Fearless Females: JANE born 1795-1797, the wife of JOSEPH THOMPSON, of Burke Co North Carolina, Bradley Co Tennessee, Carroll Co Arkansas and Christian Co Missouri

March is Women's History Month! Taking inspiration from the writing prompts on Lisa Alzo's blog, The Accidental Genealogist,  I will be exploring several of the "Mystery Women" in my family tree.


JANE, my great x 3 grandmother, was born 1795-1797 in North Carolina, and was the wife of JOSEPH  THOMPSON (aka ISAAC JOSEPH THOMPSON) of Burke County North Carolina, Bradley County Tennessee, Carroll County Arkansas, and Christian County Missouri.

For 15 years I have been trying to find JANE's maiden name and research her family.  Recent DNA matches strongly suggest a connection to families in Burke County North Carolina, where JANE was likely born, and where she & JOSEPH lived between 1815-1839.

JANE is also one of my X chromosome ancestors.

Here are the known facts about JANE:

--JANE was  born in North Carolina. The 1850 Bradley County Tennessee census shows her as born in Tennessee, but that appears to be census taker's error (everyone in the family was listed as born Tennessee, but  subsequent census records show many were born in North Carolina). The 1860 Carroll County Arkansas census shows JANE as born in North Carolina.

--Her name was not "VIRGINIA JANE", as has been suggested by the recorded oral history of the Thompson family.  State or location names for girls, such as "America", "Tennessee", "Indiana" or "Virginia" don't appear in records until the mid-late 1800s, when they became popular. They were extremely rare to non existent in the 1700s.  JANE appears in all records found so far only as "Jane".

--JANE & her husband JOSEPH had at least sixteen children, the first ten born in Burke County North Carolina, the youngest six born in Bradley County Tennessee. Amazingly, nearly all of these children survived, married & went on to have very large families of their own.

--JANE and JOSEPH migrated with their family from Burke Co North Carolina to Bradley Co Tennessee (1839); from Bradley Co Tennessee to Carroll Co Arkansas (1857), and from Arkansas to Christian Co Missouri (before 1870 census). Most but not all of their children came with them on this migration.

--JANE died sometime between 1865 and 1870 in Green Forest, Boone County Arkansas.  I have not been able to find her grave. Most of the extended Thompson family were living in Christian County Missouri by 1870.

So how to go about finding JANE's maiden name?  No marriage bond or record could be found (according to the North Carolina State Archives), but it is clear that JANE married JOSEPH around 1815 in Burke County North Carolina.  Their eldest son WILLIAM THOMPSON was born there 1816-1817.

I decided on three criteria for finding JANE's maiden name:

--1) I had to pinpoint families who lived in Rowan or preferably Burke Co North Carolina by 1790, and who lived adjacent to ISAAC THOMAS THOMPSON between 1790 and 1830, or adjacent to JOSEPH THOMPSON between 1820 and 1830.

--2) descendants of these specific Burke Co North Carolina families had to be a DNA match to me or other descendants of the Thompson family in Christian Co Missouri.

--3) These families had to have a child named JANE born 1795-1797, documented if possible.

Amazingly, I have pinpointed four families who meet all or most of these criteria:  BALLEW, CONNELLY,  NEILL, and HENNESSEE.   LONDON and CLARDY are also possibilities, but with much less DNA evidence (i.e. only two verifiable matches to these families so far).

The THOMPSON family is my only connection to Burke County North Carolina. So any DNA match to a Burke Co North Carolina family would likely relate to the THOMPSONs, or the females that they married.

Also to my advantage is the fact that my THOMPSON ancestors lived in the same location in Rowan/Burke Co North Carolina from about 1760 until 1830, with some branches probably still there today.

One problem I do have is that NONE of the females in previous generations of the THOMPSON line in Rowan/Burke Co North Carolina between 1790 and 1830 have been verified. JOSEPH THOMPSON's mother, grandmother & great grandmother are still mysteries to be solved.

So it is possible that any DNA match that I receive from these Burke Co families would pertain to the other mystery women, and not JANE.

I think this may be the case with the HENNESSEE family.  It is my theory that ISAAC THOMAS THOMPSON married as his first wife a daughter of PATRICK HENNESSEE Sr, the immigrant. PATRICK had a land grant on Hunting creek, as did ISAAC THOMAS THOMPSON. PATRICK HENNESSEE died in 1795.   In the 1810 census, PATRICK's son JOHN HENNESSEE was living next door to ISAAC THOMAS THOMPSON. On the other side was PETER NEILL.

The second problem I have is that records for Burke Co North Carolina are scarce, since the county courthouse was burned in 1865 during the Civil War.  So the likelihood of finding a will or any other documents to verify my theories is fairly small.


So what did I discover  about these Burke Co North Carolina families when I started analyzing my results from the three DNA companies?

That is the subject of my next blog post!

Have a great day!

Betty


© Betty Tartas  2016

JAMES L SAUNDERS, son of JORDAN M SAUNDERS & MARY WILKINS, a Free Woman of Color

JAMES L SAUNDERS, an educated free man of color, was born about 1843 in Warrenton, Fauquier Co Virginia, the son of  Major JORDAN M SAUNDERS born about 1795,  a white man who was a slave trader, then later a farmer, and his mulatto housekeeper/common law wife, MARY WILKINS born about 1820.

JAMES' early life was interesting.  He was born & raised on the plantation that his father owned, and was listed in nearly all census records 1850-1900 as a mulatto with the SAUNDERS surname, while his mother was consistently listed as MARY WILKINS, also mulatto.

According to several records,  including the 1860 census, JAMES apprenticed on a US Naval Man-of-War, enlisting Nov 10, 1858 at Norfolk, Virginia, and returning home to Fauquier Co in late 1860.

JAMES remained at home during most of the Civil War, until pressure & threats from the Confederate Army compelled him to go north to Connecticut, where he enlisted March 4, 1864 in the Union Army, 29th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry (Colored), under Col Wm B Wooster. He was discharged Dec 10, 1865.

After the war, JAMES returned home to Warrenton, Fauquier Co Virginia, where he worked on his father's farm. The 1870 census shows him as a mulatto, age 28.

On March 2, 1878, Fauquier Co Virginia, JAMES L SAUNDERS made a claim for reparations for his horse, which had been stolen from JORDAN SAUNDERS' farm in 1862 by the Confederate Army. JAMES had to make a deposition, which was basically a detailed interrogation, consisting of 80 questions. This entire file gives a wealth of information about JAMES: he was a school teacher in 1878, a free man of color, that he served in the US Navy, and in the Civil War in Connecticut , and the fact that JORDAN M SAUNDERS was deceased by the date of the affidavit.

The horse in question was a gift from JORDAN M SAUNDERS, given to him in 1860. JAMES also states that after the war, he worked on JORDAN M SAUNDERS farm.  But at no point does he ever claim to be the son of Major JORDAN M SAUNDERS.

Two other witnesses also made depositions, CHARLES BALL & EDWARD SHEPPERD.  Both stated that they had known JAMES since childhood, and had been raised on the same farm (they no doubt were slaves prior to Civil War).  

CHARLES BALL in his deposition does clearly state that "the Claimant, JAMES SAUNDERS was the natural born son of Major SAUNDERS" -- leaving no doubt who JAMES' father really was!

The three accounts varied slightly in how JAMES came to have possession of the horse, causing the claim to be denied.

The only other record I have found so far for JAMES L SAUNDERS is the 1900 Fauquier Co Virginia census, which shows him as black male, a school teacher, wife CECELIA, and two sons FRANK SAUNDERS born Nov 1889 and CLAUDE B SAUNDERS born 1893. No idea if there were other children, or if JAMES was married previously.  I have been unable to trace this family any further than 1900.

Likewise, I have not found the will of Major JORDAN M SAUNDERS. It does not appear that he left his house & land to his children.

JAMES' brother FRANK SAUNDERS born 1845 died childless in 1883 in Fauquier Co Virginia; his death record shows a black male, widower. He had married MARTHA CLARKE in 1871 (see previous post)

The two sisters SARAH SALLIE SAUNDERS born 1848 & LILLIE SAUNDERS born 1854 who married LUDWELL CARROLL HUDNALL are difficult to trace also. LILLIE's husband died before 1880, but they did have at least one daughter ROSENA HUDNALL, born 1877 Fauquier Co Virginia.

Have a great day!

Betty

© Betty Tartas  2016