Volume 3 Issue 8
August 2003
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Abstract
John, Elias, Thomas and Jesse Gentry, sons of David and Elizabeth Whitlock Gentry of Caroline County, Virginia, settled in Western North Carolina beginning in 1808. A summary of the proposed make-up of their families is presented.

Introduction
Four of the sons of David Gentry, a fourth-generation Gentry, son of Nicholas-III, moved from Caroline County, Virginia, to "Old Buncombe County", North Carolina, (which included present Buncombe, Yancey and Madison Counties), and the nearby county of Cherokee. Content with their life in the mountains of Western North Carolina, these Gentrys did not migrate westward as did so many other Gentrys, but stayed very much in place. Despite this fact, there is little that is known about them. In particular, Elias Gentry and his family appear to have evaded the census enumerators successfully for almost thirty years, depriving us of family information that would be welcomed today. We will undertake to briefly summarize what is known of the four brothers and of their parents.

David Gentry

A descendant of Nicholas the Immigrant through the line of Nicholas-II and Nicholas-III, David was the oldest of the children of Nicholas-III and his first wife, Elizabeth Stringer.

There are very few records of David's life in Caroline County. The special Virginia tax list of 1787 (frequently used as a substitute for the 1790 federal census which was lost) records him as liable for 1 poll and with no white males in the family between the ages of 16 and 21<2>. In 1789, a personal property tax list shows him as liable for one white poll and one black poll. The personal property tax list of 1799 includes David, still liable for one white and one black tithe as well as for one horse. David's son John N was present in the 1800 personal tax list (indicating a date of birth for John of 1783-1784). Land tax records for Caroline County from 1787 to 1800 show David being liable for 241 acres initially, and then by 1800, being liable for 199 acres as he disposed of part of his property<3>. A tax list for 1815 shows no Gentrys liable for tax.

The children of David and Elizabeth, in addition to the four North Carolina sons, are said to include Elizabeth, George, and Sarah. David's family is included in the 1810 Caroline County census with four sons and two daughters present. One son, Thomas, was missing from the census, and since he is known to have purchased land in North Carolina in 1808<11>, the assumption is that he was the missing son. Otherwise, the 1810 census supports the existence of three children of the age and sex indicated above, but their names are undocumented as far as this author is aware. In the 1820 Caroline County census, there are no Gentrys listed. We know from North Carolina records that David and Elizabeth's sons John, Thomas and Jesse were living there in 1820, and land records indicate that Elias was living there also, but as to the rest of the family there is no clue. There have been statements that there was a George Gentry in early Caroline County tax lists but this writer has not found them. There has also been a statement that there was a George Gentry in the 1850 Caroline census. This is false. David may very well have had a son named George, however, considering the prevalence of that name among his descendants. In the 1830 Caroline County census there is an Elizabeth Gentry listed, of the right age to be David's daughter but she is believed by this writer to be Elizabeth Kersey, widow of Robert Gentry whom she married in Louisa County in 1809, and not a part of David's family.

The absence of David and his wife from the 1820 census, and from the 1815 tax list suggests they moved from the county during the interval between 1810 and 1815. They eventually moved to Buncombe County, North Carolina, but we cannot necessarily surmise that they moved there from Caroline County immediately. They were also missing from the 1820 Buncombe County census. They may have been enroute at the time of the census, or they may simply have been missed - either in Virginia or in North Carolina - by the census enumerators as so often happened.

David and Elizabeth presumably died before 1830 for they are not found in that year's census in either Virginia or North Carolina, and their ages make their deaths quite probable. They were buried on the property of their son John (the latter's will contains a clause in which John asks to be buried "in the Burrying [sic] Ground on the Hill near the old Gentry House (where my father and mother was buried)."

1. John Norment Gentry

John N. was named for Norment Dickens, the husband of his mother's sister, Molley Whitlock. Of all the Gentry brothers, John is the only one for whom there is a clear unequivocal record of his children. This is both because they are named clearly in his will<10a>, and because the census records provide virtually complete support<5>. The only census record lacking is for John's son, William S. Gentry, in 1850, and even he appears again in the 1860 census. Of the four children of John, William was the only one to leave Buncombe County, doing so in 1841 when he moved to Cherokee County, North Carolina. John N.'s son, John H. Gentry, and his two sons-in-law Absolem and James Buckner were named executors for the will of the senior John, and all were living in Buncombe County at the time of his death.

William deserves a few words of special comment. He moved from Buncombe to Cherokee County, North Carolina in 1841. In the North Carolina "Heritage" series of histories for various counties, William's family of nine children is listed in the two volumes on Cherokee County history, along with a number of biographies of his descendants<8>. There is no hint in any records as to the reason for the apparent rift between William and his father that resulted in him receiving only a horse for his share of John's estate<9a>. William's departure from Buncombe County may have been related. William met an untimely death during the Civil War.<7b,8>. In September 1864, he and two of his sons, John and Stephen, were "taken prisoner by rebel soldiers at their farm on Hanging Dog Creek [in Cherokee County]. They were taken to the Tomatia Community, tied to a mulberry tree and shot to death." They were buried in a common grave in Hanging Dog Baptist Church cemetery. This was a time of raids by Union bands of irregulars, as well as by Rebel groups, and we can surmise that William was known for his Union sympathies. He may possibly have harbored Union forces in his home, or his sons may even have taken part in some raids.

John N.'s children Elizabeth and John H. had large families, most of whom remained in their respective communities. John's family of a least ten children in many instances had census references in Buncombe and Madison County, North Carolina, up through 1880 when John and his wife Sarah were still alive. Elizabeth's descendants are described in several Buncombe County family biographies in the "Heritage" series of North Carolina county histories<7b>.

2. Elias Gentry

As mentioned above, census records are not consistent in giving the ages of Elias and Thomas. We have chosen to use the 1850 census as the basis for determining the age of the three younger Gentry brothers, as that is the only census in which they are represented at the same time. On this basis, Elias is proposed as being the second oldest of the four, followed in age by Thomas and then Jesse.

For some unknown reason, whether a deliberate evasion on the part of Elias, or just happen stance, he was not listed in the 1820 or 1830 census records for Buncombe County, although he is known to have been living there during that time. Most of the family appear to have lived in the communities Sodom Laurel (or Shelton Laurel) and Big Laurel which were originally part of Buncombe County, then became part of Yancey County when the latter county was formed, and finally became part of Madison County when this county in turn was created.

In some accounts, Elias's wife, Mary Ann's maiden name is given as Hunter. However, it is possible that she was a daughter of George Stanton. The latter is listed in the 1850 census with Mary (and her daughter Sarah Gosnell) living on one side of George, and Mary's son William living on the other side. George is said to have listed Sarah and Wiley Gosnell and their children (but not Mary) in his will, but perhaps this was only a neighborly gesture by an old man with no family.

By 1840, Elias' wife Mary Ann was listed in the Yancey County census along with two sons, but Elias was not present. In 1850, the two were living separately, she with their daughter Sally Gosnell in Yancey County, and Elias in Buncombe County. The lack of census records make the identification of the children of Elias difficult, in particular, the identity and age of Idemie (also spelt Idemen) Gentry. The 1850 census lists her with three children, and we do not know whether she was an unmarried mother, the widow of an unknown son of Elias, or having some other relationship. Her age as listed in the census (45) is particularly in doubt, and is not consistent with the ages of the children present in the household with her, and with the ages of other children of Elias. An age ten years younger (35) or even twenty years (25), would be more appropriate. It has been suggested that the "Dimity" Gentry who married Albert Crane in Madison County in 1854 was a variant for "Idemie". Albert was not listed in any 1860 North Carolina census records, so we have no verification of his wife's identity from this source.

George moved to Greene County, Tennessee prior to the 1860 census (in which county he is listed for that year). Military records show that he "died of disease" as a Union soldier in 1864. His son, Hiram, also died in service in 1864. His widow moved back to Madison County, and there exist two documents relating to the appointment of guardians (in 1868 and 1870) of the minor children of George<10a>. Sally married Wiley Gosnell and her family continued to live in Madison County for many years. Sally is said to have moved to Greenville, South Carolina, in old age, to live with her son George and died there<6a>. William and his wife Jane died before 1880, although Jane's mother, Mary Sams was still living at the time, residing with her grandson Jackson Gentry and shown in the 1880 census.

A Joseph Gentry who is in the 1850 Yancey County census, living not far from Mary Ann and her family, and who is also in the 1860 Buncombe County census, almost certainly was not a son of Elias. A biographical sketch in the "Madison County Heritage" series of North Carolina county histories gives Joseph's birthplace as Surry County<7a>. Robert Gentry of Surry County, had a son born 1825-1830, in the 1830 and 1840 census, but missing in 1850. It is very probable that Joseph was this son of Robert (and a grandson of Shelton Gentry). [Robert had a grandfather and a brother named Joseph, while this Joseph named his oldest son, Robert.]

3. Thomas Gentry

We have noted earlier that the 1850 and 1860 census records have conflicting stories to tell about the relative ages of Thomas and his brother Elias. On the other hand, these same census records provide us with a much more complete list of children for him than for the children of Elias and Jesse. This is due to the fact that so many of Thomas' children were living with him at the time of these two censuses, . But there are many questions regarding Thomas' children that are unresolved. Among these are:

1. The ages of most of the younger children in the 1860 census do not correspond at all well with ages recorded in the 1840, 1850, and 1880 census lists;
2. A son, age 0-5, in the 1840 census, appears to be a wrong-sex record for the youngest daughter, Margaret;
3. Another son, age 5-10, in the 1840 census, may have been a son who died before 1850, or the boy may have had a different relationship to the family than that of son;
4. The unusual name Gahazi found in the 1840 census appears to agree with a son of the same age present in the 1830 census, but Gahazi and his entire family is missing from the 1850 census, and his name appears nowhere else in census records for Gentrys in other counties or states. There is at least one Internet source that suggests the name Gahazi Ransom as the full name for this man, but there are only two Ransom Gentrys in 1850 census records, one in Alabama, and one in Mississippi, and neither one of these matches this individual. The conclusion is that Gahazi died after 1840 rather than moved to another location. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that there are several names in the 1860 records for Buncombe County that appear to be children of Gahazi, namely a daughter Mary who appears to have married William Barrett and appears to have a sister Margaret living with her; a son George with wife Ellen and one child in the 1860 census; and a widowed daughter-in-law, Mary, and infant daughter living with H. and Sally Ball.

Thomas appears to have been the first of the Gentry brothers to have moved from Virginia to Buncombe County, for his purchase of 150 acres of land in 1808 is the first record for their presence in North Carolina<11>. In the 1810 Caroline County census, there are only three of the four brothers represented, and the assumption is that Thomas was the one that was missing. It is true that Jesse Gentry was a witness for Thomas' purchase of land, but as a witness, he was free to return home and rejoin the rest of the family whereas Thomas was likely to be the one to permanently leave Virginia.

4. Jesse Gentry

The sons of Jesse Gentry can be reliably identified through their places of residence at the time of census records, and even though they are not identified by name in any census family grouping, they fit well with the census records for 1820, 1830, and 1840. Moreover, at the time of the settlement of Jesse's estate in 1858, they appear as purchasers of items of household and farm inventory items<9c>. The ages, and thus the relative order, of the older children of Jesse are a tangled mess with very little consistency between various census records ranging from 1820 to 1860. The order presented above, is the author's best guess at correlating these records.

The daughters of Jesse are more uncertain as to name. Only Orra and Mary are identified as living with Jesse in the 1850 census. The other daughters, whose ages can be estimated from 1820 to 1840 census records, are either speculative as to identity, or completely unknown as to name or ultimate fate. Of help in the identification of Cynthia and Jane, are biographies of local families in Buncombe and Madison Counties North Carolina, in which ancestors who married a Gentry bride are cited<6,7>. Cynthia is identified in this manner as a daughter of Jesse, along with a report of her year of birth and of death. The same biography gives us the maiden name of Jesse's wife, Nancy. Jane is identified in Wilson family biographies as having married Jesse Wilson between about 1835 and 1837, and as such, is probably one of the daughters of Jesse who was present in the 1830 census but not in 1840. Jane's presence in the 1850 census (age 30) with her husband and children fits this profile, with the exception of her age which should be one or two years younger if she was not present in the 1820 census.

We have no explanation of why daughter Orra, whose age appears to fit the age of one of Jesse's daughters in the 1830 census (born 1825-1830), was not with the family in 1840. The other daughter listed in 1830 as born 1825-1830 and missing from the 1840 census may have referred to daughter Mary. If she was born in 1830, she could have been listed as born 1825 - 1830 in 1830 and as born 1830 - 1835 in 1840.
 

References

3. "Caroline County, Virginia Land Tax Lists, 1787-1799", T.L.C. Genealogy, Miami Beach, FL, 1991. (Entries in Caroline Land Book B for David Gentry)

4. 1810 Federal Census, Caroline County, Virginia

5. Summary of North Carolina Census Records, 1820-1860

6. "The Heritage of Old Buncombe County Vol I", The Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society, Asheville, NC 1981 [Includes present counties of Buncombe, Haywood, Madison, and Yancey]
Excerpts from individual family histories:
(a) p.213, "The Gosnell Family of Madison County"

7. "Madison County Heritage, North Carolina Vol I", Madison County Heritage Book Committee, 1994
(a) p.101, Joseph Gentry

8. Alice D. White, Nell A. White, editors, "The Heritage of Cherokee County, North Carolina Vol II", Cherokee Historical Museum, 1990
p..184, Biography of William Alexander Gentry

9. Wills and Estate Records, Buncombe County

12. Further Buncombe County Deed Book Records
(From Grantor and Grantee Indexes, 1794-1868, NC State Archives)

13. Winston A. Riddle, "Madison County North Carolina Marriages, 1851-1869", Old Fort, NC, 1997. From Madison Co. Marriage Register

8/27/2003