorum in America Septentrionali. Homann Erben (Firm), Norimbergæ, 1759.

Source: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C.]

From the existing online records we're not sure when Abraham moved his family to Georgia but, as this land record dated January 2, 1786 shows, he already owned some land in Burke County and this additional 200 acres was "on the Hurricane Branch, Adjoining his own Land and Land of Henry Hayman."

[Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, 1783-1909," images, FamilySearch]

Six month later he was apparently given 550 acres in Wilkes County.

["Georgia, Headright and Bounty Land Records, 1783-1909," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYLH-3QF?cc=1914217&wc=M617-B38%3A200644801 : 20 May 2014), > image 293 of 448; State Archives, Morrow.]

Here's a 1804 map of Georgia.

[Georgia. Drawn by S. Lewis. D. Fairman sc. (Published by John Conrad & Co., Philadelphia. 1804)

Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.]

[Detail of above]

Unfortunately the federal census records for 1790, 1800 and 1810 are missing, lost sometime before 1830, but Ancestry.com offers The Reconstructed 1790 Census of Georgia (originally published as Substitutes for Georgia's Lost 1790 Census) which lists Abraham Heath on page 166.

[The Reconstructed 1790 Census of Georgia. Ancestry.com]

In 1798 Abraham Heath is listed in a Property Tax Digest for Warren County* as the owner of 14 enslaved persons, nine of whom were subject to taxation.

[1798. Ancestry.com. Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Georgia Tax Digests [1890]. 140 volumes. Morrow, Georgia: Georgia Archives.]

His name also appeared in Burke County's Property Tax Digest** that same year.

[1798. Ancestry.com. Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Georgia Tax Digests [1890]. 140 volumes. Morrow, Georgia: Georgia Archives.]

It was as a resident of Warren County that Abraham Heath made his will on November 23, 1807.

[Administration (Of) Estates and Wills, 1798-1937; Author: Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Warren County); Probate Place: Warren, Georgia. Ancestry.com. Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: Georgia County, District and Probate Courts.]

Signed Sealed published pronounced and declared by --
the Said Abraham Heath as my last will and Testa ------
in the presents of us whose names are hereunto ? -------
this 23'd day of November in this Year of our Lord o---
thousand eight hundred and Seven
                                                                 his
Stephen W Burnley                            Abraham X Heath
Britain Blunt                                                mark
       her
Mary X Garrett
      mark

I'll be taking a closer look at Abraham Heath's will on Friday. It's got a lot of information in it.


*Warren County was created out of parts of Burke, Columbia, Washington, and Wilkes counties in 1793.
**Column headings for this record. (Nice to see that Abraham is the "Reputed Owner")

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Abraham Heath (About 1740 - 1807), Soldier (Part VII)

Abraham Heath, a paternal fifth grandfather, must have been very happy to see the end of February 1778 because it marked the end of his two years enlistment in the Virginia Line of the Continental Army. There's no indication that he considered remaining with the army and had probably already left before Baron von Steuben began to drill the troops.

[A Winter Encampment is Valley Forge National Historical Park's official orientation film, currently shown daily in the park theater. It is an overview of the historical events that took place at Valley Forge during the 1777-1778 winter encampment in the American Revolution.]

You can read my earlier posts about Abraham Heath's military service here: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, and Part VI.

Next time we'll look into Abraham's life after his military service.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Abraham Heath at Valley Forge

Two hundred and thirty-nine years ago this week (December 19, 1777) Abraham Heath (c.1740-c.1807),* a private in the Virginia line of the Continental Army, found himself in winter quarters** with the rest of Washington's Army in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

[Valley Forge—Washington & Lafayette, 1856. Engraving, 7½ x 10½ inches (image). Henry Bryan Hall (1808–1884), after Alonzo Chappel (1828–1887). Martin, Johnson & Co., Publisher.

Photo Credit: David Bishop Skillman Library, Lafayette College, Easton, PA]

During my ancestor's time at Valley Forge his commanding officer was General George Weedon. In the map below you can see the location of the 6th Virginia Regiment's encampment.

["Encampment at Valley Forge 1778" by George W. Boynton (engraving) - Sparkes, Jered "The Life of George Washington" Boston: Tappen & Dennet 1843"The Cooper Collections of American History" (uploader's private collection)Scanned by the uploader, Centpacrr..

Licensed under PD-US via Wikipedia htps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Encampment_at_Valley_Forge_1778.jpg#/media/File:Encampment_at_Valley_Forge_1778.jpg]

Abraham's term of service was over in February of 1778 and as far as we know he went home to his wife and family (including my direct ancestor, his daughter Sallie Heath Chappell) as soon as he was mustered out.


*My paternal fifth great grandfather--I wrote a series of posts about what we know of his military experiences from the records in 2015: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI
 .
**You can learn more about the huts built by the soldiers at Valley Forge here.



© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

New Ancestor Discoveries Notes: How Are We Related to Linnie Brantley? Some Clues...

Mom's current "New Ancestor Discoveries" on AncestryDNA.  I haven't figured out how/if we are related to any of them, but did find some interesting clues with location and DNA matches.

I am having a hard time figuring out how I'm related to these New Ancestor Discoveries.  Since Linnie Brantley was a hint for both my mother and me, it seemed like a good fairly confident guess on Ancestry's part and worth pursuing.

Linnie also makes it into my New Ancestor Discoveries (I only have 3).

I blurred the DNA matches, but I didn't recognize them enough to see a direction to go in.  It does seem that Mom is part of this group in some way.  Maybe it is the Morgan man that Linnie married?

Linnie's cumulative "life story" location trajectory (Raleigh/Orange, NC to Blount/Jefferson/Walker, AL) isn't ringing any bells.

Melinda "Linnie" Brantley (1802-1884) was married to Ezekiel Morgan (1797-1881).

Since I could find no commonality between Linnie and her husband specifically, I decided to just cast a wide net search in the AncestryDNA matches for my mom, starting with Brantley.  Finally, out of 50 name matches to "Brantley" this yielded a few familiar places.

At least one of the Brantley's matches with either my mother's biological father T. S. Warren's grandson who has tested on AncestryDNA, and to many other cousin matches with this close relative with various confidence level matches to T. S. Warren's uplines in the South.  So I'm pretty sure this is on my mother's paternal grandfather's line somewhere.

Brantley's also seemed to have been in the following areas:

Isle of Wight/Southampton, Virginia
Nash County, North Carolina
Warren County, Georgia
Hancock County, Georgia

Several of mom's Brantley matches are matches to John Brantley (1716-1782) who married Hannah Harper (1713-1790) of Virginia and North Carolina.  I have several more matches to John's father Edward Brantley m Elizabeth Clay and HIS father, Phillip Brantley m Joyce Lewis in Isle of Wight, VA.

We also have several matches to John Brantley/Hannah Harper's grandson Phillip Brantley of Warren County, GA (married Rebecca Harbuck).


My Abraham Heath and Jesse Warren lines were in Warren and Hancock counties, so maybe this is all pointing to a brick wall female ancestor within those family groups (and we have many female brick walls in those lines).

Abraham Heath, his wife Winnie and their daughter Sarah "Sallie" P Heath were residents of Warren County, Georgia at one point.

Jesse Warren Sr (1747-1827) is buried in Harper Cemetery in Hancock County.  Is the Harper name a coincidence?  I've had my suspicions that Jesse's wife Elizabeth was a Harper (there were Harpers in neighboring Putnam county where Elizabeth died), but then again Elizabeth could be a Hunt/Fuqua/Parham/Rives/Pegram/fill in the blank LOL

Warren and Hancock counties.  Image of Georgia Counties from Wikipedia.

Although I haven't figured out how we're related to Linnie, I do think I have more of an idea on where to concentrate my efforts.







© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Sarah "Sallie" P. Heath (About 1771 - 1837)

When her father Abraham Heath* volunteered to join the Virginia line of the Continental Army in 1776 he left his wife Winny** and their growing family behind, including little Sallie who was about five years old.

From land grant records we know the Heaths had removed from Virginia into eastern Georgia by 1786 when Abraham was allotted 200 acres next to land he already owned in Burke County and a further 550 acres in Wilkes County. And that's probably where Sallie married John Chappell; their oldest child Nancy was born about 1790 in Washington, the county seat of Wilkes.

[Georgia, from the latest Authorities. B. Tanner, sculpt. N.Y. Published by J. Reid, L. Wayland & C. Smith, 1796.

Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]

By 1798 John and Sallie had moved to a bit farther west to Hancock County where my direct ancestor Sarah Heath Chappell was born in about 1812.

[Map Of The State of Georgia Prepared from actual Surveys and other Documents for Eleazer Early By Daniel Sturges. Entered According to Act of Congress by Eleazer Early Proprietor. Engraved by Saml. Harrison 1818. Published & Sold By Eleazer Early Savannah Georgia and By John Melish & Samuel Harrison Philadelphia. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.]

When Abraham Heath died in 1807 (in Warren County) Sallie's share of her father's estate was five slaves: Fanny, Mary, Lydia, Ambry and Henry.

[Administration of Estates and Wills, 1798-1852. Ancestry.com. Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Georgia County, District and Probate Courts.]

The Chappell family continued residing in Hancock County at least through 1820 as that's where we find them in the U.S. Census of that year. However when John made his will in 1825 they were in Monroe County*** where the will was presented for probate in December of 1828.

[Wills, Vol A-B, 1824-1866. Ancestry.com. Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Georgia County, District and Probate Courts.]

[The state of Georgia. Gridley sc. (Philadelphia: Robert DeSilver, 1827). Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.]

The last record we have for Sallie is the 1834 Monroe County Property Tax Digest.

[Ancestry.com. Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Georgia Tax Digests [1890]. 140 volumes. Morrow, Georgia: Georgia Archives.]

The date of death we have for Sarah P. Heath Chappell is December 13, 1837 in Lumpkin County, Georgia, but I'm not certain of the source of this information.


*The surviving records of Abraham Heath's military service were covered here: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, and Part VI.
**We know her given name was Winnifred and her surname may have been Rives.
***Monroe County was one of five counties created out of the Creek Indians lands between the Ocmulgee and Flint rivers ceded in the Treaty of the Indian Spring on Jan. 8, 1821.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

2015: Looking Back

When I agreed to join my daughter's blog on October 1, 2014, I decided on two ground rules: we had to post every day and each post had to have a picture. (I'm a visual person.) Looking back over the past year I'm proud of what we've done here and in the process we've both learned a lot.

[Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. "Best wishes for a happy New Year." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1909. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-47d9-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99]

Two of the most exciting names added to my paternal family tree in 2015 are Cheney Boyce (1591?-1643?), Ancient Planter of Jamestown, and John Whitney (1592-1673), member of the Company of Merchant Tailors of London before his departure for Massachusetts in 1635. Christine's recent discovery that Olive Baldwin (1778-1843) was the mother of my maternal third great grandmother Mary (Polly) Gates (1805-1883) has opened up new lines of research that will be covered next year.

Another fascinating discovery was that my paternal fifth great grandfather Abraham Heath (1740?-1807?) served with the Virginia line of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and was one of the cold and hungry soldiers at Valley Forge. In case you missed it, you can read about what the records said here: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six. (Parts Three through Five were posted on the 168th anniversary of the events described.)

My two most popular posts in 2015 were Sunday Drive: Train Travel in Victorian England which looked at the ubiquity of mid-19th century British train lines, and Fantastic Find: Catholic Parish Registers at the National Library of Ireland which passed on the news that the National Library had just made their microfilm collection of parish records available online (and for free).

Another fantastic find, The McAdory House, was particularly useful in helping me understand the kind of dwelling my early Alabama ancestors probably lived in. (Spoiler alert: No white pillars or oak allies in sight.) And for those of you who also have ties to Alabama, let me recommend again Letters from Alabama, written by the Englishman Philip Henry Gosse about his experience there in 1838.

Christine and I have been having fun posting photos of Christmases we have known (or have pictures of) for the past ten days as a way of slacking off but still maintaining our goal of daily posts. With the new year we'll be getting back to genealogy.

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Where Were My Ancestors About 1796? Abraham Bradley's Map of the United States: Part 2

This is a continuation of my post earlier this week using Abraham Bradley's postal map of 1796.  This is just an exercise to get a handle on where all of my American ancestors were during the Federalist Era.  I can already see the fatal flaw of adding ancestors by going up and down my tree as opposed to grouping by location--for instance, I actually have a lot of people who were in the western Pennsylvania area, but there will be separate maps for the family groups in this iteration because they are on different branches of my tree.  I will put together a more concise version at a later date.

In Bertie County, North Carolina, possibly in the Salmon Creek area, John H Hardy, 23, was married to his first wife, Jamima Wilson, and they had a toddler Etheldred.  Jamima would die in the next year.  John's mother Sarah Sowell, 63, had been widowed 3 years before when her husband William Hardy died, and she would be listed in the 1800 Federal Census as head of household in Bertie County, North Carolina.   John's future second wife, Elizabeth Ward, 21, daughter of Thomas Ward (who had died the year before at about age 60) and Pheraby Sowell, about 47.  John Hardy and Elizabeth Ward were distant cousins--their mothers were both descendants of Richard Sowell (born c. 1659).

John Chappell, 33, had moved to Georgia probably in the mid to late 1780's from Sussex County, Virginia, likely with his parents, Revolutionary veteran John C Chappell, 58, and Nancy "Nannie" Harrison, 55.  Like Jesse Warren Sr he was in the area that would become Hancock County, Georgia. John and his wife, Sarah "Sallie" P Heath, 25, had several small children by the time the map was made.  Sallie was the daughter of Valley Forge veteran Abraham Heath, 56, and Winnifred "Winny" (??), 50, who had moved from Surry County, Virginia to Burke/Warren County, Georgia 10 years earlier.
Josiah Freeman, 33, was likely in Oglethorpe County, Georgia with his first wife, Susannah Hawkins, and at least 5 small children.  He had likely moved to Georgia sometime between 1786 and 1790.  He was originally from Virginia, possibly Sussex or Surry counties.  His parents William Freeman, 58, and Sarah Williams(??), about 56, were in Surry County, North Carolina, and may have originally been from Surry County, Virginia.  All these Surry counties!!  It gets confusing.  Elizabeth Jordan, Josiah's second wife, was only about 9 in 1796.  I have not yet figured out who Elizabeth's parents were.  Elizabeth was born in either Georgia or possibly South Carolina.
Richard Turner, 17, had been born in Cascade, Pittsylvania, Virginia, and had moved with his family to Wilkes County, Georgia (part of which became Lincoln County) when he was about 5.  His parents, Shadrack Turner and Margaret Hill, were both about 45.  Mary Henderson, 15, would marry Richard about 3 years later in Wilkes or Lincoln County.  She had Virginia as place of birth on the 1850 and 1860 Censuses, but I have not yet been able to determine who her parents were, although there were numerous Henderson families in Elbert County (neighbor county to both Wilkes and Lincoln) at the time she would have married Richard.

William Porter was born in May 1796 in Sheffield, Caledonia, Vermont, to Benjamin Porter, 24, and Lydia Wilcox, 21.  It is not clear why they were there, as they had married in Surry, Cheshire, New Hampshire the year before, and were back there by the 1800 federal census.  Benjamin's widowed mother Esther Carpenter, 57, allegedly didn't die until 1827 in Lyme, Grafton, NH, but apparently didn't head a household in the censuses and probably lived with one of her adult children.  Lydia's parents, physician Obediah Willcox, 72, and Sarah Talcott, 61, were likely living in Surry, Cheshire, New Hampshire.
Joshua Shepard, 43, and Lucia "Lucy" Farnsworth, 34, were living in Alstead, Cheshire, New Hampshire.  Joshua's parents, Jonathan Shepard, 87, and Love Palmer, 79, had divorced 32 years earlier (about 1764), and had both subsequently remarried.  Love had married a Mr. Heard or Herrick (date unknown), and she died 23 July 1796 in Alstead, Cheshire, New Hampshire.  Jonathan had married Mary Underwood in 1765 and lived in Windsor, Windsor, Vermont, where he died 2 years after this map was made (26 March 1798).  Lucy's parents, Thomas Farnsworth, 65, and Elizabeth Davis, 68, also lived in Alstead (they had moved there sometime between 1776 and 1790).








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Gone for Soldiers: Abraham Heath (About 1740 - 1807), Soldier (Part VI)

After their defeat by the British at Germantown, Private Abraham Heath, along with the rest of Washington's Continental Army, marched off to spend the winter at Valley Forge. While he was there the Virginia troops were under the command of General George Weedon. Abraham's term of service was due to expire in February 1778 and I'm sure he was looking forward to his release.

[Valley Forge, 1777. Gen. Washington and Lafayette visiting the suffering part of the army / painted and drawn by A. Gibert 

lith and publ. by P. Haas, Wash. City. Haas, Philip, active 1837-1863, lithographer, about 1843.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

["Encampment at Valley Forge 1778" by George W. Boynton (engraving) - Sparkes, Jered "The Life of George Washington" Boston: Tappen & Dennet 1843"The Cooper Collections of American History" (uploader's private collection)Scanned by the uploader, Centpacrr..

Licensed under PD-US via Wikipedia htps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Encampment_at_Valley_Forge_1778.jpg#/media/File:Encampment_at_Valley_Forge_1778.jpg]

We first learned about Abraham Heath's service through The Valley Forge Muster Roll* which led us to take a closer look at his records in the National Archive.

[The Muster Roll record for Abraham Heath]

Below is the Muster Roll of Captain Nathaniel Fox's Company for the month of December 1777 with Abraham listed fourth from the bottom of the right column.

[Regiment : 06th Regiment, 1776-1778 (Folders 165-177); 6th Regiment, 1778-1779 (Folders 178-180). Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. Original data: Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, 138 rolls); War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Record Group 93; National Archives, Washington. D.C.]

You can read my earlier posts about Abraham Heath's military service here: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V.

*Although we knew that he had been an active participant in the Revolution, we thought that he had served in the Virginia militia.


© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Gone for Soldiers: Abraham Heath (About 1740 - 1807), Soldier (Part V)

After the Continental Army failed to stop General Howe's invading army, the British captured Philadelphia on September 26, 1777. To block an assault on the city by the Colonials, who were camped about 30 miles to the northwest, Howe divided his army, sending 9,000 of his troops to Germantown. Hoping to take advantage of the situation, General Washington, with his army of 11,000 men, decided on a coordinated simultaneous assault using four columns to engulf the British defenders.* General Nathaneal Greene** led the column attacking the British right on the morning of October 4, 1777.

The Colonial Army surprised the Howe's forces and at first victory seemed at hand but at the end of five hours the Rebels were forced to withdraw and after reinforcements arrived from Philadelphia, the British pursued them for nearly eight miles.

[A Sketch of the Battle of German. Tn., 4th October 1777, where the rebels were repulsed. 1777.

Source: Library of Congress, Maps Division  http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3824p.ar134400]

[Battle of Germantown, Museum of the American Revolution. In 1782 Italian artist Xavier della Gatta painted this imagined scene of the Battle of Germantown, most likely for a British officer. On the right is his rendering of the Benjamin Chew House, where troops from the 40th British regiment held off the attacking Americans in some of the bloodiest fighting of the battle.]

[The Virginia Gazette, 17 October 1777, Page 1 at Newspapers.com]

But the American's near success at at Germantown together with the British Army's defeat at Saratoga by General Horatio Gates only two weeks later probably helped convince the French government to become our allies.

Next stop: Valley Forge.


*For a detailed description including maps as the battle progressed, look here. You can find a more general view of the battle including more information and pictures of the Chew House (Clivedon) in the painting above here. Here is a transcription of the Virginia Gazette article and a letter describing the battle.
**Whose division included Abraham Heath's 2nd Virginia Brigade. He is listed in a muster roll for September, October and November as "in Hospital" but we don't know if he was sick or wounded, or how long he was there.




© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.