404. John VAN METER
also spelled Van Metre
406. Edward STRODE
Edward STRODE was born about 1690, probably in France or Holland, the son of Edward Strode and ?.
He married Eleanor (or Elinor) Shepard
Their children, apparently all born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, were:
Susannah, born 29 May 1721;
Edward, born 2 June 1723 and died in 1749;
Letitia (or Letia)
James, born 26 December 1727, married (1) Anne Hamilton Forman in 1755 at Shephardstown, Berkeley County, had three daughters, married (2) Chloe (Cloey) Chenowith on 29 March 1787 at Berkeley County, they had two children, married (3) Elizabeth Fryatt in 1794, and died in 1795 at Berkeley County, West Virginia;
John (Capt.), born on 11 January 1729, married Mary Polly Boyle on 25 November 1758 at Culpepper County, Virginia, had twelve children, and died 18 August 1805 at Clark County, Kentucky and was buried at Strode Station, Graveyard, Clark County, Kentucky;
Jeremiah, born on 4 July 1732, married Margaret Foreman in 1758, had eight children, and died in 1785 at Berkeley County, West Virginia.
"No one is absolutely sure where Edward Strode lived after leaving Chester County, Pennsylvania. This is understandable since records are sketchy or non-existent in Virginia because of changing boundaries. For example, Berkeley County, West Virginia, was once Berkeley County, Virginia. The county was formed out of a part of Frederick County, Virginia in 1772; Frederick County from Orange County, in 1738; and Orange from Spotsylvania County in 1734.
"Edward eventually settled on Opequon Creek at the juncture with the Potomac River and built a stone fort which became known as the Strode Fort Farm. An article in the Kentucky Citizen said, 'In 1758, Edward Strode supplied provisions for the army in the French and Indian War. There are traditional stories of heroism on the part of the Strode women when the fort was attacked in the absence of men.'
"In the Berkeley County Deed Book 2, page 86, 10 June 1773, Edward Strode of Berkeley County sold to his son, Jeremiah Strode, for 100 pounds, part of a greater tract of land granted to Morgan Bryan by our Sovereign Lord the King, 3 October 1734, which was conveyed to Joseph Bryan 16 August 1744 and he to Edward Strode 14 May 1752. The land was located on Opequon Creek containing 360 acres. The land was part 'of a tract granted to Morgan Bryan for 1,250 acres.'
"Morgan Bryan's wife was Martha Strode, presumably Edward's sister. It is entirely plausible that the Edward Strode's made their way to Virginia with Morgan Bryan in the mid 1730's. Pennsylvania Archives III, Chester County Warranties of Land list Edward as selling 150 acres 29 January 1733. He presumably would do this to move to Virginia.
"There are land grants that show Edward transferring land to sons John and James in Frederick County (later Berkeley County), Virginia. A sale to John was for 400 acres, dated 4 April 1751.
"On 19 November 1761, Edward and Elinor, his wife, sold land on Opekon. On 7 June 1773, Edward Strode sold 360 acres to his son Jeremiah for L100. Elinor was still living in 1777 when she witnessed a deed. Bergen (Bergen Papers: Historic Record 12) quotes a letter dated 26 July 1786 that says, 'the Old Gentleman and Widow of Jeremiah Strode'. The old gentleman must have been Edward who would have been in his 90's at that time.
"Edward's age at death has been perpetuated at 108 years. There is no proof or mention of a year by anyone. It seems unlikely that he lived to 1795, which would make him 105, if born in 1690. Capt. James Strode was living in Berkeley County and he died in 1795. He was a wealthy man and left a detailed will mentioning his third wife and children and grandchildren by his first two wives. No mention was made of a father. He surely would have made provisions for an aged father, if the father was alive. It seems likely to the author that Edward died after July 1786 ad prior to 1795. If this is correct, Edward's age at death could have been 96 to 105 -- a very long life indeed. If he did live to be 108 (1690-1798) as perpetuated by tradition, he outlived four of his six children.
"There is very little hard evidence of what happened to Edward Strode's brothers, George, Samuel and William Strode. Elston theorizes that Samuel Strode lived in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the 1720's but moved to western Pennsylvania later. William, he suggests, lived in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. George seems to have disappeared.
"The Bryan-Boone traditions says that Morgan and Martha Strode Bryan had 5 children when they moved to Frederick County, Virginia, probably 1734. They had a total of nine children. The oldest was Joseph, who sold Edward Strode 360 acres of land in 1752.
"Elston quotes an article from the Virginia Historical Magazine that 'Alexander Ross and Morgan Bryan founded upon this grant a colony of Friends, which flourished for many years in Frederick County.' The Hopewell congregation was formed in 1734 with the church located 5 miles north of Winchester on the Opequon River and was probably the first organization of any denomination in the valley of Virginia. Morgan Bryan obtained several grants of land in the vicinity of Winchester, which bear the date of 12 November 1735."
416. Thomas BELL
Rev War Pension Papers #25227
The Bells In USA and Allied Families by G.Gina Bell
420. Henry FARNSWORTH Sr.
The families of Farnsworth in the United States and in Canada are all of English origin, and undoubtedly derive their name from one of two places in Lancashire, England, bearing the name of Farnsworth. One of them is in the parish of Prescott, not far from Liverpool, on the way to Manchester, in the Hundred of Salford.
The word is a Saxon descriptive compound, from fern (Anglo Saxon fearn), the fern plant, and worth, in Saxon English, a valuable farm, or estate, the whole signifying a ferny land, farm or estate, the places to which the name applied having been very productive of ferns.
Farnworth in the parish of Dean, was an ancient manor of about 1400 acres, with a manor court, and had upon it, a stone residence that bore the name of Farnworth Hall. It was standing and occupied as the manor house as late as Queen Elizabeth's time and perhaps a little later, but it was afterwards suffered to go to decay. It was probably occupied as a residence in the days of Joseph and Matthias Farnsworth, the early emigrants to this country. The old manor is now a town, and has become noted as a place for the manufacture of paper. The largest mills in that trade in England are there. It has a population of about 25,000.
The introduction of the "s" into the name is no doubt a corruption, and probably arose from some notion of euphony. The Groton (American) records almost uniformly spell the name without an "s" until about 1750; but the usage of the family had changed somewhat earlier. The pronunciation in early times in this country was probably as if spelled Farnoth, as it is spelled in some records.
So far as is known, three Farnsworths were the only emigrants of the name, who settled in America. They are Joseph, Matthias and Thomas.
Joseph Farnsworth of Dorchester came over with the Dorchester company in 1628. Matthias Farnsworth (more than likely a brother of Joseph) was residing at Lynn in 1657; he probably moved to Groton in 1660; he is the grandfather of Matthias, taken prisoner in 1704. Thomas Farnsworth, a Quaker, who apparently was connected in some way with the adventure of William Penn, came to Bordentown in 1681. In August 1704, Matthias Farnsworth III was taken prisoner by the Indians and carried into Canada, where he was delivered to the French. By the parish records of Montreal we see that he was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church there, and the record as made in French, gives his name as Matthias-Claude Farneth. The name Claude was given to him by his godfather, Claude de Ramezay, Governor of Montreal. The name Farneth is the appropriate spelling of Farnoth pronounced by the young prisoner. He was naturalized at Montreal and he married on the 2nd of October 1713, Catherine Charpentier, by whom he had twelve children
422. Robert ALLEN
Will written 4 Feb 1811, Probated 25 Jul 1811; Greene Co TN.
Will written 4 Feb 1811, Probated 25 Jul 1811; Greene Co TN.
Will written 4 Feb 1811, Probated 25 Jul 1811; Greene Co TN.
428. Thomas GOURLEY
Arrived in America 1768, to TN 1782
Revolutionary Soldier in PN, discharged in Yorktown in 1781
Son,Thomas applied for pension in 1855/pension denied
The Thomas Gourley Family SLC library #1035593
429. Martha MCNEELY
The Thomas Gourley Family/SLC library #1035593
430. John PATTON
The Thomas Gourley Family /SLC library #1035593
Received a warrent for a land claim in what became Carter County, Tenn. -28 Feb 1793, grant issued 7 Jul 1794 From "Roster of Soldiers and Patriots of the American Revolution Buried in Tennessee",Lucy Bates Womack, chairman,1974; revised 1979 by Helen Crawford Marsh, p.137 - John Patton was a private in the Cumberland County(Pa.) militia Pa. Archives, 5th series, Vol 6, p447, Captain Samuel Fintan's Company from Newtonship. From "The Kings Mountain Men" by Katherine Keough White, Genealogy Publishing Co., Baltimore, Md.,1970, page 215, Mary McKeehan born in England 1751, married John Patton in Carlisle, Pa. and they settled on Powder Creek in Carter County. Mary made gunpowder for a number of years and sold it for a dollar a pound. Mary furnished without pay five hundred pounds of powder for the Patriots of King's Mountain. On the monument in the public square in Elizabeton, Tenn., dedicated to the soldiers of all the American Wars, appears the name of Mary Patton. The Carter County Deed Book A records on 25 Sep 1818 a land sale by Mary Patton and heirs, which names all of her daughters and their husbands
431. Mary Jane MCKEEHAN
C:320, 321. 10 August 1801. John Patton to John Williams for $50, 50 A on a branch of Buffalo Crk, adj Brewer Megehin, Lusks, Samuel & John Lusks & Adam Hyder. John Patton reserves to his wf. Mary Patton, during her life that part where the sd Mary Patton now lives . . .& after her death to John Williams. John Macoy, Jurat & Nathaniel McNabb. Prvd Aug Court 1801C: 495. 21 Sep 1818. Mary ( ) Patton. John William & wf Joanna (X), James Gourley & wf Mary (X) Reuben Cox and wf Ann (0), Brewer (+) Mckehen & wf Margaret (+) & Nathan Peoples & wf Luvina, all of Carter Co except Peoples and wf, Washington Co., for $200, to Samuel Patton, all rights to land on Buffalo Crk incl Mary Patton Plantation, NC Grant #1167, adj Samuel Lusk, Pattersons old line & Brewer Mckeehens. Andrew Taylor, Jurat, Saml Lusk, Jurat & James Edens jr. Prvd may Court 1820.
In 1980 the Rocky Mount Historical Association published a booklet, Mary Patton Powder Maker of the Revolution. I purchased a copy of this in early 1990. I had not been able to validate that Mary did make and give gun power for the "Over the Mountain Men" who were in the Kings Mountain Battle. I had found inferences and recall my mother speaking of this--she was named for her two grandmothers--Mary Patton and Eliza Melvin. she was not one to boast, and it seems every line of this family that I have met knows something about this story. I noted that one of my former college history professors was a contributor to this booklet so I contacted him as to where I might find validation. He was more or less insulted to find his name associated as he felt this was truly folklore. I do not, but have not proved otherwise. The booklets are no longer available, and I understand they will not be reprinted until the story has been validated. Maybe one of you can do that. Apparently, as the story goes, Mary did not accept pay, and thus there was no record.
Frances Snow
343 E. Rocket Road
Lorena, Texas 76655-4125Arrived in PA from England. Settled in Carlisle, PA. She was born in England. She lived in PA where there were several McKeehan's from Ireland. I suspect that here lineage is from Ireland, and she was born while her parents were in transit through England on the way to the Americas. Mary and her husband John Patton ran a powder mill around Carlisle. As the revolutionary War moved wesward in to PA, they closed their mill for fear of British reprisial and moved to TN. During the Revolutionary War, Mary McKeehan Patton, aka. Gun Powder Mary, ran a powder mill on Powder Branch near Elizabethton, TN and made gun powder for the Colonists.
432. John BAYLESS
DAR #485152:copy from Gen Service Adm.: Land Grants in Washington Co.
TN: Will Book 1,Pg 141, Washington Co. TN
Bulletin of the Watauga Assoc of Genealogist/Vol VII 1978
433. Ann PRICE
father was General Price of Loudon Co. VA
436. Thomas GOURLEY
Arrived in America 1768, to TN 1782
Revolutionary Soldier in PN, discharged in Yorktown in 1781
Son,Thomas applied for pension in 1855/pension denied
The Thomas Gourley Family SLC library #1035593
437. Martha MCNEELY
The Thomas Gourley Family/SLC library #1035593
438. John PATTON
The Thomas Gourley Family /SLC library #1035593
Received a warrent for a land claim in what became Carter County, Tenn. -28 Feb 1793, grant issued 7 Jul 1794 From "Roster of Soldiers and Patriots of the American Revolution Buried in Tennessee",Lucy Bates Womack, chairman,1974; revised 1979 by Helen Crawford Marsh, p.137 - John Patton was a private in the Cumberland County(Pa.) militia Pa. Archives, 5th series, Vol 6, p447, Captain Samuel Fintan's Company from Newtonship. From "The Kings Mountain Men" by Katherine Keough White, Genealogy Publishing Co., Baltimore, Md.,1970, page 215, Mary McKeehan born in England 1751, married John Patton in Carlisle, Pa. and they settled on Powder Creek in Carter County. Mary made gunpowder for a number of years and sold it for a dollar a pound. Mary furnished without pay five hundred pounds of powder for the Patriots of King's Mountain. On the monument in the public square in Elizabeton, Tenn., dedicated to the soldiers of all the American Wars, appears the name of Mary Patton. The Carter County Deed Book A records on 25 Sep 1818 a land sale by Mary Patton and heirs, which names all of her daughters and their husbands
439. Mary Jane MCKEEHAN
C:320, 321. 10 August 1801. John Patton to John Williams for $50, 50 A on a branch of Buffalo Crk, adj Brewer Megehin, Lusks, Samuel & John Lusks & Adam Hyder. John Patton reserves to his wf. Mary Patton, during her life that part where the sd Mary Patton now lives . . .& after her death to John Williams. John Macoy, Jurat & Nathaniel McNabb. Prvd Aug Court 1801C: 495. 21 Sep 1818. Mary ( ) Patton. John William & wf Joanna (X), James Gourley & wf Mary (X) Reuben Cox and wf Ann (0), Brewer (+) Mckehen & wf Margaret (+) & Nathan Peoples & wf Luvina, all of Carter Co except Peoples and wf, Washington Co., for $200, to Samuel Patton, all rights to land on Buffalo Crk incl Mary Patton Plantation, NC Grant #1167, adj Samuel Lusk, Pattersons old line & Brewer Mckeehens. Andrew Taylor, Jurat, Saml Lusk, Jurat & James Edens jr. Prvd may Court 1820.
In 1980 the Rocky Mount Historical Association published a booklet, Mary Patton Powder Maker of the Revolution. I purchased a copy of this in early 1990. I had not been able to validate that Mary did make and give gun power for the "Over the Mountain Men" who were in the Kings Mountain Battle. I had found inferences and recall my mother speaking of this--she was named for her two grandmothers--Mary Patton and Eliza Melvin. she was not one to boast, and it seems every line of this family that I have met knows something about this story. I noted that one of my former college history professors was a contributor to this booklet so I contacted him as to where I might find validation. He was more or less insulted to find his name associated as he felt this was truly folklore. I do not, but have not proved otherwise. The booklets are no longer available, and I understand they will not be reprinted until the story has been validated. Maybe one of you can do that. Apparently, as the story goes, Mary did not accept pay, and thus there was no record.
Frances Snow
343 E. Rocket Road
Lorena, Texas 76655-4125Arrived in PA from England. Settled in Carlisle, PA. She was born in England. She lived in PA where there were several McKeehan's from Ireland. I suspect that here lineage is from Ireland, and she was born while her parents were in transit through England on the way to the Americas. Mary and her husband John Patton ran a powder mill around Carlisle. As the revolutionary War moved wesward in to PA, they closed their mill for fear of British reprisial and moved to TN. During the Revolutionary War, Mary McKeehan Patton, aka. Gun Powder Mary, ran a powder mill on Powder Branch near Elizabethton, TN and made gun powder for the Colonists.
450. George MYERS
The Will of George Myers (typed with words as spelled on original)
In the name of God amen, I George Myers of Washington County and state of
Pennsylvania being weake & low in sickness but being perfect sound of
memory blessed be to God, do this sixth day of August in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety four do make and bublish this
my last will and testament in the manner following, that is to say, first
I give and bequeath my soul to God and my body to a Christian burial and
as to my worldly goods, I divide them as follows, to wit, First I give and
bequeath to my deerly beloved wife the little hume (?) her bed and
furnature and all the puter (pewter?) her lifetime and the two boys, to
wit, Jacob and George her sons to maintain her, her lifetime in a good
deason living and her bed and furnature and puter to be at her own
disposal at her decease and if they do not comply with this to her
satisfaction then they must give her twenty pounds per year her lifetime
or the thirds of all real and personal estate for the time aforward. And
next I give and bequeath to my sons Jacob and George all my real and
personal estate to be equally divided between them bouth and Jacob to live
in the house I now live in till George comes to age and both of them to
work the place together and to give George the one third of all that is
raised on this place til he the said George comes to age and then George
is to have the house and this end of the place and Jacob the other end of
this said place & Jacob is to see he gets schooling while under age and
the said George is to help Jacob to build & to place an orchad on the
other end of this place as much as is on this end and to let Jacob have
half the fruit on this orchad till his comes to be as good as this is now.
& likewise I give to my daughter Elizabeth Tater twelve pounds & likewise
Marge Hiller (?) Ten pounds likewise my daughter Mary Ceatcham Ten Pounds
& likewise my daughter Sarrah Seaton Eight pounds & the foresaid girls is
to be paid out of the moveable estate at the praisement on grain as the
boys can spare but not to be pushed for it under two years after my
decease & likewise I give to my two daughters that is not yet maried one
bed and furnature one cow one saddle & bridle and one spinning wheel. To
each of them likewise Ten pounds in other household furnature to each of
them in two years after my decease if maried and likewise in four years
after my deceas each of the two garles to get ten pounds more in household
furnature and likewise Rachal is to live with her mother & take care of
her till she comes to age and have her maintainance with her mother & the
boys to give her schooling in the time. And I make Jacob Myers & James
Hughes Executors of this my will in trust for the intents and purposes in
this my will contained and I make friend Ja's Hughes overseer of this will
to take care and see the same purformed according to my true intent and
meaning and in witness whereof I the said George Myers have to this my
last will & testament set my hand & seal the day and year above written.Signed and sealed delivered by the said George Myers as and for his last
will and testament in the presents of us who are present at the signing &
sealing thereof.James Hughes George Myers SEAL
Elizabeth Worford (her mark)
Susanna Myers
Be it remembered that on the nineteenth day of May AD 1795 the above named
Jacob Myers and James Hughes, Elizabeth Orford and Susanna Myers appeared
in the Registers office in Washington County and after being duly sworn
saith that they were personally present and did see and hear the above
named George Myers sign, seal, publish, pronouce and declare the above and
written instrument in writing as and for his last will and testament and
at the time thereof the said testator was of sound well disposing mind
memory and understanding to the the best of the said deponents observation
and belief
Samuel Clarke, RegisterBe it remembered that on the nineteenth day of May AD 1795 Jacob Myers &
James Hughes the executors in the within and annexed will named and
appointed were duly qualified according to Law.
Samuel Clarke,, Register
472. Benjamin BELLOMY
Benjamin Bellomy lived with his wife and children and his elderly father, John, on. John's land on Ballenger Creek in Fluvanna Co., Va., during the Revolutionary War. Benjamin brother, John, Jr., went to the war and while he was away in the war, Benjamin and his father were forced to sell part of the land, probably in order to survive, as the British had the people of Fluvanna Co. surrounded during this time. When John Jr. returned from the war, he was unhappy that Benjamin had sold part of the land, so he took Benjamin and the Askews (who had bought the land) to court. After a 3-year long court battle, the two brothers finally agreed to divide their father, John's, land equally. John, Jr. got the land that lay North of the Broken Back Church Road, and Benjamin receive the land that lay South of the Broken Back Church Road. During the Revolution, the Anglican Church priest fled for their lives so birth, deaths, marriage, etc.. were often not recorded during the Revolutionary period. This is why we cannot be absolutely positive that James and Jackson were Benjamin sons. However, his brother, John Jr., left a will, so we know that James and Jackson were not John Jr.'s boys. And since the census lists only two Bellomys in Fluvanna County, we believe that Benjamin is the father of James and Jackson.
474. William PACE
Pace Society in America
The Winegar Tree
D.A.R. application #339539
Deed Book 3, page 35, Scott Co. VA