Volume 1 Issue 12
December 2001
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Abstract
(1) Four Gentrys are briefly considered as potential sources of the "orphan" Gentry families that appear in early Louisa, Hanover, and Henrico County, Virginia, records. One, James-II was a second generation Gentry; two, Wiliam-III and Joseph-III were third-generation Gentrys; the fourth, John Gentry, is uncertain as to generation but in any case moved to Augusta County, Virginia, and can effectively be ignored.
(2) Records of an apparent four different William Gentrys who were presumably born in Hanover County, Virginia, before the Revolutionary War have been studied in detail. Based on these comparisons, proposed relationships are suggested for these Williams to known descendants of Nicholas Gentry, the Immigrant. In addition, a family tradition concerning the father of Richard Gentry of Stokes County, North Carolina, has been used to relate at William Gentry who died in Sullivan County, Tennessee, to the Virginia Williams.

Introduction
Throughout this year, the Journal of Gentry Genealogy has covered at considerable depth, what little is known about the immigrant Gentrys, Samuel-I and Nicholas-I and the early descendants of Nicholas. By the end of the eighteenth century, most of these descendants had left Virginia and moved south to North and South Carolina or west to Kentucky and Tennessee. This includes all of the descendants of Samuel-II, and almost all of the descendants of Nicholas-II. For those that remained in the Hanover- Henrico-Louisa Counties area of Virginia, clear, unambiguous evidence of their exact relationship to each other and to Nicholas-I Gentry is lacking in most cases. The goal of the present set of articles is to gather together in a single location, what little evidence on some of these "left-over" Gentrys is available and to suggest possible relationships based on that evidence.

 
A. Summary of the Problem
A large part of the difficulty in relating these "orphan" Gentrys to other Gentrys lies in the few records that are available today relating to the pre-Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary period of Virginia, especially in Hanover County. We have discussed this before at length in this journal and includes:

• Most of the early Federal census records for Virginia are missing. All of the 1790 census returns are missing. With the exception of only two counties (which includes Louisa), all of the 1800 census returns are missing also.
• Hanover county records of deeds, wills, and marriages especially are lacking as a by-product of war. County records that were moved to Richmond during the Civil War were destroyed when that city burned in April 1865. Other counties in which early-generation Gentrys lived were variously affected by fires, rainstorms, and other disasters.
• Other types of records that have survived vary widely for different counties and jurisdictions. We have encountered this already in the preservation of parish records where St. Peter's and St. Paul's Parishes have been recovered unusually intact whereas records for neighboring St. Martin's Parish are missing.
• Where the records have been compiled and indexed, to the extent that useful information was entered into the records to begin with, we can thankfully use those records. Where this compilation is incomplete or non-existant, researchers must turn to whatever microfilm copies of the original records exist and laboriously search through frame after frame of the microfilm looking for a possible pearl of information. If we have no a priori reason to look for a Gentry in a given time, location, or type of record, the chances of finding a reference of value becomes almost nil. Fortunately, this situation is improving over the years as more and more transcribing and indexing of records takes place. Ten years from now, there may be significant additions to our present store of knowledge about our subject Gentrys.

For the present, we have a number of references that show the presence of a dozen or more Gentrys centered in the Hanover, Virginia, area, but which do not clearly indicate how they are related. For most of these, we hope during the course of these articles to suggest plausible sets of relationships that we believe to be probable, but certainly not provable. Sadly, not even this is possible for a few of these "orphans".

To offset the problems above, there are only a limited number of Gentry family members to whom these "orphans" can be related. All of the members of the families of Samuel-II and David-II left the Hanover and Louisa County, Virginia area and did not return. Of the family members of Nicholas-II, most moved north to Caroline County, west to Albemarle County, or on to Kentucky and Tennessee. The exceptions that remained in the Louisa-Hanover County area were the widow of his son Nathan, and possibly the widow and family of Nicholas-II's grandson, Nicholas-IV (son of Nicholas-III).

We are left, basically, with four possible individuals to whom the various "orphans" may be related: James-II, Joseph-III, John of Botetourt County, and possibly the William-III, son of Joseph-II, who disappeared from all St. Paul's Parish records in 1735. We will review these individual prospects briefly and then go on from there.

 
B. Potential Ancestors of Third and Fourth Generation Gentrys
1.   James-II Gentry
The reader is referred to issue number 10 of this Journal for information on James. Briefly, it appears that James left his father's home at an early age, before there was any occasion to appear in the St. Paul's Parish vestry records, and moved to the western end of Hanover County. Whether James took over the land left by Nicholas-II Gentry when the latter moved to Louisa County in 1736, or settled outside the borders of St. Paul's Parish where parish records have not survived, is an unresolved question. In any event he did not return to the eastern end of St. Paul's Parish until 1751 at about the time Joseph-II died. Thereafter, James' name appeared in successive processioning reports along with Joseph Jr. in a precinct along the south fork of Crump's Creek [a tributary of the Pamunkey River next in order westward from Totopotomoy Creek]. This continued after James' death, whereupon his property in that end of the parish was listed as belonging to "James Gentry heirs". In the previous issue, reference was made to the fact that James also owned a substantial amount of land in Louisa County at the time of his death, and perhaps land elsewhere.

James' legacy to his family was one of children as well as material assets. John Reed's article last month on George Gentry argued convincingly that George was probably a son of James Sr. Issue number 10 of the Journal, on the family of Joseph-II, proposed a number of other children. Very briefly these were:

a)   James Gentry Jr

2.    John Gentry Sr.
A John Gentry who first appeared in Virginia records in Louisa County in 1740 then moved to Amelia County, Virginia, was clearly a member of a different family than two younger John Gentrys who remained in Central Virginia. We will be describing the latter two in coming journal issues and have informally named them John of Louisa County and John of Hanover County. The older John, or possibly a son John is frequently referred to as John of Botetourt County. As earlier described in issue #10 of this Journal, John first appeared in Louisa County records in 1740 as a land-owner (or tenant?). Thereafter his name appears in a few scattered Louisa County references until 1747. This was followed by a period from 1746 to 1751 when he appeared in tax lists and court road orders in Amelia County. The next reference that presumably applies to this John was not until 1758 in Augusta County. Much remains to be learned of him but suffice it to say for the moment that it is unlikely that any of the Hanover and Louisa County "orphans" descended from him. [Note added Dec. 2013: John is described in more detail in a journal article for 2011, Issue (D)]

3.    William-III Gentry
William was the oldest of the third generation Gentrys. Mentioned briefly in the St. Paul's Parish records in connection with assignment to road maintenance duty in 1732 and 1735 (we have previously speculated that William may have been born sometime between 1705 and 1710), William disappeared thereafter from the pages of history, and no further known records relating to him have been found. We cannot discount the fact that he may have moved west like James Sr, and not been included in succeeding parish records. There is the possibility that he had children who survived him, and will delve further into this possibility in following articles. As for William himself, it appears certain that he did not survive past the 1760's when Hanover and Louisa County records began to show evidence of the presence of various Gentry family members.

4.    Joseph-III Gentry
This son of Joseph-II, by all indications, lived his entire life in Hanover County, presumably in the vicinity of Totopotomoy Creek. He was referred to as "Joseph Jr." in St. Paul's Parish records, and as "Joseph Sr. in Hanover County tax records. Land tax records (see Journal issue #10 for details) indicate that Joseph died about 1786, and was survived by a widow Susanna. She continued to appear in tax records until at least 18000. In the state enumeration of 1782, Joseph was listed with 5 members in his family. His proposed children are briefly summarized below.

a)   Joseph-IV Gentry (Joseph Gentry Jr.)

 
C.    Consideration of "Orphan" Gentrys - The William Gentrys
[Editor's Note. Some readers may not be interested in reading through the detailed listing of facts and conclusions that follow below. You may prefer to skip down to the conclusions resulting from an analysis of these facts, and we provide an opportunity for you to do so. For the reader especially interested in the reasoning applied to the Gentrys discussed below, a complete record of the basis for our conclusions follows.]

In Journal issue #10, all of the Gentrys who appeared in the St. Paul's Parish records were accounted for with proposed relationships with the exception of a William Gentry who appeared in processioning records in 1771 and 1779. In our efforts to relate Gentrys of uncertain relationship to one of the Gentrys listed above, we will start with a review of several Williams who appear in various early records, all of whom presumably were born in Hanover County before the Revolutionary War. As a temporary means of identification, these Williams are numbered William-1 to William-4.:

D.    Resolution of Different William Gentry References
William-1 and William-4    >    William Gentry (of Louisa County)
Based just upon age, we can speculate that William-1 (of St. Paul's Parish) and the proposed William-4 (of Tennessee) were the same person, born before 1750 and definitely older than either William-2 or William-3. We propose the following family for him:

To tie the stories concerning William-4 with the known facts of William-1 being in St. Paul's Parish between 1771 and 1779, requires a leap of faith. The following scenario is proposed as a possible explanation:

• William is suggested as a son of James-II Gentry, probably born between 1740 and 1745, during the time that James was living in western Hanover County.
   
• When James returned to the Totopotomoy Creek area of St. Paul's Parish, in or before 1751, William accompanied his father, being only a young boy at the time.
   
• By 1771, William had acquired or was occupying land in the Totopotomoy Creek precinct separate from the land that was held by his father's estate, and William was recorded individually in the processioning report for 1771 and 1779.
   
• Sometime between 1779 and 1783 (when James Jr left Virginia, presumably having completed his duties as executor of his father's estate), the estate of James Sr. was settled. One can speculate that this may have involved James Sr. leaving some of his land to his widow during her lifetime, and that she died eventually, making the land tied up with her, available for distribution to James' heirs. As probably the youngest of James' sons, we can also guess that James' widow was living with William in her last years and William stayed with her until her death.
   
• William may have been given, as a part of his inheritance, a portion of the land that his father held in Louisa County and/or western Hanover County, or he may have sold his portion of any inheritance in eastern Hanover County and moved to new surroundings. In any event, it would be very plausible for William to have left his land in St. Paul's Parish and moved westward
   
• Some time during the next half-dozen years after 1780, William may have moved south from Louisa County and lived briefly along the Roanoke River before selling that land and moving on westward to the new settlements just opening up in Tennessee. Or he may have simply bought land along the Roanoke for investment and did not actually live there.
   
• By 1787, William and three sons, presumably the oldest ones, left Virginia and moved to Sullivan County, Tennessee. Alternatively, this may have involved the sons leaving first, feeling venturesome, and then William moved after them with his wife. In either event, William and his wife died in Tennessee between 1791 and 1799.
   
• Meanwhile in Virginia, three younger children, Milley, Richard, and George, remained behind, all three marrying spouses there. The fact that their father either lived for a time south of Louisa County, or owned land there, may have helped to attract both Richard and George southward. In the case of Richard, this took him on to North Carolina. In the case of George, it may have taken him to Halifax County and then to parts unknown.

 
William-2 (War Veteran)   >   William Gentry (of Hanover and King William County)(GFA #259)

This William is a very interesting case. In order of age (born about 1754), he is second oldest of the Williams born in Hanover County. The following facts appear to apply to him:

• It does not appear that William could have been a son of either James-III Gentry or George- III Gentry (oldest sons of James-II). (George's known son, William, does not in any way fit the pattern for William-2).
   
• If we use the 1761 binding of an orphan daughter, Mary Gentry, as a yardstick for the age and date of probable death for Aaron Gentry (proposed third son of James-II), William fits very well with this family in terms of date of birth.
   
• Joseph-III had children born 1748 and 1765. It terms of age, he could easily have been the father of this William, but other factors need to be considered.
   
• It does not seem at all likely that William was a son of John Gentry Sr.
   
• William's occupation as a carpenter and his destitute condition when he applied for a pension in 1818 and 1820 fit the various listings for William in the Hanover County personal property tax lists, and the census listings are apparently correct as applied to this William. They also argue for him being part of a family without land and without other material resources.
   
• While it is beyond the scope of the present article and is a subject which will be considered in more depth in a future article, we can speculate that living with William at the time of the 1810 census was a nephew Edmund, whose father, George is described in GFA (#246) as follows;
  "He died in Louisa Co., Va, when a young man, leaving one son, Edmund (247), who was reared by an uncle, who lived in Hanover Co."
  We propose that George, William, and Mary were children of Aaron Gentry and were left with a minimum of resources after an apparent early death of Aaron.

 
William-3 and William-5   >   William Gentry (of Henrico County)(GFA#193)

Born between 1765 and 1770, this William was definitely younger than the two we have discussed so far. The fact that he was raised in Hanover County before moving to Henrico County limits the choices of potential fathers. The Hanover County state enumeration of 1782 included five Gentrys: David, Joseph, and William in St. Paul's Parish; John and Watson in St. Martin's Parish<10>. The William Gentry in St. Paul's Parish had only one individual in his family and undoubtedly was the Revolutionary War veteran. Watson, son of James Gentry Jr, moved shortly afterwards to North Carolina so we can also eliminate him. Of the remaining four, only John could have included William-3 in his family. This John was one of two John Gentrys living roughly contemporaneously in Louisa and Hanover Counties and was probably a son of James-II. He will be discussed in more detail in the next issue of this Journal.

William appears to have first bought land in 1794 in Hanover County, most of which he still owned in 1800. Previous to this he was probably living with his parents. The tax records for Hanover and Henrico Counties after 1800 suggest that this William moved in about 1800 to Henrico County. We can speculate that this move was to or with his hypothetical father-in-law, James Currie, with whom he lived for a short time. Not long after the move, he left Currie's plantation and settled on his own land. At the time of his death, it was apparent that William owned land in more than one location and was prosperous in both slaves and land.

 
William of Gloucester County, New Jersey
Before leaving our discussion of William Gentrys, it is worthwhile mentioning one other William Gentry who served in the Revolutionary War and lived contemporaneously with the three Williams above. His name is included in GFA as #255 (p.252). The service records for New Jersey soldiers who served in the war include William Gentry of Gloucester County, who served as a private in the third battalion of the Gloucester County militia. This William appears in later New Jersey records including tax and census records and is thought to be the son of a John Gentry of Gloucester County, the latter born about 1730. There is no logical way of tying this John Gentry with the family of Nicholas-I Gentry, thus there is a strong probability that these Gentrys were part of one of those very rare families who were not related to Nicholas.    [Note added Dec. 2013:   This family is described in detail in a journal article published in 2012, issue (A).]

 
Conclusion
In reviewing in detail some of the Gentrys who lived in Louisa, Hanover, and Henrico Counties in the late 18th century, we have proposed relationships for three definite William Gentrys, linking them with Joseph-II Gentry and James-II Gentry. In addition, Milley, Richard and George Gentry have been proposed as children of one of these William Gentrys. Finally, a William Gentry and wife, and three proposed sons, William Jr, John, and Ayers, all living in Tennessee, are proposed to relate to the above Virginia Gentrys. Coming articles in the Gentry Journal will pursue further the problem of identifying additional Gentrys whose relationships are not known.

 
References