Tag: Virginia

January 23, 2018 Dennis Ayers

During the 1700s the American colonies grew from a population of about 250 thousand to 2.5 million. Much of that growth in the Mid-Atlantic and southern colonies came from successful farming of cash crops with the attendant need to import more and more labor. The most favorable crop quickly became tobacco. The Tidewater region of eastern Virginia, part of the Atlantic coastal plain, is comprised of low and flat land which was ideal for growing tobacco. The area also allowed easy access to ports along the major rivers to ship large barrels of tobacco.

 

As mentioned previously, William Jackson became a successful planter near the James River. His descendants  followed after him as planters in Sussex county. With good management, a planter could use his profits to continue to grow his land holdings, acquire more workers, and accumulate considerable wealth. It appears that William’s oldest son, John Ellis Jackson born 1680, was able to do just that. He obtained a number of land patents during his lifetime, including one in 1736 for 1,704 acres located in Prince George and Amelia counties. This land was later divided and gifted to his sons in 1746.

 

John Ellis Jackson married Mary Ward around 1704, but she died in 1746 after bearing at least 9 children. John died in 1770 and in his will he bequeathed 6 slaves by name to various sons and daughters. Slaves were valued much more than land. Strangely, two sons James and Robert Jackson received only a 1 shilling each (perhaps about $5.00 in current money).

 

Not much is known about Robert Jackson, our direct ancestor, as his records are scarce. However, one might consider Robert a valuable resource in American history as he fathered 4 sons who played roles in the Revolutionary War with England. Two sons from his first wife, Amy Wyche, were Rueben and Ephraim, who married sisters, Hannah and Lucretia Tucker. Reuben enlisted for 3 years and served as a private first with the 6th Virginia Regiment, and then with the 2nd Virginia Regiment. He fought with George Washington’s army in New Jersey, and later fought in the Battle of Cowpens in the Carolinas. Rueben received a pension in 1818 of $8 per month. The older brother, Ephraim, was a planter in Brunswick County, Virginia who was a certified supplier providing material aid to the forces of the Revolution.

 

Two other sons from Robert’s second marriage to Jane Gilliam were Francis and William. Francis served as a private for several 3 month tours with the Virginia line that totaled more than 18 months, and thus received a pension of $5 per month. He fought in the famous Guilford Courthouse Battle in North Carolina. William, our direct ancestor, served as a Sargent with the 2nd Virginia Regiment, but unfortunately, there was apparently no pension application to describe his activities in the war.

 

January 13, 2018 Dennis Ayers

Before there was slavery in America, there was indentured servitude. The rapid growth of the colonies before 1700 created a tremendous need for labor. Without the aid of modern machinery, human sweat and blood was necessary for the planting, cultivation, and harvesting of tobacco and other cash crops. It is estimated that up to two-thirds of the European immigrants during this time were indentured servants. Gradually, however, by the late 1600s, slavery became the preferred method of obtaining cheap labor.

 

Against this backdrop, William JACKSON, arrived in Surry County, of the Virginia colony in 1679 as a 25 yr old indentured servant. Whether he came willingly or unwillingly to escape poverty or some other condition is unknown, but evidently he could not afford to pay his own passage. Instead he agreed to a 7 year contract to bind his labor in America in exchange for his passage as was customary in such cases. From lists of Tithables (taxable persons), he is listed in three different households between 1679 and 1686, so his contract was apparently sold or traded around. He was a husbandman, someone who cares after livestock. Beginning in 1687 he is listed as head of his own household, no doubt, after fulfilling his servitude contract. He is also on the roster of Surry County Militia of 1687.

 

Subsequently, William became a successful planter in Surry County, which is on the south side of the James River about halfway between the mouth of the river on the lower Chesapeake Bay, and the town that would later become Richmond, VA. It is believed his wife was Elizabeth O’hara.

 

William Jackson was born around 1654 in Hertfordshire, England, and was christened in the Anglican Church of England. This Church of England also became the religion of the Virginia colony. All colonists were to go to church twice every Sunday. William died in Jan 1710 in Surry County, VA. His will proven in Feb 1710 divides his estate between his wife and his children.

March 29, 2013 Dennis Ayers

Note: This is a new post inserted in January 2021

Isaac Newton Depew (IND) was born out of wedlock to Edward H Depew and Abigail Cupp. Without records, this parentage cannot be proven. However, it is highly probable based on DNA Forensic Analysis. Capt Isaac Depew was an uncle and William G. Depew was his cousin. Many researchers had previously thought William G. was his likely father, but the DNA, plus time and place strongly points to Edward.

Born around 1800 in Botetourt County, VA, Edward was the only son of John Depew Jr., and Mary “Polly” Seagraves. When John’s family migrated to Illinois, the first leg of their long journey followed the Wilderness Road through Southwest Virginia. There were encampments and resting stops along the way, as they traveled by wagon.

One regular resting stop was the settlement where the Wilderness Trail passed over Clinch Mountain through Moccasin Gap in Scott County. Today that settlement is called Gate City.

Abby Cupp was born about 1800 probably in Grayson County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Jacob S. Cupp and Sibitha “Sibby” Breeding. As a young woman, Abby lived as a single mother in Scott County, VA, through which the Wilderness Road passed. She apparently never married since she is found in every census from 1820 through 1850 as a single person. Although unmarried, Abby had a least six children by various partners.

One of her first partners around 1818 was evidently Edward Depew. Both still in their teens at the time, Edward and Abby would have had the opportunity to meet and interact during the Depew’s journey though Scott County. Whether this was a short romance between two young people, or just a transaction is up for conjecture. Their circumstances at the time are totally unknown. Regardless, Edward eventually continued on his way to Illinois, probably not realizing he had fathered a child, which would take the Depew name. This coupling scenario aligns very will with a story passed down through various Depew families that IND’s mother was a cook in a Virginia logging camp, and had a child with a man named Depew who subsequently left her.

Edward ultimately settled in Fayette County, IL. He married Priscilla Williams there in 1828 and had eight children with her before dying in 1848. The 1820 census for Scott County shows Abby living as a single mother with no young male in her household. However, her parent’s nearby household shows a very young male living with them. So, it is quite possible that IND spent part of his life living with his Cupp grandparents.

By 1830, the Jacob Cupp family along with many of their offspring, including Abby, had relocated to Claiborne County, TN, in an area which came to be known as Cupp Ridge. However, Abby still lived unmarried in a separate household up until she died before 1860. It appears that IND may have spent most of his early life in Claiborne County.

March 20, 2013 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Rev War FlagThe oldest child of John Depew and his wife Catharine was Isaac Depew, Sr., born in Sept 1758 in New Jersey. When the family moved to a farm near Fincastle in Botetourt County, VA. he moved with them, but at the age of 18 he enlisted in the militia to fight in the Revolutionary War. Per his pension application filed many years after the war, in 1776 and 1777 he served several 3 month tours of duty as a Private fighting the Cherokee Indians. These actions first brought him to be familiar with East TN. In 1780 he again joined the militia to repel the Cherokees, and earned the rank of Captain under Colonel Landon Carter.

 

In Oct 1780, Captain Isaac Depew was one of the 1040 volunteers from Tennessee called the Overmountain men who played a very significant role in defeating the British in the Battle of Kings Mountain. The men first gathered at Sycamore Shoals near Elizabethton, TN, and then marched 80 miles in 5 days across the mountains to join forces with about 400 North Carolina militia. Together they engaged the enemy led by Colonel Ferguson at Kings Mountain just below the South Carolina border. (Recall from a previous post about our AyersKINGS1 ancestors in the Rev War, that Elihu and Nathaniel Ayers fought with the NC militia.) The victory at Kings Mountain proved decisive in defeating the British in the South and eventually in gaining American independence. Isaac Depew also stated that he later took part in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781.

 

After the war, Isaac returned home to Virginia. However, by 1784 he had relocated to East Tennessee. By occupation he was a wheelright, cabinet maker and a farmer. He also became active politically when in 1799 he was appointed Commissioner of Jonesborough and in 1801 Commissioner of Washington County. He eventually settled at Rock Springs, in Sullivan County.  Between 1787 and 1850 he bought and sold land on a regular basis and at one point had accumulated 3000 acres on and near Bays Mountain.

 

Isaac Depew, Sr. married twice, first to Jane Jones in 1780, and then after she died to Virginia Grimes, a widow in 1804.  Altogether, he was the father of seventeen children. According to reports, the Depews were deeply religious people and highly skilled workmen. Isaac Depew had heirs Depew Chapelwho were magistrates, physicians, farmers and soldiers. A grandson, The Reverend William P. Depew, to whom he had given substantial land became a preacher in the Methodist Church and was held in very high regard by all who knew him. He gave the land, organized and help build Depew’s Chapel and served as its pastor. Several Depews are buried in the Chapel cemetery including Captain Isaac Depew. The church, located in the shadow of Bays Mountain near Kingsport, TN, is still in use today.

 

Captain Isaac Depew was one of the most respected men in his county. However, he became the subject of general notoriety when he became opposed in principle to the Congressional Act of 1832 which established pensions for service in the Revolutionary War. His complaint was that it allowed pensions to Isaac Depew TSpersons able to support themselves. He believed the Act was too liberal in its provisions, and those who did not need the aid obtained it too easily. He personally possessed property and good health and the ability to subsist without aid from the government. It is totally unclear then, why Isaac Depew eventually filed his own application in 1852. By that time he was already 94 years old and other volunteers who could have provided testimony of his service had already died before him. So the application was turned down due to lack of sufficient proof, and he died in 1854 without providing any additional information.

 

February 1, 2013 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

FactoidThe word Botetourt easily rolls off your tongue doesn’t it. Not for me! The local citizens of that county have no trouble with it though….they just pronounce it like “Bod – a – Tot”.  When I visited the area in 2000, I was amazed that they were able to twist the spelling to make it sound like that.

 

Botetourt County, VA is one of the oldest counties in the state and it was named in honor of Lord Botetourt, the governor of VA when the county was formed in 1770. The land consists of beautiful rolling foothills situated in the Shenandoah Valley between the Blue Ridge Mountain and the Appalachian Mountains. This is also where the James River originates before it travels to Richmond, VA and eventually to the lower Chesapeake Bay.

 

February 1, 2013 Dennis No comments exist

ImmigrantAs mentioned, Walter Depew migrated from France to Ludlow, England around 1695. We do not know who Walter married, but he had a son, John, who was born near Ludlow castle “in the North of England” in 1726. Thanks to the research of others including Josephine Depew Shelton a descendant, we believe that John came to America in 1748 while the  colonies were still under British rule. So, John was our American immigrant for the Depew line.

 

Also, in 1748, John married Catherine Shepherd in Princeton, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Later, they lived for a while in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, as records show there was a lawsuit in 1770 in which “John Depew Senr” was a party, and also in Lancaster County where “John Depew, freeman” was taxed 15 shillings in 1771 as a resident. John and Catherine had eight children.

 

Like many other Pennsylvania families, sometime prior to the Revolutionary War the familyPatriot moved southward and finally settled in Botetourt County, VA. John is then listed on Rev War roles as an officer in Captain Henry Heith’s Independent Company of Virginia Troops stationed at Fort Pitt in Pennsylvania in 1777 and 1778. So, it was ironic that John took up the fight as a colonist after being born as a British citizen.

 

After his war service, the earliest record of John Depew in Botetourt County shows that he surveyed a road there in September, 1778. Residents of the county were responsible for maintaining roads for the five miles nearest their property, and all men between the ages of 18 and 65 were required to work on the roads, and could be fined for not doing so.

 

Later, in Aug 1798, there was a survey for John Depew Sen’r of 370 acres on Glade Creek, on both sides of the Great Road (perhaps the Great Wagon Road?). John died at age 85 in April, 1811, after leaving a will made in June 1809. His wife, Catherine, also died that same year at age 80.

 

Botetourt
Botetourt County, Virginia

March 16, 2012 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Veatta Derrie was married to Marshall Whistleman in 1958. Although he never spoke of it, Marshall was a WW II veteran with horrible memories. Born in Staunton, VA, he was living in Baltimore Maryland when he enlisted in the Army in 1943 at the age of 18. It was during the middle of the war, and Marshall was assigned to the infantry and sent to the European Theater. There he saw action in France and Germany, earning three Bronze stars which are for “heroic or meritorious achievement or service”.

 

He was taken prisoner by the Germans near Strasburg, France on Nov 25, 1944. He was first taken to the Stalag 12A POW transition camp near Weisbaden and later transferred to the Stalag 9B work camp near Bad Orb. Thankfully, Marshall was freed May 8, 1945 when the Germans surrendered. The living conditions were especially awful at Stalag 12A and on the transfer trains. About half of all POWs died, but Marshall was one of the lucky ones.

 

After the war ended, he completed his service in the Army at Fort Myer, VA, where he served as a guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.  He left the Army in 1947 at the rank of Corporal.

 

January 2, 2012 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

 

Long before English Colonists arrived in North America, the Indians traversed a hunting trail from the North to the South through the Appalachian Valley called the Great Warrior’s Path.  Much of the trail followed the river they called the Shenandoah or “Daughter of the Stars”.  After the French and Indian War in the1750s, and as Colonists expanded into new territory to the South from Pennsylvania, they essentially followed the same route, and it became known as the Great Wagon Road.  Most of the German and Scotch-Irish settlers pushing out of Pennsylvania to find new lands followed this road southward as they could not easily scale the mountains to the West.  It was by far the most heavily traveled route to the Burke frontier in North Carolina.

 

The road began at the Schuykill River Ferry in Philadelphia, and ran west to Lancaster, crossing the Susquehanna River at Harris’s Ferry and then crossing the Potomac River at Williams Ferry (Williamsport, MD). The road took settlers down through the Appalachian Valley (now called the Shenandoah Valley) essentially following Route 81 in present day Virginia. At the present location of Roanoke, the road veered eastward through a gap in the Blue Ridge Mountain and once again turned south essentially following Route 220 today, crossing the Dan River and on into North Carolina.

 

January 2, 2012 Dennis No comments exist

Long before English Colonists arrived in North America, the Indians traversed a hunting trail from the North to the South through the Appalachian Valley called the Great Warrior’s Path.  Much of the trail followed the river they called the Shenandoah or “Daughter of the Stars”.  After the French and Indian War in the 1750s, and as Colonists expanded into new territory to the South from Pennsylvania, they essentially followed the same route, and it became known as the Great Wagon Road.  Most of the German and Scotch-Irish settlers pushing out of Pennsylvania to find new lands followed this road southward as they could not easily scale the mountains to the West.  It was by far the most heavily traveled route to the Burke frontier in North Carolina.

The road began at the Schuylkill River Ferry in Philadelphia, and ran west to Lancaster, crossing the Susquehanna River at Harris’s Ferry and then crossing the Potomac River at Williams Ferry (Williamsport, MD). The road took settlers down through the Appalachian Valley (now called the Shenandoah Valley) essentially following Route 81 in present day Virginia. At the present location of Roanoke, the road veered eastward through a gap in the Blue Ridge Mountain and once again turned south essentially following Route 220 today, crossing the Dan River and on into North Carolina.