Volume 1 Issue 7
July, 2001
July, 2001
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Volume 1 Issue 7 July, 2001 |
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Part 1. Samuel-II Gentry and Family By Willard Gentry Revised 2008 Abstract Introduction This article is the first of three parts which will review in detail all the available documentary evidence relating to Joseph, Samuel and Nicholas-II. Rather than treat these in chronological order of age it will be more convenient to review Samuel and Nicholas first. The extremely limited information concerning Joseph will then be supplemented with what little is known about Gentrys of early Hanover and Louisa Counties, Virginia who are "orphans" - not clearly identified in their relationship. Some of these were almost certainly descendants of Joseph, others were desdendants of James Gentry, a younger brother of Joseph. The following then is a comprehensive review of all of the information that is known to this writer concerning Samuel and David, and a discussion of the arguments for the identification of his children. Because of the length of the material covered, the article has been split into two halves and is being published in two separate installments. Samuel-II Gentry Samuel's name is found in the St. Paul's vestry records for the first time in 1716(1a) at which time it appears he was living at the far western end of St. Paul's Parish in the vicinity of Stone Horse Creek. This was about 30 miles upstream from Totopotomoy Creek, as the crow flies, along the Pamunkey River, and probably half again that distance if traveling along the river. The 1716 reference for Samuel was one in which he was in charge of building a road. We can use this as a rough measure to estimate his age at the time--certainly he would be over twenty-one, and probably several years older than that in order to have this responsibility. This would place the latest year for his birth as 1695. We know that his sister Elizabeth was christened in 1689, and that their parents did not appear to have a large number of closely-spaced children. An approximate year of birth in 1692 seems reasonable for Samuel. Based on the limited information available, we can infer some of the details of Samuel's life from the time he left his father's home along Totopotomoy Creek until he moved away from Dirty Swamp in Louisa County. Samuel must have moved initially about 1713, probably shortly after marrying, wanting to establish a new home for his family. He was undoubtedly attracted by the availability of new land at the far end of the parish along Stone Horse Creek, which was essentially the limit of settlement at that time, The road from Stone Horse Creek to Stony Run to which reference is made in the parish records was presumably a new land route from the west end of the parish which would link up with established roads in lower St. Paul's Parish, and minimize the need for river travel from one end of the parish to the other. This is probably the same road mentioned in 1756 as one boundary of the precinct in which Samuel (and then later Nicholas-II) was located in 1716(1g). What may be the same road, exists to this day as a country road that passes the upper ends of Stone Horse Creek and Beech Creek and then crosses Stony Run.
 Figure 1. Hanover and Louisa Counties, 1742 Samuel's brother, Nicholas-II, also left his father's home and came to the Stone Horse Creek precinct to join Samuel sometime between 1716 and 1719 (when the latter's name is first mentioned in the parish records), at which time Nicholas would have been between 19 and 22 years old. Nicholas may have lived first with his brother, but by 1719 he apparently was living on land of his own, and had presumably married. Whereas Nicholas remained in that same precinct for some 15 or more years, Samuel obtained new land not far away in 1723 and 1724(2a,b). Since he was not included in the processioning report for the original precinct when next it was filed in 1731, Samuel presumably either sold his first land, or he may have turned it over to Nicholas. (Recall that colonial land office grant documents have been preserved for Hanover County, but subsequent county deeds for the sale or purchase of those land have all been lost.) The succeeding processioning reports which continued at intervals until 1743(1b-f) show Nicholas and Samuel living in separate precincts. This reflected Samuel's presence on his land along Beech Creek (the land he owned on the north side of the South Anna River was a part of St. Martin's Parish and thus would not be included in St. Paul's Parish records). A collateral piece of evidence shows the presence of a Gentry, undoubtedly Samuel, living on the east side of Beech Creek in 1734(2c). One further reference to Samuel in Hanover County was in 1733 when he and his brother Nicholas served as surety for Mary Spradling who was appointed executor of the estate of her husband John Spradling(3). This has been interpreted as suggesting that Mary was a sister of Samuel and Nicholas, born perhaps in the interval between the two. In 1742, Samuel was granted land upriver along the South Anna River along a creek by the name of Dirty Swamp in an area that became Louisa County(2d). Samuel would necessarily have moved to his new property in order to consummate the grant by working the land. This was some 30 miles or so farther upstream along the South Anna River from where he previously lived. Louisa County was a brand-new county at that time, having been split off from Hanover County in 1742. Samuel's grant adjoined his brother Nicholas who had preceded him to Dirty Swamp in 1736. A portion of this land, Samuel obtained from Richard Brooks Jr., the father-in-law of David and Nicholas Gentry. The remainder was new land, never before granted. A series of six deeds relating to the eventual disposition of this land are recorded in Samuel's name in Louisa County deed books during the period from 1747 to 1762(5a-f). At the end of this time he had sold or given away all of his Louisa County land and had moved to Lunenburg County, following his family (as well as the Brooks family) to fresh settlements along the Meherrin River. In addition to the deeds, the only other Louisa County references to Samuel are two of a minor "housekeeping" nature in the records for Fredericksville Parish, the new parish to which he had moved(4). Samuel moved to Lunenburg County between 1753 (when he sold land to John Gilbert while still in Louisa County) and 1755 (when as a resident of Lunenburg County he served as an appraisor of Richard Brooks' estate in that county(6a). Two deeds were recorded in Louisa County in 1757 and 1762 in which Samuel was identified as "of Lunenburg Co"(5e,f). No references to him are found in the records of Cumberland Parish, which served Lunenburg County. The only reference to Samuel in addition to these three that places him in Lunenburg County, is found in an order of the County Court in which a Joseph Gentry, orphan son of John Gentry, was bound to Samuel in 1761(6b) (see discussion below concerning Samuel's children). However, there are many references throughout the Lunenburg records to Samuel's children beginning in 1748 and continuing to 1772. The lack of any deed references to Samuel after 1762 is surely a case of Samuel (now over seventy) living during that time of his life with one of his children rather than on land of his own. Two references for a Samuel Gentry in Caswell County, North Carolina(7), suggest that Samuel spent the last years of his life with his son Allen, and died soon after 1779 in Caswell County, in an area that later became Person County. As for Samuel's wife, other than her name Ann, there is no information concerning her birth, her death, nor her family. Given the relatively large number of Allens among Samuel's descendants (beginning with one son and three grandsons), a name that is not found among the descendants of Samuel's two brothers, one can speculate that "Allen" came from Ann's family. Ann may have been a daughter of Richard Allen of Hanover County, and a sister or aunt of David Allen and William Allen whose names are found along with Gentrys in Lunenburg and Halifax County records in Virginia, and in Johnston County records in North Carolina. Samuel Gentry's Children
The older sons, and daughter Ann, are probably correct in their order of birth, and their dates of birth are probably reasonably correct. Only four of Samuel's sons are mentioned in "Gentry Family in America", and he is not listed at all.
Ann Gentry
The Sons of Samuel Gentry Positive evidence for a relationship of individuals with Samuel and with each other include the following:
No one of these various types of evidence is conclusive in itself, but taken together, they can provide a strong argument for the proposed relationship. During the period of time Samuel was living in Louisa County, there were few occasions for documents relating him to his children. The gift of land by Richard Brooks in 1743 to his son-in-law, Nicholas Gentry serves to identify the latter's wife. It also gives an estimate of the age of Nicholas(11b), but does nothing to establish any relationship of Nicholas with Samuel. When taken together with the later association of Nicholas with other Gentrys in Lunenburg County, Virginia, and Surry County, North Carolina, their relationship to each other and to Samuel becomes clearer. A more direct association of Samuel with his family can be found in a deed of sale by Samuel which was witnessed by his sons. In 1762, Samuel, "of Lunenburg Co." signed a deed witnessed by Joseph Gentry, Richard Gentry, and Simon Gentry(5f). This has significance because neither Samuel nor any of the sons (except possibly Richard) were living in Louisa County at the time. The fact that the sons returned with Samuel to witness and participate in the land sale shows more than a casual relationship. An earlier deed, in 1757 in which Samuel Gentry "of Lunenburg Co." signed a deed in Louisa County witnessed by David Gentry(5e), cannot be explained in this way. We argue below that Samuel and David were brothers rathern than father and son. Perhaps we can rationalize this witnessing of a deed as being an occasion, coinciding with French Haggard moving from Louisa to Lunenburg County, when David visited French in Louisa County to make plans for a joint purchase of land in Lunenburg County later that year. Samuel may have taken advantage of the situation to accomplish his own business transaction at the same time. These instances of witnessing plus the fact that all of these individuals moved to Lunenburg County where Samuel eventually joined them, point strongly to the identification of six of Samuel's children: Nicholas, Joseph, Allen, Simon, Richard and his daughter Ann. All of these are repeatedly documented in Lunenburg County records with joint deeds of sale, witnessing for each other, appearing in court as defendants or plaintiffs in joint suits, and living in adjacent areas. We would add David and his son Hezekiah to this list of Samuel's family if it were not for the difficulty mentioned above. The only exception to any of Samuel's children appearing in Lunenburg records is Nathaniel. It is very difficult to imagine any relationship for Nathaniel except that of a son of Samuel, yet he is not listed in any Virginia records--whether they be for Louisa County or Lunenburg County--although a proposed son of Nathaniel, Richard Gentry, reported in his application for a Revolutionary War pension that he was born in Lunenburg County. A number of these Lunenburg references will be discussed below in brief individual summaries of each of Samuel's children. The case of Nathaniel Gentry is covered in more detail in a later issue of the Gentry Journal of Genealogy. While Simon broke apart from the others and moved to Cumberland County, Virginia, Nicholas, Joseph, Richard, and two of Allen's children (Meshack and Abednego) went on from Lunenburg County to live in closely-neighboring locations in Surry County, North Carolina. Joining them in Surry County were William Gentry (who is referred to repeatedly in Lunenburg County records with the other Gentrys), and a younger Samuel Gentry. The latter is not included in any Lunenburg records, but there is some fragmentary evidence that he was living with his uncle David both in Lunenburg County and also during a time when David was in Johnston County, North Carolina. Both Samuel Jr. and William then must be considered as candidates for children of Samuel Sr. Hezekiah Gentry also appears repeatedly in the Lunenburg County records, but there is strong evidence that he was a son of David, not of Samuel. After David's death, in 1766 David's widow Sarah moved with seven of her children, and with her brother Elisha Brooks and father Richard Brooks, to South Carolina, in an area that was later organized as Edgefield District. Hezekiah was not with the family at that time, but later came to join them, and spent the rest of his life with his siblings in South Carolina. Hezekiah was not listed as a tithable in David's household when the latter was included in tax lists in 1749, 1750, and 1752(12), although there is other evidence that he he was older than sixteen at the time, thus liable for a tithe. All we can conclude from this is that this was a time when he was approaching marriage and struck out on his own. More positive evidence lies in the fact that Hezekiah appeared as a witness in county court in 1755 and served on the jury in 1757. In addiion he bought and took title to land in 1757(13b) which would indicate he was well over twenty-one at the time and probably born before about 1732. In the second half of this article we will be briefly summarizing in turn, each of the Gentry
sons we have identified above. To make the Lunenburg references that will follow, more easily
understandable, a little background information on that county will be helpful. Lunenburg County
was formed in 1746 from Brunswick County, and many of the grants of land there date from just
a few years before that time. It was virgin territory at the time the Gentrys moved there
compared to the areas of central Virginia that had been settled in a stepwise fashion, working
upstream along the York and Pamunkey rivers. Lunenburg initially encompassed ten counties
that were eventually organized as separate entities, beginning with a separation from Lunenburg
County of an enlarged Halifax County in 1752. Lunenburg attained its present size in 1764 when
Mecklenburg County to the south, and Charlotte County to the west, were separated from it.  Figure 2. (left) Lunenburg County as first organized in 1746 and showing divisions of 1752 and 1764; (Right)A portion of Lunenburg County as of 1746 - 1764 showing land grants and watercourses Lunenburg County is shown in Figure 2 as it existed from 1746 to 1764, and shows the waterways named in various Gentry deed references. As a supplement to the various waterways, the approximate location of seven land grants are indicated on the map. These grants are mentioned a number of times in the text of deeds relating to the Gentrys, Samuel's son-in-law French Haggard, and the closely-related Brooks family. They help to a considerable extent in identifying the locations of various land transfers. It is interesting that all of Samuel's family moved into a small geographical area in Lunenburg County, and that every one of them had left within 25 years. The most obvious explanation is that the land had played out in that length of time, and was not worth staying in the neighborhood. The county today still has the forlorn appearance of an abandoned ghost county, the county courthouse in the town of Lunenburg (which is on the National Register of Historic Places) stands in lonely isolation in the midst of a small rural settlement. Perhaps one of the claims to fame for the courthouse is that it has not been burned or destroyed by passing army forces, thus leaving largely intact its store of county records. Continuation of Samuel's Children
Notes Relating to Samuel Gentry
Revised Aug 2008 |
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