1810 Stephenson Deed (Washington, TN) - Amanuensis Monday

Thanks to John at Transylvanian Dutch who originated the Amanuensis Monday meme, providing a framework (and nudge) for transcribing family records, news clippings and other treasures.

This deed, copied from the Washington County (TN) Registrar of Deeds Office, involves my 4th great-grandfather John Stephenson. 

Deed
Elias Bowman
To
John Stephenson

This Indenture made on the fifth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ten Between Elias Bowman of the one part and John Stephenson of the other Part both of the County of Washington and state of Tennessee
Witnesseth that the sd Elias Bowman for and in consideration Of the Sum of twelve hundred Dollars to him in hand paid by the said John Stephenson the receipt whereof is  hereby acknowledged he the said Elias Bowman hath bargained and Sold and by these _______ doth En__ off and convey to the said John Stephenson a certain tract of land lying and being In the County afforesaid on the waters of big limestone creek And bounded as followeth (To Wit)    Beginning at a white oak dogwood and gum thence South eighty Eight Degrees West one hundred and thirty six poles to a black Oak and poplar thence north one hundred and twelve poles to a white oak thence West one hundred and forty poles to a black oak and post thence South eighty three poles to a post oak and black Oak thence South thirty five East two hundred and twenty six poles to a to a white oak and stake thence north fifty degrees East one hundred And ninety two poles to a stake thence north thirty six poles To the Beginning    Containing two hundred and twenty Eight acres be the Same more or less which tract of Land with all the appurtenances therunto belonging the said Elias Bowman for himself and his heirs doth warrent and will forever Defend unto the said John Stephenson his heirs and assigns as an Indefensible inheritance in fee simple In Witness whereeof The said Elias Bowman have herunto set my Hand and affixed my seal the day and year above written
Signed Sealed and Delivered
In preasence of                        Elias Bowman {seal}              
Wm Tyler          }
M. Stephenson}  State of Tennessee}  February Sessions 1811

Ebeneazer Frain     }    Washington County}      Then this deed was proven          

                                                                                        In court and recorded let it 

be registered

Test  Jas Sevier Sheriff

by his dept Jn_ C Harris

State of Tennessee
Washington County
 Thereon duly registered in the registers office    John Adams
  of said County _____                                       County register

Notes 

The land Stephenson purchased lay east of the Big Limestone Creek, most likely in the area south of Leesburg (where two of his daughters lived) and north of Washington College. Stephenson and his wife, Elizabeth Cloyd Stephenson, were members of Salem Presbyterian Church and are buried in the Salem Church graveyard at Washington College.

Source

Washington, Tennessee, Deed Books, 12: 337, Elias Bowman to John Stephenson, 5 Nov 1810.  

                               

Mary Stephenson Wyly - Tombstone Tuesday

SACRED

to the memory of 

MARY N. WYLY

Consort of 

SAMUEL ?. WYLY

Died March 7th 1851

Aged 31 years & 4 months

Mary Wyly is buried at Leesburg Presbyterian Church (Leesburg, TN) where her husband, the Rev. Samuel Wyly, preached.  She was my third great great-aunt. 

According to our McAdams Family Record she was born 7 Nov. 1819 and married Samuel G. Wyly on 28 Sep. 1841. She was the daughter of John and Eliza Cloyd Stephenson, who are buried down the road at Washington College. 

Stephenson~Cloyd 1808 Marriage Bond - Amanuensis Monday

Thanks to John at Transylvanian Dutch who originated the Amanuensis Monday meme, providing a framework (and nudge) for transcribing family records, news clippings and other treasures.

During my summer research travels I stopped at the Rockbridge County (VA) Clerk's office and asked to see the marriage bond for my 4th great-grandparents'. They brought out the document, encased in mylar (I hope) and allowed me to handle it carefully and photograph it.

 

Stephenson~Cloyd Marriage Bond

Know all men by these presents that we John Stephenson & Joseph Cloyd are held and firmly bound unto Wm. H. Cabell governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia & his successors in office for the use of the commonwealth in the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars to ___ which payment well & truly to be made we bind ourselves our heirs executors & jointly & severally firmly by these presents Witness our hands & seals the 13th day of Septem 1808  The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas there is a marriage shortly intended to be solemnized between the above bound Stephenson and Elizabeth Cloyd, Daughter of David Cloyd, decd ______
If therefore there shall be no lawful cause to obstruct the same then this obligation to be void otherwise to remain in full force and virtue

J Stephenson {seal}

Jos Cloyd {seal}

Teste William Anderson

Notes: Joseph Cloyd was Elizabeth's brother. Her mother, also named  Elizabeth was still living. John and Elizabeth were married by his maternal uncle, Rev. Samuel Houston, at Natural Bridge. It was Rev. Houston's habit to marry couples outdoors at Natural Bridge. I took the picture below the same day I photographed the marriage bond. The small white dots at the foot of the bridge's arches are people. It's hard to imagine a more majestic setting.

Source: Rockbridge, Virginia, John Stephenson/Elizabeth Cloyd Marriage Bond, 13 Sep 1808; Rockbridge County Clerk's Office, Lexington.  

At the end of the road - Tombstone Tuesday

When I arrived in Washington County, Tennessee after following the same path south as my Scots-Irish Presbyterian ancestors (though far more comfortably and rapidly), I went first to the cemeteries dotting the countryside around the Big Limestone Creek where they settled. 

At Salem Cemetery, located on the grounds of Washington College, I found the fading markers for my 4th great-grandparents John and Elizabeth Cloyd Stephenson and for John's mother, Alice Houston Stephenson. I am a novice gravestone photographer and these are almost impossible to read without ones fingers tracing the letters. I've transcribed the engraving as best I can. Selecting individual photographs will allow you to make out some of the lettering.

              memory of

Elizabeth Stephenson

Born October 15^th 17  

Died March 30^th 18  

aged 61 years &         

             memory of

John Stephenson

Born May 2 th 1779

Died March 24^th 1842

aged _ 2 & 10 months

            memory of

Alice Stephenson

Born August 1_th 1749

Died February 27^th 1832

aged 82 years & 6 months

The Road

By freefotouk

I am home. My genealogy dream trip this summer lasted five and half weeks, covered 4,800 miles (lots of backtracking involved, but I could drive Interstate 81 for years and not mind), stays in 4 states and the District of Columbia, visits to the National Archives, the DAR Library, the Library of Virginia, the Mary Ball Washington Library, the Archives of Appalachia, two courthouses, eight cemeteries, family homes and even living, breathing family members. I had dinner three nights with fellow geneabloggers (completely wonderful!), ate my first Ethiopian meal with my fabulous niece, caught up with a college friend I'd not seen in years, and looked at microfilm until my eyes and brain were completely crossed. I have thousands of images to sort through and assess. But I do believe that's for another day. A la Scarlett O'Hara, I'll think about that tomorrow.

What I have been thinking about is how I was able to travel the distance of my ancestors lives in a matter of hours. My Scots-Irish family migrated south through the Shenandoah Valley from western Pennsylvania to Tennessee over several generations. One morning I woke in Lexington, VA and visited the Rockbridge County Courthouse. I saw the original marriage bond for my 4th great-grandparents, John Stephenson and Elizabeth Cloyd. That afternoon, after driving south on I-81, I visited their graves at the Salem Cemetery in Washington County, TN. I stayed in Jonesborough, where Elizabeth started a school for girls in 1820.

I remember traveling through Virginia before the interstate was built, before cars had air conditioners, when  a hotel swimming pool was rare. It took a full day longer. The roads were curvier (I consumed large quantities of dramamine on those trips), narrower, and far more difficult to drive. From today's perspective it was a difficult trip.

I try to imagine John and Elizabeth traveling down to Tennessee in 1808. They surely traveled the same route I did - the Great Warriors Trail. I wonder if there were ghosts on their road, as there have been on mine.

Slaves listed in 1860 Washington County, Tennessee Census: An Update

In my earlier post about slaves being enumerated in the 1860 Washington County, TN census I decided to review the entire census to determine how many slaves were enumerated by given name.  In a cursory review of the census pages on Ancestry.com I found about 545 slaves enumerated and then crossed out and listed in the Slave Schedule.  This happened in 10 of the 19 districts Ancestry.com shows.  Only the named districts had slaves enumerated on the census.  There were none in the numbered districts.  There were also about 230 free African-Americans listed in the census.  They lived in 17 of the 19 districts.

I'm not guaranteeing my counting skills - especially since the second time I looked at the Slave Schedules I counted just under 1270 slaves versus the 953 I mentioned earlier.  Once I run out of fingers and toes my counting can get a little dicey. 

Fortunately someone with much better counting skills has already researched and written about this census in an article published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.  In her 2005 article “In Praise of William H. Crouch: The Enumeration of Slaves in the 1860 Census of Washington County, Tennessee” (Vol. 93, pp. 52-64) Suzanne Murray examines the census and its value for researching slave ancestry. 

Murray counted 617 slaves in nine districts.  Her article includes a table listing the number of slaves by surname (usually the owners’ names).  She found about 12% of the slaves listed in the 1860 census appeared in the 1870 Washington County, TN census under the same name.  She did not examine whether they appear under different surnames or suggest migration routes, but does suggest the extreme violence of the Civil War in East Tennessee may have impacted the numbers.  Finally, she included an example of using this census in conjunction with other census records to trace one slave family. 

It’s a wonderful article.  I’m so delighted she wrote it.  I did examine the 1870 census for any of the five McAdams slaves listed in 1860.  Only Charles McAdams, age 13 appears.  In 1860 he was enumerated in the household of my Thomas's brother, Samuel B. McAdams as one of three slaves.  No age was given.  Also listed were Sarah (age 24) and Hannah. 

1860 U.S. census, Washington Co., TN

Ten years later he is enumerated in the household of Ebenezer Barkley as a farm worker.  He is indexed on Ancestry.com as Carles McAdams.

1870 U.S. census, Washington Co., TN

I strongly suspect the McAdams slaves were inherited though the wives.  Samuel and Thomas McAdams each married daughters of slave owners.  Their parents were not slave owners, nor was Thomas a slave owner on earlier censuses.  Samuel did appear owning one slave in the 1850 Greene County, TN census.  Samuel McAdams married Ann Duncan, a daughter of Joseph and Polly Allison Duncan, on 3 Feb 1831 in Washington County.  His brother Thomas C. McAdams married Cynthia Stephenson, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Cloyd Stephenson, on 16 Jan 1835.  If I were to continue researching the McAdams slaves I would examine the Duncan and Stephenson in-laws.