Monday, January 27, 2020

Andrew Crockett - Pt 1

Andrew Crockett was born about 1725. The name of his father is not certain, suggestions have been Robert, Alexander, James, William and more.  Records suggest his mother was Martha and that he had two brothers and three sisters, all of whom resided in the area around Cumberland County, Pennsylvania as adults.

By 1743 the Penns would no longer sell land to Scotch Irish in Lancaster, Lebanon, Dauphin, York and Adams counties.  However, they made generous offers of land in the Cumberland Valley. In 1731 there were only 400 families in this area but the numbers increased sharply up to the Revolution when the area was 90% Scotch Irish.

Andrew was taxed in Allen Township, Cumberland County.  In 1752 there is an Andrew taxed on 100 acres, 2 horses, three cows and a sheep.  Andrew would have been 27 that year and was not married so it is possible that he was not a head of household and that listing is for another Andrew in the area.
Records suggest that there was an older generation with similar names to his family.


But it does seem likely that the 1769 listing is for our Andrew, and the listing is similar showing 100 acres, 87 with value, 2 horses and two cows


In 1770 Andrews land was surveyed and recorded.  It consisted of 102 acres and adjoined the land of his brother George.  It seems likely that this is the same land that he was taxed on in 1769 and perhaps even the same as 1752.  As his mother is listed in that tax list, it is possible that his father was deceased and his lands split among his family.

On 9 Sep 1785 Andrew recorded another 81 acres received by warrant, most likely an award for his war service.  This land was adjacent to his original 102 acres.

A description of Andrew's lands, known as Dalebrook and Springfield, was found in a sale advertisement after his death.

 " A tract of patented limestone, containing 190 acres, and allowance, situate on Yellow Breeches Creek, within 5 miles of the borough of Carlisle, adjoining Mr. Michael Ege's Iron Works.  On said premises are a log house and barn, a bearing orchard, a never failing spring of water, within a few perches of the door, about 80 or 90 acres of upland and about 7 acres of Meadow ground clear and under good fence, and the remainder of the land is well timbered."

The land was sold to David Magowen, the husband of Andrew's daughter Elizabeth, for eleven hundred pounds lawful money of Pennsylvania on the 2nd of Sep 1799. 


Thursday, October 11, 2018

John Oaks

John Oakes was born about 1802 in Coits Gore, VT the son of John and Esther Cochran.  Little is known of his early life. 

He was most likely married twice, but no record of a first marriage for John has been found.  His first three children were born between 1822 and 1826 and there is enough evidence to show that his second wife, Sarah (Sally) Town, did not marry him until 1829.  As he was twice a witness to land records for Luther Poland, it might be worth looking for a relationship there.

"John Oakes, Jr was a witness of John Lock deed to James Horner 1827 in Waterville. Also witness of Ephraim Stevens deed to Luther Poland 1822 along with Moses Fisk and when Luther Poland sold to Aaron Pinney 1826. He witnessed a sale of Stephen Miller to Amos Willey, page 54. This property was on north part of lot 42, bounded on east by John Oakes, widow Brown, Ephraim Stevens, O. McFarland, Ira Olmstead. "

In her application for a pension Sally Town Oakes stated  that she was married to her son Oberon's father on 26 December 1829 at North Hero, Vermont, by John Knight.  North Hero appears to have been originally written North Hill, then Hill was written over to appear as Hero.

Confirmation of the marriage of Sarah Town and John Oakes can be found in a land deed in North Hero, Vermont dated July 30, 1845, registered as James Woodward to Edmund Town. James Woodward was married to Hannah, Sarah's sister;  and Edmund was Sarah's brother.   This deed held with the Hero Town Records and Deeds states in  Paragraph Two:  "To have and to hold all our rights, title and interest which we have in and to the said Pilots Point lot and quit clamed premises as heirs to the estate of Silas Town, deceased, with the appertunances thereof to the said Edmond Town, his heirs and assigns to his and their proper use and behoof forever, and furthermore we the said James Woodward and Hannah (Town) his wife;  John Oaks and Sally his wife;  and Jabez B. Town do for ourselves, our heirs executors and administrators covenant with said Edmund Town.........that we the said Jabez, James & Hannah his wife, John and Sally his wife will have and claim no right in or to the above released and quit claimed premises......

In witness thereof we have hereunto set our hands and saith this 30th day of July AD 1845, signed sealed and delivered  Jabez B. Town, James Woodward, Hannah Woodward in presence of W. Kenzie Payne, G.F. Cooke.    Augusta Knight (for James Woodward),

John Oaks, Sally Oaks, Nancy Hibbard (&Hannah Woodward)........................  There personally appeared the within named Jabez Town, James Woodward and John Oaks, signers and sealers of the foregoing written instrument and acknowledged the same to be their free act and deed..........

Before me Augustus Knight, Justice Peace State of Vermont North Hero Grand Isle County July 30.1845. "

Allen Stratton's  History Town of North Hero Vermont mentions that an Account Book to the store located at City Bay (then called Ladd's Bay) listed, on Oct. 9, 1826, Sally Town making a purchase on account. Since she was using the name Town and this is after the birth dates of Orson (1822) and Emery (1824), she is, almost certainly, not their mother. 

John sold his last property holdings in North Hero, Grand Island Co., VT in 1841. On 11 Nov 1842, the Burlington Free Press reported that John would be declared bankrupt in the office of Samuel Prentiss, District Judge, on 14 Dec in Montpelier.  On 10 May 1843 the paper reported his discharge.



The family moved to Missouri before 1847.  According to daughter Caroline, who claims to have been born on the New York side of Lake Champlain, John brought his family down the river to Quincey, IL and from there by ox team to Shelby County, MO where his brother Truman was already living.

In 1850 the were living in Shelby County.  Orson was living next door with his new wife Mary Nichols Madkins Oakes and her seven children. In close proximity was the family of Edward Naylor.  No land records for John were found in Shelby county, it seems likely he was living on land owned by Truman.






Shortly thereafter, John patented two lots in Knox county,  40 acres on 9/23/1853 and 80 acres on 1/18/1855 at $1.25 an acre.  These were first sale patents from the government.  John and Sallie first settled in the Locust Grove neighborhood and later moved to a farm north of Pelvna in Knox County. 


The 40 acres were deeded to Jabez Barnes on 4/10/1860 along with the land that Bronson sold to Jabez.

John died in 1856/1857 leaving his estate to his large family.  In 8 Jan 1867 his descendants signed over to Melvina Newell, one of the daughters, the rights to some land.

The 1860 Knox Co., MO Census shows Sally Oaks 56  in a household with dau. Lauretta 21, Albert T. Turner 30, Eusebia Turner 29, and a boy named John H. Harden 6.

Sally Oakes is also mention in the History of Monroe and Shelby Counties, Missouri, 1884 as a member of the Shelbyville Christian Church, one of the earliest members from it's organization in 1839.
 
On 16 January 1884 the Shelbina Democract reported, in a column called From Shelbyville, that "Old Mrs. Oaks died and was buried last week. She has been a resident of the county for a long time and died at a very advanced age."

John Oaks - Dropbox

Thursday, September 27, 2018

The Children of William Naylor

William had eight known children four with each wife.


According to her daughter, Flora,
Leacy attended Madame Capon's
Boarding School in Pennsylvania.  
  1. Leacy Ann (1804-1843) married Angus William McDonald III.  McDonald like his father-in-law was a member of the Romney Literary Society and a Prosecuting Attorney in Hampshire County.  He served as a Colonel in the Confederate Army under Lee.  He died 1 Dec 1864 in the home of his daughter in Richmond.  Leacy and Angus had 9 children. After Leacy's death Angus married Cornelia Peake and had 10 more children.  
    1. Mary Naylor McDonald (1827-1901) m. Thomas Claiborne Green
    2. Angus William McDonald (1829-1914)
    3. Ann Sanford McDonald (1830-   ) m. James Williams Green
    4. Edward Allen Hitchcock McDonald (1832-1912)
    5. William Naylor McDonald (1834-1898)
    6. Marshall McDonald (1835-1895)
    7. Craig Woodrow McDonald (1837 - 1862) 
    8. Susan McDonald (1839- 1930) m. John Beverly Stanard
    9. Flora McDonald (1842 - )  Flora never married.  She was the author of the Glengarry  McDonalds 
  2. Jane (1806- ) m Chichester Tapscott
    1. Ann Tapscott
    2. Sam Tapscott
    3. John Tapscott
  3. Ann Sanford (Nancy) (1810-  ) m. Joseph William Bronaugh, MD
    1. William Naylor Bronaugh (1833-1862)
    2. Francis Bronaugh (1837 -  )
    3. Rosa Bronaugh (1845 - )
    4. Joseph William Bronaugh (1847- )
    5. Rev. James  S Naylor
    6. Florence May Bronaugh (1849 - )
  4. William Naylor  (1813 -  )  possibly to Howard County MO where he married Nancy Bragg, had at least four children and died in 1904.  Proof this is the right person has not been confirmed.
  5. Edward Ralph
  6. Millicent S (1815 - ) Millicent lived with her mother in Missouri. She never married
  7. James (1821-1874) a minister who settled in Mississippi m. Ann Graham 
    1. Eliza (1846 - )
    2. Judith (1852 -  )
    3. Mary (1855 - )
    4. Anna (Nannie) (1856 - )
  8. John Samuel (1824-1856) a medical Dr.  John died in Selby County MO less than two months before his brother Edward m. Virginia Comford

Thursday, September 13, 2018

William Naylor

pt 3.

1 first discovered the identity of William Naylor who died in Hampshire County, VA (WV) through a probate filing in Missouri.  That filing led to the original probate in Virginia and the wealth of information I found on William and his family there.

William died 4 Mar 1840 in Romney leaving his wife Susan (McGuire) and eight children by his two wives.  Susan moved to Selby County, Missouri where he oldest son Edward had settled sometime before 1850.  At that time the estate of William had still not been totally settled and Susan had brought slaves with her from Virginia.  In order to sort it all out probate documents were filed in Missouri but not before a few lawsuits had also been filed.

This is the will of William Naylor.  At the time of his death he had 11 slaves.  Although he didn't free them directly on his death, he did direct that they could not be sold for life and gave a timetable for manumission of all but the oldest who he said should be cared for for life.  When Susan died in 1850 the slaves were placed in the care of son Edward, some were rented out to William Moffat.  Edward in the meantime died in 1856 and when executor of the estate Edward McDonald tried to gain possession Moffat claimed ownership.  resulting in a lawsuit in 1859 in Missouri.











William Naylor - Probate Files including MO lawsuit  


William Naylor pt 1
William Naylor pt 2

Thursday, August 30, 2018

William Naylor

Pt 2
From 1801 on William was taxed in Hampshire County, VA where he had fifty acres on Town Run. He gradually increased his holdings.  By 1806 he had added slaves to his property, and in the years 1809-1811 he paid takes on a chair carriage.

In 1808 he used two treasury warrants to put together a land holding of 355 acres.  He continued to buy land over the years, but as it appears he was a middleman in some of the documents, it is difficult to ascertain the exact lands that he held.



Nancy Sanford Naylor died between 1810 and 1813 and William married Susan McGuire the daughter of Edward.  The had four children, Edward (1813), Millicent (1815), James (1821) and John Samuel (1824).

In January 1818 William was elected as a director of the Valley Bank Branch in Romney.  His brother-in-law Edward McGuire was elected as a director of the of the company at large.

In 1822 William was appointed as a School commissioner for the year. He was also an active member of the Romney Literary Society.  The Romney Literary society met between two and four times a month to discuss the times.  They collected dues of 25 cents with which they bought books for a library.  It was against the society bylaws to publish the text of any speeches from their meetings.  The members went on record as supporting public school education over private.

 Between 1818 and 1829, William was the prosecuting attorney for Hampshire County.  He became involved in politics, serving on the constitutional committee and eventually running for congress.


Sketches of Members of the Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830
______________________________________________________________________________








William Naylor - pt 1




Thursday, August 16, 2018

William Naylor

Part 1 - William Naylor was born about 1771 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania according to various sources, which go on to state his father was William Naylor and his mother an Armstrong.  Supposedly his grandfather is Robert Naylor, a Quaker from Darby, PA and his wife Elizabeth.  The sources go on to state that he was a graduate of Dickenson College who moved to lower Virginia in 1793 and on to Winchester in 1795 where he taught in Rev. Dr. Hill's school and studied law.  He was listed as a practicing attorney in Winchester in 1812.  Unfortunately, some of the information culled from these resources was wrong, but they did provide a starting point for researching William.

Old West - Dickenson College built 1805
William Naylor was born about 1771 probably in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the son of Ralph Naylor and Leacy Armstrong.  Growing up in Carlisle, he lived close to Dickenson School.  Dickenson was chartered as a grammar school in 1773 and as a college in 1783.  It was housed in a small two-room brick building on Liberty Avenue, near Bedford and Pomfret Streets Until 1799.  Unfortunately few records seem to be available from those early years, and to date I have found no corroboration of his attendance.  We do, however, know that he was educated, so attendance at least of the grammar school seems likely.

William was not found in the 1800 census in Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Maryland where he married his first wife later that year.  Most likely he was a resident in another household.  High on the list of possibilities would be that of Rev. William Hill.  Dr. Hill was instrumental in the establishment of the Presbytery of Winchester in 1794 and became Pastor of the same in 1800.  No mention of a school has been found in the biographies of Rev. Dr. Hill, but it seems probable that he might have run one, and it is definitely possible that William might have taught there as he pursued his studies in law.  His stint as a teacher, and marriage to Nancy are corroborated by his  granddaughter, Flora McDonald Williams,  in her family history, Glengarry McDonalds of Virginia.

On 2 Oct 1800 William married Ann (Nancy) Sanford of Allegheny County, Maryland.  Records show that he had been helping her father, William Sanford with the purchase of land in Hampshire county. 

William and Nancy took up residence in Romney Hampshire county, Virginia (now WV).  They had four known children
1. Leacy Ann m. Col. Angus William McDonald III, CSA , they had nine known children
2. Jane m. Chester Tapscott  they had three known children
3. Ann Sanford (Nancy) m. Dr. Joseph William Bronaugh they had five known children
4. William m. Nancy Bragg they had four known children 

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Edward Ralph Naylor and Cornelia Myers

Edward Ralph Naylor was born on 7 Aug 1813 in Romney, Hampshire County, Virginia (now West Virginia).  He was the oldest of four children of William Naylor and Susan McGuire.  He also had four older half siblings, the children of William and Nancy Sanford.

William's father died in 1837 and Edward moved to Missouri along with a number of his siblings.

There he met Cornelia Myers the daughter of Jacob Francis Myers and Elizabeth.  Elizabeth brought her  daughter to Missouri after the death of her husband in Virginia.  Cornelia and Edward were married on 9 Sep 1841.


In 1850 the family is living in District 94 in Shelby County, Missouri. Besides Edward and Cornelia, there are four children and Cornelia's mother Elizabeth Myers. Slave schedules for the district also show one 8 year old male slave.  By 1856 there were two additional children.

Then tradgedy struck.  It was most likely cholera that took five year old Gilbert in July of 1856.  Edward's death followed on 18th August.

Edward left a good estate for his wife and children.  With no will the property passed mainly to his wife.  Those items that were sold netted Cornelia over $1000, a goodly sum in the years before the Civil War.

Cornelia continued farming the land for the next six years. Millicent, Edward's unmarried sister, moved in to help.  Then in 1862 Cornelia became the third wife of Matison Vanosdol.  They had two children, Craig born in 1863 and Mattie born in 1865.  In 1877 tragedy struck again, both Craig and Mattie died within a month of each other.



At this time Cornelia left the home she had shared with Matison.  The 1880 Census finds her in the home of her son James Monroe Naylor. When James moved to Colorado permanently she moved in with another son John Meyer Naylor.  This is where she was living when she died at the age of 76 in 1896.

Cornelia is buried  in Kings Graveyard near Pelvna, with the Vanosdols, including Craig and Mattie.  Edward is buried in the Naylor Cemetery on the old homestead in Bethel township along with son Gilbert.

The Children of Edward Ralph Naylor and Cornelia Myers
  1. Susan McGuire  1842 MO - 1930 NM m. James Redd Brawner
  2. William  
  3. John Monroe  1846 MO - 1933 MO
  4. Edward Ralph 1849 MO - 1925
  5. Gilbert Francis 1851 MO - 1856 MO
  6. James Monroe 1854 MO - 1935 CO