Abstract
A brief summary of each of the sons of Samuel-II Gentry is continued from the first half of
this article. The individuals covered include: Nicholas, Joseph, Allen, Simon, John, Richard, William, Samuel and Nathaniel Gentry.
We can guess only very roughly the date of Nicholas' birth, or for that matter, that of any of Samuel's children. Nicholas' placement in the order of Samuel's children is suggested by a date of marriage apparently earlier than any of his younger brothers. A gift, by Nicholas' father-in-law Richard Brooks, to Nicholas and Mary, of 100 acres of land along Dirty Swamp in Louisa County, Virginia, was probably made on the occasion of their marriage<2a>. In addition, he was the first of Samuel's children to sell his land in Louisa County and buy land in Lunenburg County, Virginia..
[Samuel-II's son Nicholas is clearly identified as the husband of Mary Brooks in the deed of gift from his father-in-law. He was distinguished in Louisa County land records by the appellation "the younger" in distinction to Nicholas "Senior", who was Nicholas-II and his son Nicholas "Junior". Note. It has been mentioned in this Journal before, but bears emphasizing again that Mary Brooks was NOT the wife of Samuel-II's brother, Nicholas-II, in spite of repeated assertions to the contrary in genealogical literature of every imaginable variety. Nicholas Sr.'s wife Jane is mentioned in his will and in a Louisa County deed dated 28 Nov 1776 [Book E-124], "Nicholas Gentry and wife Jane of Trinity Parish and Louisa County, deed land ..." [at a time when Samuel's son was in North Carolina]. Unfortunately, once faulty information has spread, it becomes very difficult to correct.]
Nicholas and Mary sold their Louisa County land in 1746<2b> and joined other members of the family of Mary's father, Richard Brooks, in moving south to new land opening up in Lunenburg County which was formed from Brunswick County in 1746. Richard, his sons Elisha Brooks and Richard Brooks Jr., two sons-in-law, Nicholas Gentry (husband of Mary Brooks) and David Gentry (husband of Sarah Brooks and Nicholas' uncle), and a brother, Robert Brooks, with their respective families all moved within a span of a few years beginning in 1747. Nicholas probably had a prior arrangement with Robert Brooks for the latter to obtain a land grant in Lunenburg County<1e> and then sell a portion of it to Nicholas. In any case, he did buy from Robert, 108 acres of land on the North Meherrin River at the mouth of Reedy Creek<3a> (see Figure 1).
Nicholas may have been accompanied by his younger brother William from the start, or William may have joined him a year or two later. In any event, both Nicholas and William were listed in the first Lunenburg County tax lists along with David Gentry, and Robert and Richard Brooks<4>. It may have been further pre-arrangement within the Samuel Gentry family for Nicholas and William to move south, scout out the land, and send word back if the rest of Samuel's family should join them. As discussed later in the description of Joseph Gentry, this did indeed occur.
Nicholas was living close enough to upper Reedy Creek where his brother Joseph later bought land that he could witness a number of deeds involving both Joseph and members of the Brooks family. Nicholas and his brothers Joseph and Simon were living close enough together in 1757 to be assigned by the County Court to maintain a road in their vicinity. In 1765, he was assigned road duty again, this time with Joseph and Richard Gentry. Nicholas and Mary sold their land in two installments, in 1766 and 1767, shortly before leaving Lunenburg County to live in Surry County, North Carolina<3b,c> where vacant land was becoming available. Nicholas' brother, Richard, witnessed both of these deeds, and it is very possible that he was living on a part of Nicholas' land prior to its sale (Richard is not known to have had any of his own) and then joined Nicholas in moving to North Carolina.
In 1768, Nicholas was listed in a Rowan County, North Carolina tax list along with Joseph Gentry<30b>, but they were probably living far apart. Nicholas, and his brother, Richard, appear to have settled briefly near the Arafat River on the north side of the Yadkin River. Richard was involved in a Rowan County Court order in 1768<17> that involved road layout along the entire length of the west-to-east-running portion of the Yadkin, including the mouth of the Arafat River. In 1771, shortly after Surry County was formed from Rowan County, Nicholas witnessed two deeds on the north side of the Yadkin River near the Ararat River<5a>. That same year he appeared in Surry County tax lists and was taxed for three tithes (Nicholas plus his sons Allen and Artha) along with Samuel (his son?) and Richard<30c,d>. There is no indication from the tax list as to whether he was still living north of the Yadkin or had moved farther south. The following year, in 1772, Nicholas, Samuel, and Richard appear to have been located somewhere in the Deep Creek area. Nicholas was taxed for one tithe for himself plus one for his son, Artha. His son, Allen, was listed separately. Succeeding year tax records are missing until the end of the Revolutionary War. Thereafter, Nicholas was recorded repeatedly along with members of his family in the Surry County tax records<30e>.
Both Nicholas and Richard probably traveled down the Yadkin to Deep Creek, then went upstream along the south branch of that creek. Richard went on to the headwaters of Deep Creek before finding land (see Richard below) while Nicholas stopped at Fisher Creek, a small tributary of South Fork Deep Creek. He settled on land there for which he received title in 1784<5b> (see Figure 3). He later sold this land, part of it to his son Artha (referred to as "Arthur" later in South Carolina, but spelt in North Carolina with variations of "Artha", "Athe", etc.). In 1789 he received two more grants of land nearby on Deep Creek<5d,e> where he lived until his death, presumably in 1800. (He signed two deeds in June and July 1800 transferring the last of his property to two sons, Allen and John<5g,h> but he was not in the 1800 federal census which was completed in April 1801.) There is no mention of his wife Mary in any North Carolina references where relinquishment of dower rights was not required in deeds, but she appears to have been still living at the time of the 1790 federal census.
Joseph's only appearance in Louisa County records was as a witness in 1762 to his father's final deed of sale of the family's Dirty Swamp property<6>. Prior to that, it is this writer's proposal that Joseph became the focal point for movements by Samuel's family in following Nicholas and William to Lunenburg County. Joseph's name can be found in a wide variety of references in the county -- deeds, tax lists, parish records, court records, etc. (only a portion of which are listed in the reference section of this article). In 1752 he purchased a rather large area of 490 acres on Reedy Creek originally granted partly to Michael Mackey and partly to Abraham Cocke<7a>. We speculate that the size of the purchase may have been partly to accommodate his brother Allen's family which probably accompanied him to Lunenburg County, but also in anticipation of a follow-up move by his parents and younger brothers from Louisa County.
[Samuel sold parcels of land in 1752 and 1753 which coincided with the departure of Joseph and Allen's families and presumably there was no longer a need for this land. Between then and 1757 when he sold an additional portion of land, Samuel himself and younger members of his family had moved to Lunenberg County and was identified as a resident there in the 1757 deed. We suggest that Samuel's son, Richard, remained on the family plantation in Louisa County until 1762 when the final sale of land occurred, then Richard also moved. None of them purchased land so we presume that they moved in with Joseph (and perhaps pushed Allen out to find land of his own).]
In 1756, Joseph sold 274 acres of his Reedy Creek land to William Shelton who was living in Albemarle County<7b>. Shelton is believed to have been his wife's grandfather and apparently did not use the property personally for he resold it in 1762 while still living in Albemarle County. Shelton may have subsidized the land's use by Gentrys during that time. By 1762, the land Joseph originally purchased may no longer have been needed as different family members moved away to other locations. Joseph continued to occupy at least a part of his land along Reedy Creek until 1766 when he moved to North Carolina as evidenced by a county court summons that noted he was no longer a resident of Lunenburg County<8>. He returned in 1770 to complete the sale of the last of his land in conjunction with his brother Allen and wife Mary who were listed as co-owners. An interesting little tidbit of history is that Agnes was unable to travel at the time (pregnant?) and her waiver of dowry rights was handled in Surry County, North Carolina<7g,h>.
In North Carolina, Joseph was listed in 1768 in two Rowan County tax lists in the period just
before Rowan County was divided to form Surry County<30a,b>. He settled first along the
north-south portion of the Yadkin River where he received a license in 1772 to operate a ferry
service across the river<9>. He bought the land where he was living in 1774, and sold part of it to his oldest son, Samuel. Another part he sold to Matthew Brooks, son of Robert Brooks of Lunenburg County. Matthew had witnessed one of Nicholas Gentry's final land sales in
Virginia and had probably moved to North Carolina at the same time as Joseph<10a,b,c>.
He is thought to have been the father-in-law of Joseph's son, Samuel. (The ferry location later
became known as Matthew Brooks Ford.) In 1787 Joseph received a grant for land along the
Fisher River, on the north side of the Yadkin, an area that later became a much reduced Surry
County<10>. Not long after, he and Samuel sold the last of the Yadkin River property to
Brooks and to Joseph's son-in-law, John Ridings. Samuel remained on the south side of the
Yadkin along Dills Creek and Forbush Creek. Joseph's younger son, Shelton, moved with his
father to property of his own north of the Yadkin and his family remained there long after
Joseph's death in April 1813. Joseph left a will, written much earlier, naming all his
family<11>, and his widow, Agnes, also left a very abbreviated will in 1826.
The timing of early moves by Allen's family is found in testimony given by his son, Meshack, in applying for a Revolutionary War pension<31a>. Meshack stated that he was born in Louisa County, Virginia (about 1748 based upon his age at time of testimony), and moved to Lunenburg County when he was 4 (about 1752). He lived there until he was 25 (about 1773), when he moved to Caswell County, North Carolina. Since Meshack's brother, Shadrack, was presumably older than he, we can estimate Shadrack's birth as being roughly 1746, and Allen's marriage perhaps 1745. This date of marriage and subsequent birth of Allen's children appear to have been somewhat earlier than Joseph's (the latter's oldest son, Samuel was born about 1748). However, Joseph appears to have taken a lead role in moving from Louisa County and in purchasing land in Lunenburg County, as might be expected of an older brother. Accordingly, we have already suggested that Joseph was the older of the two and that Allen lived with Joseph when he first moved to Lunenburg County.
Unlike Nicholas and Joseph who picked spots in Lunenburg County to settle then stayed there until they left the county, Allen moved around to several locations. According to Meshack's timetable, Allen arrived in Lunenburg County in 1752, probably living initially with Joseph on Reedy Creek. From Lunenberg deed records<12a-h> we can deduce most of his further movements. In 1755, he bought land from David Allen on Crooked Creek, farther east in the county. This was probably brought about by the arrival of his father, Samuel's remaining family from Louisa County to stay with Joseph, displacing Allen. In 1759 Allen Gentry and David Allen joined together in selling their adjoining holdings on the creek. Allen then moved a little farther east along the Meherrin River to Flatrock Creek where in 1761 he bought from his cousin, Hezekiah, land adjoining that of his brother-in-law, French Haggard (and close to land held by David Gentry, William Gentry and John Brooks). He sold this in 1764 but in the meantime, in 1763, he bought the 50 acres of adjoining land owned by his brother William. Allen moved back in 1768 to his brother, Nicholas' former plantation, when he bought 80 acres that Nicholas had sold the previous year. Allen then turned around and sold it plus an additional 20 acres in 1769. During his final years in Lunenburg County, Allen presumably moved onto what was left of Joseph's land where his parents were probably still living. In 1770 Allen joined with Joseph, who had left Virginia in 1766, in selling this property. (One wonders if this might have been brought about by the death of his mother.)
Allen did not appear in any more Lunenburg records after that, but instead settled in Caswell County, North Carolina. He visited briefly in Surry County in 1772, staying just long enough to appear in the 1772 tax lists for that county<30d>. Allen may have been enumerated in more than one location for that list because there are more Allens than can be accounted for. His son, Meshack, was also listed. One of the Allens included two taxables in the household, one of whom we may guess was his son Abednego.
[This excursion was probably prompted by the aftermath of the North Carolina "War of the Regulation" which culminated in the Battle of Alamance in 1771. A large group of dissidents (who came to be called "Regulators"), primarily located in the western frontier counties, were unhappy with illegal fees charged by officials and other misconduct by the colonial government of Governor Tryon. A loosely-organized gathering of these dissidents was dispersed by disciplined colonial militia troops which crushed the rebellion. As a consequence, a large number of settlers in the western counties moved to Kentucky or Tennessee. By 1772 about 1,500 had left and others were waiting only to sell their land before joining them. This wholesale opening of land available at cut-rate prices attracted prospective buyers from far and wide.]
Allen did not find what he wanted so returned to Caswell County. We have commented earlier that Allen's father, Samuel, may have been living with him until at least 1779. While Meshack lived for a number of years after his war service, in Halifax County, Virginia, Allen and the rest of his family appear to have lived initially on the North Carolina side of the Virginia border, although records are lacking. Allen, his son, Shadrack and presumably his father, Samuel were included in a 1777 tax list in the first year of Caswell County' s separation from Orange County. Allen and Shadrack were listed again in 1780 and 1784<13>. Allen was not in Virginia in 1789 when Meshack was listed in a Halifax County tax list but he and his son Abednego were in the 1798 list<14a,b>. Allen and Abednego must have moved back to Virginia during that period of time. It is unfortunate that census records are of little help. All of the Virginia census records for 1790 were destroyed. State census records for 1786 and 1790 federal census records for North Carolina both are missing Nash district of Caswell County (which became Person County in 1792). Accordingly, we have no record from that source, of the location or composition of Allen's immediate household nor the families of his children. The 1800 records for Virginia are also missing, but the 1800 census for Person County (which is not complete) shows Shadrack's family, and the family of Andrew and Mary Buchanan (Allen's daughter) living there.
Allen's wife, Mary, outlived him and was named in his will. She presumably moved in with
her son, Abednego, after Allen's death. They apparently moved soon after Allen's death back to
Person County where Abednego bought land in 1806 from his brother-in-law, Andrew Buchanan.
This may have been an attempt to move closer to the rest of Allen's family. Abednego moved
from Person County to Surry County, joining his brother, Meshack, in about 1807, a date which
may have coincided with his mother's death. He sold his Person County land the following year
in 1808.
The name Simon is not a common one in the Gentry family, but interestingly both Samuel and his brother David had a son by that name. It became a more common one in Samuel's family as Richard, and Allen's son Shadrack both had a son named Simon. It may have had some Virginia origin, or it may have linked back to the proposed ancestors of Nicholas the Immigrant in Essex, England, where there were a succession of Simons, and a Simon is thought to have been a brother of Nicholas.
This Simon's name appears infrequently in records in connection with Samuel's family. He probably moved from Louisa County to Lunenburg County along with other members of the family after Samuel sold a rather large portion of his land in 1753. We can speculate that he lived on a portion of Joseph's land along with his parents and younger brothers. He was named twice in Lunenburg County documents. In 1756 Simon and David were charged with laying out a new road to Reedy Creek Church<20a>. Then in 1757 after the road was approved, Nicholas and Joseph, along with Simon were included in a County Court order to provide manpower for maintaining the new road<20b>.
Simon's marriage to Susannah Brown was somewhat later in life than many marriages, but it
is possible that Simon had a first wife, in Lunenburg County, who died without record. We have
no way of knowing what led Simon away from his family to Cumberland County where he was
married in 1760, and where he lived until his death in 1792. He returned to Louisa County in
1762, long enough to witness the sale of the last of his father's land, and to probably help in
moving the last of any horses or other livestock and any household or farm equipment to
Lunenberg County. He returned to Lunenburg County in 1763 to appear in court in a case
involving disclaimer. For the rest of his life, he appeared in a series of Cumberland County
Court citations in which he was involved with inventorying estates, appraising estates, or serving as an executor for estates<21a>. Simon's activity with legal matters connected with estates leads one to wonder if he became a lawyer, or at least was closely connected with paralegal activities.
In a Lunenburg County Court order of October 1761, "Joseph Gentry, orphan son of John
Gentry" was bound to Samuel Gentry<25>. One must assume that this Joseph was a young
child, both of whose parents had recently died. ["Bondage" was the appropriate legal action
taken to provide care for a minor who did not possess property; "guardianship" was reserved for
the latter.] This Joseph has never been heard of since, so we may further assume that Joseph
died before maturity. Who was this John? The fact that the orphan Joseph was bound to Samuel
rather than any of Samuel's sons suggests that John was not a son of any of the latter. Moreover, none of Samuel's sons was old enough to have been his father. The logical conclusion is that he was an otherwise undocumented son of Samuel-II. There has been speculation as to whether a John Gentry who witnessed a deed in Johnston County, North Carolina in 1759<26> was this son of Samuel. If so, it would be a case of John accompaning his uncle David when the latter moved temporarily to Johnston County at that period of time. It is more likely that the John who was witnessing was David's son by the same name who was of the same approximate age as Samuel's John.
[Added May 2018] There are persuasive reasons to believe that an older son of John may have been the Richard Gentry who later moved to South Carolina, participated in the Revolutionary War, then moved to Surry County, and eventually to Rockcastle County, Kentucky. In this scenario, Richard is proposed to have gone to live with his uncle, Nicholas, after the death of his parents, and then accompanied Nicholas' family to North Carolina. Richard is further proposed to have joined his cousins, Nicholas Jr. and Samuel (Nicholas Sr.'s sons) in their travels to what became Spartanburg District, South Carolina.
Richard's name appears in Virginia records mostly as a witness. The first mention of Richard occurred in Lunenburg County in 1759 when he joined with Joseph in witnessing a deed for David Gentry. This was a somewhat unusual deed in that both principals were living out of the county at the time. Richard was among those who witnessed the final sale of his father's land in Louisa County in 1762<6>. This writer believes that Richard probably stayed in Louisa County on Samuel's land after the rest of the family moved, until the time came for the land to be sold. His next Lunenburg reference was in 1765, when he was assigned by the County Court to assist in road maintenance along with Nicholas and Joseph among others<16>. There is no record of Richard buying land in Lunenburg County, he probably moved in with Nicholas. This is especially likely because Nicholas and Richard appear to have travelled together from Virginia to North Carolina. Richard's last Lunenburg record was in 1766 and 1767 when he was a witness at the final sale of Nicholas' land<3b,c>.
Richard first appeared in North Carolina records in 1768 when he was assigned by the
Rowan County (the predecessor of Surry County) Court to assist in a (road?) project that
stretched along the north bank of the Yadkin River from the Mitchell River junction to the point
where it turned south at the junction of the Little Yadkin River<17> (see Figure 3). This
passed by the Ararat River where his brother Nicholas witnessed a deed in 1771. We can
speculate that Richard and Nicholas were together in that locality from 1768 to 1771 before
moving across the Yadkin River into the south part of Surry County. Richard and Nicholas first
appeared in Surry County tax records beginning in 1771 when they were listed in the first
assessment for that county<30c,d> which was only for a poll tax and not for property. It
may have been then or shortly afterwards that Richard filed for 180 acres of land on the head
waters of Deep Creek near a hill called Fox Knob (or Fox Nob). He received title to this in
1784<18a>. Thereafter he appeared frequently in deed references as a witness, but was not
a principal again until 1810 and 1811 when he sold his property<18b,c> not long before he
died. Beginning with the post-war tax lists of 1784, Richard, and later his sons, appeared
regularly with frequently one or another of his sons being assessed the tax for all or a part of the property<30e>.
William first appeared in any records in 1750, living with David Gentry in Lunenburg County at the time of one of the first tax lists<4>. His brother, Nicholas was included in the same tax list but enumerated separately. The year before, Nicholas and David were both listed for the first time - but without William. This may have been a case where William became liable for tax in 1750 [which was age 16 at the time], suggesting his birth in 1734. Two years later, in 1752, William was listed next to Nicholas Gentry while David was listed in a different enumeration district. The name of his wife, Lucy, appears once in Lunenburg County Court records in 1759 [or 1758? -- the records are not clear about the date] when William and Lucy participated as plaintiffs in a suit for debt<22>. His oldest child, Claiborne, was born in 1761 according to testimony many years later by Claiborne when he applied for a Revolutionary War pension in Tennessee<31b>. William bought land for the first time in 1760. He sold this land in 1763 and did not appear in any Lunenburg records after that<23>. He is presumed to have moved to North Carolina at about that time.
William was in Surry County, North Carolina, in 1772, living along the Yadkin River, near
or with Joseph. William was a carpenter and an interesting part of his history is his presence in the records of the Moravians of Old Salem. He was hired to build a bridge across Muddy Creek on the road from Salem to the Yadkin River. The Moravian records show this bridge to have been completed by the end of 1772. They then hired him to build an extension of this bridge but within a few months, William had died of drowning, perhaps in connection with the building. Lucy, who eventually remarried in 1787, was named in May 1773 to administer his estate<24> and was left to raise a family some of whom continued to live in that same area for many years afterwards.
Samuel-III is not mentioned in any of the Louisa County or Lunenburg County records. The earliest apparent reference to him is in Johnston County, North Carolina in 1761 and 1762, where a Samuel Gentry served as a chainbearer for the surveying of two plots of land<27>. This physically demanding task must surely have been undertaken by a younger man than Samuel-II, who at that time would have been approximately 70 years of age. Thus, it appears that the chainbearer Samuel must have been Samuel-III. This was at a time when David Gentry was involved in Johnston County, and Samuel had probably accompanied him on this expedition. There is also a brief reference in 1767 when apparently this same Samuel witnessed a deed for land on the south side of the Meherrin River opposite Gentry holdings on the north side. This was recorded shortly after Mecklenburg County was separated (in 1764) from Lunenburg County<28>. It is interesting that this particular deed involved land that William Allen had earlier obtained by a trade which was witnessed by David and Hezekiah Gentry, with John Daniel of Johnston County, North Carolina, in exchange for similar property Allen held in Johnston County. This was the same William Allen of Johnston County who is thought to be a brother of the David Allen and Reynolds Allen mentioned in the Johnston County surveys.
There have been speculations that Samuel was married to a sister of the David, William and Reynolds Allens with whom he associated. The same speculation is true for Allen Gentry and for the first wife of David Gentry. This would in part explain the association Samuel had with William Allen, both in Johnston County, North Carolina, and in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. It might also be a clue to what happened to Samuel between 1767, the last reference in Virginia, and 1780, the first reference in Surry County, North Carolina. If the relationship was true, it would be reason for Samuel to have remained with the Allens instead of joining his Gentry siblings when they left Virginia.
Whatever the connection of Samuel with David Gentry and the Allen family, he appears to
have followed the Gentrys that moved to Surry County rather than following David's family to
South Carolina when he left Virginia.. Accordingly, one must conclude that the younger Samuel was a brother of the Surry County Gentrys. Moreover there is no record of the name Samuel being found among the immediate descendants of David, whereas understandably, it was a common name in the family of Samuel-II. Samuel was probably living with his mother on his brother, Joseph's, plantation during most of his time in Lunenburg County and left about the time Joseph sold this land in 1770. Samuel-III is found in scattered references in Surry County, the earliest probably being in 1777 when a "Samuel Gentrey, Auther Gentrey, and Saml Jentery" signed a petition dealing with land entries. [It is very difficult to distinguish between references to Samuel-III and Samuel-IV (son of Joseph) in Surry County records]. Samuel had settled on 400 acres on Fox Knob, close to Richard Gentry, when he filed for a state grant in 1780. He was taxed for the use of this land in 1781 when tax lists were resumed following the war and appears to have been taxed again in 1782 and 1786<30e>. He did not receive title to the land until 1792<27a,b> by which time he had left Surry County, moving to Spartanburg District, South Carolina. Whether his land was unsuitable for farming, or for whatever reason, Samuel apparently abandoned it until it was sold after his death by his four sons in 1801 as heirs of their deceased father<29c>. Samuel and his family appeared in the 1790 South Carolina census. His sons were in the 1800 census but Samuel and his wife were missing so Samuel is assumed to have died shortly before then.
Even less so than his brother, Samuel, Nathaniel does not appear in any Virginia references.
He may have stayed in Lunenburg County after his brothers left, but at some time he moved to
South Carolina, ending up in Spartanburg District where other members of the Samuel-II family
also settled. There are a number of land and court records referring to him there and he appeared
in the 1790 census. Some time before 1800 he apparently moved, for the only other reference
after that time was in 1810 in Pulaski County, Kentucky where he is presumed to be the
Nathaniel Gentry that was recorded there.
Whatever the relationship, the Allens and Gentrys had strong and continued personal and business connections. David Allen sold land to Allen Gentry in Lunenburg County, then later Allen Gentry and David Allen jointly sold their adjoining properties. In Johnston County, we have Samuel surveying land belonging to David Allen which adjoined Reynolds Allen. Land owned by William Allen in Johnston County was traded for land in Lunenburg County and additional land was later bought by William nearby. These Allens, namely David, William and Reynolds are said to be sons of Robert Allen of Hanover County who in turn was a brother of Richard Allen Jr and a son of Richard Allen Sr of New Kent County, Virginia. Samuel's wife, Ann, may have been a sister of these two Allens which would place Robert's sons as first cousins of Samuel Gentry's sons. A final possible connection with the Allen family, other than the naming of Allen Gentry, may be the naming of Richard Gentry for a grandfather or great-grandfather, Richard Allen.
Another group of cousins and in-laws were members of the Brooks family.
By the terms of
the will of Richard Brooks Sr of St. Paul's Parish in 1731, we know that he
had a wife Mary, and sons Richard Jr and Robert among
other heirs. Both Richard Jr. (Richard-II) and Robert (Robert-II) had close ties to the
Gentrys.
Richard-II Brooks (wife Elizabeth)
Robert-II Brooks (wife Tabitha)
Coming Articles
As indicated in the introduction, this and the previous article have addressed the question of
evidence relating to Samuel-II, including his birth, marriage, and death, and also an identification
of his children. The next article in this series will review the evidence relating to Samuel's
brother Nicholas-II. While much is known about his family from the book "The Gentry Family
in America", for the sake of completeness, there is still much to be said concerning his life. We
will then go back and pick up the oldest son of Nicholas-I, namely Joseph Gentry. In doing so,
we will try to piece together some of the loose ends of a group of Gentrys living in Hanover,
Henrico, Louisa, and Albemarle Counties that have not been tied into the main trunk of the
Gentry family tree. At some time in the future, we will return to Samuel's family with articles
about his other sons and discussing individual members of his family more in detail.
Selected References (continued)
(Note. These are references that are representative of a much larger body of references to
the various members of Samuel Gentry's family)
1. Lunenburg County Original Land Grants
Denis Hudgins"Cavaliers and Pioneers, Abstracts of Virginia Land
Patents and Grants", "Vol IV (1732-1741)" and Vol V (1741- 1749),
published by Virginia Genealogical Society, Richmond, 1994
3. Lunenburg County Deed Book
4. Landon C. Bell "Sunlight on the Southside, Lists of Tithes,
Lunenburg County, Virginia, 1748-1783", 1974, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore.
1748 p.60 | Hugh Lawson District ["Between Hounds Crk and Meherrin"] | |
Nicklas Jentrey | 1 tithe | |
1749 p.102 | Hugh Lawson District ["being on the north side of the Meherrin River"] | |
Nickles Gentrey | 1 tithe | |
Ritchard Brooks (adj Nicholas) | 1 tithe | |
David Gentry and Robert Brooks | 2 tithes | |
1750 p.158-59 | List of Richd. Witton | |
Nicholas Gentry | 1 tithe | |
David Gentry and Wm. Gentry | 2 tithes | |
1751 | [no Gentrys] | |
1752 p.180 | List by Lyddall Bacon | |
Nicholas Gentry | 1 tithe | |
William Gentry | 1 tithe | |
p.210 | List by Richd. Witton | |
David Gentry | 1 tithe | |
(Only selected years following 1752 reported) | ||
1764 p.236 | List by Henry Blagrave (alphabetical -- not necessarily adjacent) | |
Allen Gentry | 1 tithe 50 acres | |
Joseph Gentry | 1 tithe 118acres | |
Nicholas Gentry | 1 tithe 108 acres |
5. Surry County Deed Books
7. Lunenburg County Deed Book
8. Lunenburg County Court Order Books
9. Jo White Linn, "Abstracts of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Rowan County, North Carolina, 1763-1774", Salisbury, NC, 1979. Transcribed from microfilm copies of the original minutes.
10. Surry County, NC, Deed Books
11. Surry County, NC, Will Books
13. Caswell County, NC, Tax Lists
14. Halifax County Tax Lists
<http://www.binnsgenealogy.com/VirginiaTaxListCensuses/>
(from microfilm image copies of original)
a. | Personal Tax List B, 1789 | |||||||
Meshack Gentry | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
b. | Personal Tax List B, 1798, June 21 | |||||||
Ebednego Gentry | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.27 | |||
Allen Gentry | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2.11 | |||
[Listed in order: white tithes, black male adults, black males 12-15, horses, amount of tax] |
15. Halifax County Court Book
17. Jo White Linn op. cit., "Abstracts of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Rowan County"
18. Surry County, NC, Deed Books
19. Jo White Linn, "Surry County, North Carolina, Will Abstracts Vol I-III, 1771-1827", Salisbury. NC 1974, p.107
21. Katherine Reynolds, "Abstracts of Cumberland
County, Virginia,
Will Books 1 and 2, 1749-1782", Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC, 1985.
23. Lunenburg County Deed Book
24. Mrs. W. O. Absher and Mrs. Robert K. Hayes, "Surry County, North Carolina, Court Minute Abstracts", Vol I (1768-1785)
26. Weynette Parks Haun, "Johnston County, North Carolina, Abstracts of Deed Books A-1 to D-1, 1759 thru 1771", Durham, NC, 1981.
28. Katherine B. Elliott, "Early Settlers Mecklenburg County Virginia, Vol II", reprinted Southern Historical Press, Easley, SC, 1983, p.133:
29. Surry County, NC, Deed Book
Other References
30. Surry County, NC, Tax Lists
Gentry references in journals (with successive changes in title) published by William P.
Johnson, and transcriptions by this author from originals on file in North Carolina State
Archives, Raleigh, NC
Joseph Gentry + negro Ned | 2 taxables | |
Samuel[-IV?] Gentry | 1 taxable |
Joseph Gentry | 2 taxables | |
Nicholas Gentry | 2 taxables | |
[ ? ] Gentry [torn] |
31. Revolutionary War Pension reference, National
Archives microfilm copies
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