Joseph (The Fifer) Willis: Nevertheless, He Persisted

I was minding my own business in early December, thinking only about the upcoming holiday season, when a nephew asked a genealogical question. He is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and is particularly interested in relatives’ military records. That led him to establish that Richard Willis of Caroline County, Maryland served in the Maryland Militia during the Revolutionary War. Richard was my great-great-great grandfather and the nephew’s 4th great. He enrolled us in the Sons of the Revolution based on “Rev War Richard’s” service .

The nephew then moved on to the War of 1812. He found a Joseph Willis who enlisted in Caroline County as a fifer in a Maryland Militia company commanded by Captain Peter Willis. In 1854 or 1855, “Joseph the Fifer” was granted 160 acres of bounty land for his service. He was about 64 years old and lived in Caroline County at the time of the grant.[1]My nephew wondered if Joseph the Fifer was the same man as the Joseph Willis who married Dorcas Willis in Caroline County in 1818.[2] “Caroline County Joseph” appears in census records from 1820 through 1850. The 1850 census shows him born in 1790, about the same year as Joseph the Fifer.[3]

I volunteered to check it out. It sounded like a classic “follow the land” inquiry. With the complete land records of Caroline County online at MDLANDREC.com, I figured I could simply find the sale of the bounty land at some point after 1855.[4] If the land were sold by Caroline County Joseph or one of his heirs, the sale would prove the fifer’s identity.

Not so fast there, Willis!

I began searching the Caroline County deed books between 1812 and 1860, the year Caroline County Joseph died.[5]There was no reference to a 160-acre tract. However, a Joseph Willis acquired more than 180 acres in smaller parcels between 1812 and 1836.[6] The deed records also show that no Joseph Willis sold any land before 1860 – neither the purchased land, nor the 160-acre bounty tract.

Then It Dawned on Me

After hours looking through grantor/grantee indexes and squinting online at faded, handwritten deeds, the big picture suddenly became clear. The lands mentioned in the records were all adjoining parcels, each part of two larger original tracts.[7] The Joseph Willises named in those records were surely the same person. There was clearly only one Joseph Willis in Caroline County during the period. The Joseph who married Dorcas in 1818 was certainly the same Joseph who in 1855 filed for bounty land. Caroline County Joseph was indeed Joseph the Fifer.

Nevertheless, He Persisted

Having identified Joseph, there was no need to search the land records further — except that I was curious, with an admitted touch of obsessiveness. I had not yet found the 160-acre grant. I persisted. Maybe Joseph’s 1859 will would provide clues.  It divided his land among three of his children for their lifetimes, with the land descending to his grandchildren, as follows:

    1. Joseph’s will devised the home farm and plantation to his widowed daughter Sarah Davis and spinster daughter Jane Willis until they married or died. Afterwards, the will gave the property to Sarah’s children and to the children of a third daughter, Susan Turner. Sarah had three children. Susan had six, including two born after Joseph’s death.
    1. The will gave a second parcel of land to Joseph’s son John R. Willis and after his death to his children. John had two children.

The will named the grandchildren alive at the time Joseph made the will.[8] It did not, however, identify the acreage in either of the two parcels. Was the 160-acre grant part of the total? To find out, I went back to the deed indexes looking for any grandchild’s sale of the land. The first to appear was Sarah’s eldest daughter Willomina Lane (Davis) Perry. Willomina and her husband William E. Perry sold a ten-acre tract in 1869 that she inherited from Joseph.[9]Joseph’s daughters Sarah and Susan had a total of nine children, so Willomina’s share  was one-ninth of the total. That proved the first parcel in Joseph’s will, described as the “farm and plantation,” totaled 90 acres. The second parcel in the will was sold in 1873 by the children of Joseph’s son John R. Willis. That deed states outright the tract amounted to 90½ acres.[10]

The two parcels that Joseph willed to his grandchildren thus totaled 180½ acres — a pretty close tally to the land he acquired between 1812 and 1836. Apparently, that was all the land he owned at the time of his death. Although Joseph had been granted another 160 acres for his war service, he evidently never took possession. Regardless, we can be sure that that Caroline County Joseph and Joseph the Fifer were one and the same.

—-

This abbreviated/modified tree indicates the relationship of the key players (shown in bold) in this article. All children are not shown, and the listing does not necessarily depict the children’s birth order.

1 John Willis (abt 1689 – 1764) m.1 Mary LNU

… 2 Richard Willis (1718 – 1763) m. Rebecca Granger

….. 3 Rev War Richard Willis (1759 – 1823) m. Britannia Gowty

…….. 4 Dorcas Willis (abt 1795 – bef 1840) m. Joseph (the Fifer) Willis

….. 3 Robert Willis (abt 1755 – 1789 ) m. Sarah Rumbold

…….. 4 Joseph (the Fifer) Willis (1790 – 1860) m. Dorcas Willis

………. 5 Jane Willis – Never Married

………. 5 Sarah Willis m. William A. Davis

…………… 6 Willomina Jane Davis  m. William E. Perry, Sr.

…………… 6 Sarah C. Davis

…………… 6 Franklin L. Davis m. Arabella R. Perry

………. 5 Susan Willis  m. William Turner

…………… 6 Celia Turner m. FNU Leigh

…………… 6 Sarah Elizabeth Turner m. William Henry Williams

…………… 6 Joseph Willis Turner m. Frances E. “Fanny” Connelly

…………… 6 William Merrill Turner

…………… 6 Susan J. Turner

……………. 6 Martha J. Turner

………. 5 John Rumbold Willis m.1 Celia Sparklin, m.2 Mary Todd

…………… 6 Thomas Foster Willis  m. Catherine LNU

…………… 6 Mary Todd Willis m. Joseph L. Griffith

… 2 Joshua Willis (1720 – 1797) m. 2) Deborah Greenhawk

……. 3 Captain Peter Willis (1777 – 1834) m. Elizabeth Holmes

[1] Maryland Militia in the War of 1812 – Volume 1 (Eastern Shore Counties) pg. 1-116, WILLIS, Joseph/Fifer, company of Capt Peter Willis, Aug 15 – 30(?) 1813. Mustered into service at Collins Cross Roads. Applied for bounty land May 13, 1854, age 64, residing in Lower Election District of Caroline County; wit: Willis Charles and James Stack, residing in Federalsburg. He applied for bounty land June 9, 1855, age 64, residing near New Hope, Caroline County. Received warrant for 160 acres.

(Captain Peter Willis, later a Colonel and a Caroline County Justice, was Rev War Richard’s first cousin. Peter was Joseph’s first cousin once removed. See abbreviated family tree at the end of the article).

[2] “Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970”, FamilySearch, this link  Joseph Willis, 1816.

[3] 1850 US Census, Caroline County, lists Joseph Willis, age 60.

[4] See this link for instructions on using MDLANDREC.com

[5] Caroline County Will Book B:108. Will made in 1859; probate began 1860.

[6] Caroline County Will Book JR Bi:213, Joseph’s mother Sarah Willis devised an undivided interest in 15½ acres of land to Joseph and his brothers Charles and Peter. Joseph subsequently bought his brothers’ interests, Caroline County Deed Books L:233 and M:582. Joseph acquired other adjoining parcels at Deed Books M:346 and M: 348, 58 acres; T:099, 39+ acres; T:100, 65+ acres; and T:102, about 4 acres.At his death, Joseph had inherited or acquired about 182 acres.

[7] Every record referred to tracts called either Hab Nab at a Venture or Littleton’s Friendship.

[8] Caroline County Will Book B:108. The grandchildren alive when he wrote his will were Willomina Lane Davis, Sarah C. Davis, and Franklin Davis, the children of daughter Sarah who married William A Davis; Sarah Elizabeth Turner, Joseph Turner, Celia Turner, and William H. Turner., the children of daughter Susan who married William Turner; and Thomas Foster Willis and Mary Todd Willis, children of son John R. Willis who married 1) Celia Sparklin, 2) Mary Todd, 3) Elizabeth Stevens,  and 4) Mrs. Ellen Moore.

[9] Caroline County Deed Book 33:301. William E. Perry and wife Willie M. [Willomina] sell 10 acres of land in the Third District to Joseph M. Noble for $133, it being all the land she inherited from her grandfather Joseph Willis, adjacent Zachariah Willis, John W. Covey, J. R. Willis.

[10] Caroline County Deed Book 35:428. John R. Willis and wife Elizabeth, Thomas F. Willis and wife Catherine, and Joseph L Griffith and wife Mary Todd sold 90½ acres of land to Peter Cook of Trenton, New Jersey for $700, it being land willed from Joseph Willis to John R. Willis for his lifetime with the remainder to John’s children Thomas F. Willis and Mary Todd Willis. Because John R. Willis had not yet died, he joined in the sale of the land. Presumably, the entire proceeds went to his children.

William Logan Burke(s): their stories

My mother’s family has produced so many men named William Logan Burke that we had to create nicknames to keep them straight. The first William Logan Burke (1860-1899) was simply “the Sheriff.”

His son, who was inter alia a polo player, was “W. L.” or “Billy” Burke (1888-1961) — AKA “Gramps,” my grandfather.

The next son in line was also a polo player, nicknamed “the Kid” (1914-1975) — AKA “Uncle Bill.”

The Kid’s elder son — our collective imagination failed here — was “Little Bill” (1952 – ?).

The fifth and possibly last of the name is Little Bill’s nephew. He has several brothers, all of whom are grown and might yet produce a sixth William Logan Burke.

They all have stories, with a couple of family legends in the mix. There has been a recent trend toward tragedy. I’m rooting for the most recent of the Sheriff’s namesakes to turn the luck around. As usual, I won’t write about anyone who might still be living.

Here is the Sheriff:

He was born in Wilson County, Tennessee in 1860, the eldest son of Esom Logan Burke and his wife Harriet Munday. Not inclined to be a farmer, he left for Texas shortly before his father died. He wound up in Waco, McLennan County, where he was “an early sheriff” and a U. S. Marshall. He died of tuberculosis at age 39, leaving his widow Betty and their 11-year-old son, the second WLB.

Here is his wife, Elizabeth (“Betty”) Morgan Trice.

According to my grandmother Ida Hannefield Burke, Betty had red hair and “could hold her liquor like a man.” The Hannefields also lived in Waco. Granny told me she always “felt sorry for Mrs. Burke.”

“Why?” asked I.

“Because the Sheriff was gone so much,” said Granny.

“Why was that?”

“I don’t know,” Granny replied. “Out chasing criminals, I suppose.”

Betty Trice’s family also came to Waco from Wilson County, Tennessee. The Burke and Trice families undoubtedly knew each other there, since both owned land on a lovely tributary of the Cumberland River called Spring Creek. Betty’s father, Charles Foster Trice, died in a cave-in of the creek bank in 1881, when she was 18. His estate was insufficient to cover debts and his land was sold, probably providing the impetus for his family to head for Texas.

Before Foster died, though, he and his wife Mary Ann Powell Trice gave rise to a cool family legend. Wilson County is in Middle Tennessee, a part of the state that was not partial to either side in the Civil War. The Union Army had a headquarters nearby and sent a “recruiting” detail around from time to time, looking for “volunteers.” Hearing they were in the neighborhood, Mary Ann dressed Foster up in a woman’s dress and bonnet. She sat him down in front of the fire in a rocking chair, peeling potatoes. The Union soldiers departed empty-handed.

Mary Ann lived to be 95. She died in Waco when her great-granddaughter, Ida Burke, was 18 years old. Ida, my mother, told me she heard that story straight from Mary Ann’s mouth. So it is the gospel truth, in my view.

Berry and Sion Trice, two of Mary Ann’s brothers-in-law, also went to Texas. They walked all the way from Wilson County to Waco — about 900 miles — in 47 days, according to William Berry Trice’s obit. Berry was also famous for weighing 425 pounds when he died, as well as having been a director of the Waco National Bank. Berry and Sion were partners in a Waco brickmaking company. It supplied most of the nearly three million bricks used to build the bridge over the Brazos River in Waco. The bridge was completed in 1870 and was then the longest single-span suspension bridge west of the Mississippi; it was part of the Chisholm Trail. Baylor has some fun photographs and postcards of the bridge at this site.

The Sheriff, his wife Betty Trice Burke, her mother Mary Ann Powell Trice, the Hannefields, and a whole host of other Trices are buried in the old Oakwood Cemetery in Waco. Not surprisingly, Sion and Berry have impressive monuments. Made of marble, not brick.

The Sheriff and Betty had only one surviving child, the second William Logan Burke: the polo player, Billy or W. L. Burke, AKA Gramps. He was an orphan by age 18, when his mother died. He went to live with one of his mother’s sisters, his Aunt Mattie Trice Harmon. Here is Gramps in his sixties as a referee in a polo match:

Gramps was the spitting image of his mother, IMO. Here he is as a young man:

Besides eventually becoming the oldest polo referee in Houston, Gramps was a Grade AAA, certifiable, lovable character. Whenever he came to Shreveport to visit his daughter Ida, he brought gifts for me. He started with an add-a-pearl necklace, undoubtedly Ida’s idea. He soon switched to various livestock: ducklings, baby chicks, and — my favorite — two quail. My father built an elaborate cage for the pair in the back yard. Unfortunately, the quail commenced their characteristic “bob-WHITE!” call just before the first light of dawn. They had extraordinary lungs. The neighbors complained. One night, the quail “escaped.” I don’t recall what happened to the cage.

My father was fond of saying that Gramps would probably bring an elephant one day.

Besides being a polo player, referee, and trainer of polo ponies, Gramps was a hunter and fisherman. He also raised bird dogs, including a prizewinner named April Showers. Gramps taught me how to shoot a BB gun at a moving target by hanging a coffee can lid from a tree limb by a string. The gun was another gift from Gramps, as was a small rod and reel. Never mind that my parents didn’t fish.

The Sheriff’s grandfather back in Tennessee was a John Burke whose first wife was Elizabeth Graves, daughter of Esom Graves and Ruth Parrot. John Burke was known as a teller of tall tales. If that is an inherited talent, Gramps most likely got it from his great-grandfather John. Granny once sent Ida a newspaper article she had torn out of one of the Houston papers, date unknown. Granny had written on the article in pencil, “Your father in print with a big one.” It was in a column titled “The Outdoor Sportsman” by Bill Walker. I have transcribed it on this blog before, but here it is again. Cinco Ranch is west of Houston.

“A roaring gas flame in the big brick fireplace in the Cinco Ranch clubhouse warmed the spacious room and the several members of the Gulf Coast Field Trial Club who gathered there for coffee Saturday morning before the first cast in the shooting dog stake.

“Usually when veteran field trial followers get together the conversations turns to great dogs of yesteryears and this group was no exception.

“W. L. “BILLY” BURKE related one about an all-time favorite of ours — Navasota Shoals Jake.

“Burke and the late W. V. Bowles, owner of Ten Broeck’s Bonnett and Navasota Shoals Jake, were hunting birds in the Valley on one of those rare hot and sultry winter mornings. Jake pointed a covey several hundred yards from the two men and out in the open.

“BOWLES suggested they take their time approaching the pointing dog, since he was known to be very trustworthy. When the two hunters did not immediately move to Jake, the dog broke his point, backed away to the cool shade of a nearby tree and again pointed the birds.

“THE COVEY was still hovering in a briar thicket when Bowles and Burke arrived. Navasota Shoals Jake was still on point.”

Gramps’s only son, the third William Logan Burke, was nicknamed “the Kid” by other polo players, presumably in recognition of his father and the family sport — but also for his wild and reckless polo style, according to his sister Ida. That was Uncle Bill.[1]

He was good. According to Ida, West Point recruited him to play polo, but West Point probably wasn’t the Kid’s style. Ida’s best friend Tillie Keidel once shared a rumble seat with him on a trip from Fredericksburg to the dance hall in Gruene. Exhausted from fighting him off, she told Ida it seemed like the Kid had four hands. She rode with someone else on the trip home.

Ida also said the Kid was a mathematical genius, which might be true notwithstanding her propensity for embellishing Burke virtues. All three of the Burke siblings were smart as the dickens. The Kid’s son believes he was valedictorian of his high school class and received a scholarship offer. Bettye, the youngest sibling, was a member of Mensa. She once created a professional set of blueprints for a home she and her husband were building on the shore of Clear Lake. Ida, the eldest sibling, skipped two grades in elementary school, was valedictorian of her high school graduating class in Fredericksburg, and received full-ride scholarship offers from every major university in Texas.

I always thought she was exaggerating about those scholarships. Not so. After she died, I found them, seven in all, among her papers: University of Texas, Texas Technological College, SMU, Southwest Texas State Teacher’s College, Baylor, and TCU. Rice was tuition free, but they had an offer for her, too, because that’s where she went for her Freshman year. Then she switched to the University, where she was a Littlefield Dorm “beauty.”

October 1929 arrived, and she had to quit school to help support her family during the Great Depression. Gramps was a car salesman in Fredericksburg, and you can imagine how many people bought cars in the early 1930s. The family lived on the old Polo Grounds in San Antone for a while, eating so much peanut butter that Aunt Bettye swore off the stuff for life.

I don’t know what the Kid did in the 1930s, but he didn’t go to college, so far as I know. They would not have been able to afford it, even with a scholarship. I assume he also helped support the family during the Depression, as he was only 16 in 1930. He joined the Marines in time for World War II, probably after Pearl Harbor, when everyone enlisted. His tombstone identifies him as a First Lieutenant.[2] I don’t think he was ever stationed overseas. Mostly, he started getting married and kept it up his entire life. I have a tiny photograph of him in his Marine mess dress uniform when he was still a buck Sergeant, probably on his first wedding day. All told, he married four times. Looking at old pictures and remembering him, I can see why: he was an attractive man, with the standard issue navy blue Trice eyes and a charming grin. I thought he resembled JFK, another man with charisma.

Here’s a picture of the Kid with his sister Ida and her only child, who never learned to sit a horse worth a plug nickel:

Spoiler alert: at this point, the William Logan Burke stories take a dark turn. If you want a happy ending, sign off right now with the picture of Ida, Uncle Bill, and the little girl on the unhappy horse.

The last military record for him on Fold3 identifies him as a First Lieutenant on a 1946 muster roll. For as long as I knew him — beginning in the early 1950s —  the Kid worked a blue collar union job in the Dow Chemical plant in Brazoria County. It was one of several plants which manufactured Agent Orange. He died in 1975, only 60 years old, consumed by what Ida called “more kinds of cancer than I ever heard of.” I will refrain from a rant about Agent Orange and just put some information in the footnote at the end of this sentence.[3]

Well, that is a downer of a way to end a story, but you can’t say you weren’t warned. I will demur re: writing about Little Bill, who may still be alive and who has a beautiful daughter out there somewhere. Fortunately, there is definitely another William Logan Burke, the family’s fifth. He is one of the sons of Little Bill’s brother Frank and a grandson of the Kid.

So far as I can tell from our emails, Frank’s nice family is sane, sober, and happy. It is also sizeable, so I’m rooting for a sixth William Logan Burke. Maybe he’ll become a Sheriff, and we will have come full circle.

See you on down the road.

Robin

                  [1] For some reason, Uncle Bill went by William Logan Burke Jr., notwithstanding that he was the third of that name in the line. He first son went by William Logan Burke III.

                  [2] Here is an image of the Kid’s tombstone.

            [3] As early as 1962, the Monsanto Chemical Company reported that a dioxin in Agent Orange (TCDD) could be toxic. The President’s Science Advisory Committee reported the same to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that same year. As you probably know, Agent Orange was used as a defoliant in Vietnam. Many vets who served there have been diagnosed with cancer, but could rarely prove that Agent Orange was the cause. In 1991, the federal Agent Orange Act created a presumption that the chemical caused the cancer of anyone who served in Vietnam. That includes bladder cancer, chronic B-cell leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers including lung cancer, and some sarcomas.

 

A Chart for Adam and Mary Steele Rankin: Part 2 of n, Children of James and Jean/Jane Campbell Rankin.

An outline descendant chart is an example of what some Texans call “Aggie counting:” one, and another one, and another one, and another one … etc.

Likewise, the charts themselves are name/dates/spouse, name/dates/spouse, name/dates/spouse … etc., perhaps leavened occasionally with another fact or two.  I dislike creating the dang things almost as much as I hate reading them. I’m just trying to be a good citizen by sharing what I know (or think I know) about this famous family. An incredible number of people claim to be their descendants. Maybe this will assist someone in locating an ancestor. Or perhaps it will be a dose of cold water. Who knows.

The prior post in this series (“Part 1 of n”) only included information for Adam and his four children – James Sr., William, Jeremiah, and Esther. Adam and Mary are obviously generation number 1 in that chart; their children are each number 2. We pick up in this post with the line of James Sr. and his wife Jean/Jane Campbell. I think James Sr. was a son of Mary Steele Alexander Rankin, although some researchers believe he was a son of a prior wife (for whom there is apparently no documentary evidence — please speak up if you have some!).

James Sr. and Jean/Jane had six children proved by his will: Esther, Ruth, William, Jeremiah, David, and James Jr.[1] I have not listed these children in birth order herein for obscure reasons of my own. The chart includes descendants of all of James Sr.’s children as far as I have tracked them toward the present, with the exception of their son James Jr. He is listed last and his descendants aren’t named (yet). That is because James Sr.’s son James Jr. is Spade’s line, and if I get it wrong, Spade will never let me hear the end of it. James Jr.’s descendants will appear in “Part 3 of n” when I gin up the nerve to publish it.

2 James Rankin Sr. and Jean/Jane Campbell, see Part 1 of n for more info on that couple.

   3 Esther Rankin, 1762 – 1826, Franklin Co. Husband Samuel Smith. [2]

      4 Mary Smith, b. by 1788.

   3 Ruth Rankin m. John Tool.

   3 William Rankin, b. ca 1748, d. ca 1800, Franklin Co., PA. Received half of his father’s 280-acre tract on Licking Cr. and devised that land to his only son James.[3] William married Anne Gillespie on 5 Nov 1771 in the Upper West Conococheague Presbyterian Church. Not surprisingly, he has been confused with other men having the same name, but the records about him are straightforward.

      4 James Rankin, b. abt 1772-1776, Cumberland Co., PA. He was single in 1797 when William wrote his will. The last record I found for James was in an 1809 deed when he sold his father’s Franklin Co. land.[4]

      4 Elizabeth Rankin m. Mr. Ritchie.

      4 Jean Rankin, b. after 1776.

      4 Ann Rankin, b. after 1776.

      4 Ruth Rankin, b. after 1776.

      4 Mary Gillespie Rankin, b. after 1776.

    3 Jeremiah Rankin, b. ca 1752-1756, d. 1803. Jeremiah’s line is subject to controversy. One credible source says that James and Jean Campbell Rankin’s son Jeremiah was the man who married Mary Clark and died in 1803.[5] Two county history books claim that the Jeremiah who died in 1803 was a grandson of James and Jean. I come down on the side of the first argument, see the article at this link.

 Jeremiah inherited half of his father’s 280-acre tract on Licking Cr. He was a revolutionary soldier. He built the allegedly haunted house in the area of Montgomery Township, Franklin County known as “the Corner.” His wife Mary Clark was a daughter of James Clark. Jeremiah’s 1803 will named his wife, only son James Clark Rankin, and daughters Nancy, Mariah, and Esther.[6]

      4 James Clark Rankin, b. 1800, d. 1 Jun 1866.[7] Married Elizabeth Watson (1800 – 1871 or 1875) on 27 Mar 1828. He inherited the house in the Corner built by his father Jeremiah. His will names four children.[8]

         5 Mary J. Rankin, b. abt 1831-32 d. 1860. Husband John C. McNary. Six children, all of whom died in infancy.[9]

         5 Rebecca Vance Rankin, 1831-1865. She predeceased her father and was not mentioned in his will.[10]

         5 Esther Rankin, 1838-1889.[11]

         5 Samuel Johnston Rankin, 1833 – 1891, Montgomery Twp., Franklin.[12] Married Elizabeth H. Knox on 17 Mar 1868.

            6 Elizabeth “Lizzie” Watson Rankin, 19 Nov 1868 – 22 Aug 1959. Lizzie apparently resided in the home which her great-grandfather Jeremiah had built. The house was allegedly haunted.[13] There is undoubtedly a good story out there if I can just persuade Gams, Spade, and Columbo to write it.

         5 John Watson Rankin, b. abt 1836, d. 1872. Wife Mary (“Molly”) Dilworth.[14]

           6 James Clark Rankin, 12 Jun 1868 – 8 Jan 1908. Attorney. [15] Attended the Upper West Conococheague Presbyterian Church. Wife Jenette Forster, 1866 – 1954.

                7 Margaret Elder Rankin, 10 Nov 1898 – 15 Mar 1962. Husband Duffield W. Varden.[16]

            6 Mary M. C. Knight Rankin, b. abt 1871.

          5 Jeremiah C. Rankin, b. abt 1844-45.[17] No further information.

       4 Nancy Rankin, b. 2 Feb 1796, Franklin Co., PA, d. 13 Jul 1883, Beaver Co., PA. Husband John Imbrie. Ten children.[18] Her tombstone identifies her as Nancy Clark Rankin Imbrie, wife of John.[19]

      4 Mariah or Maria Rankin (Nancy Rankin Imbrie’s twin), b. 2 Feb 1796, Franklin Co.. Husband Samuel Johnston.[20]

      4 Esther Rankin, 25 Jul 1802 – 19 Jun 1870. Married Alexander M. Johnston, lived in Mercersburg.[21]

   3 David Rankin, d. Montgomery Twp., Franklin Co. abt. 1833.[22] David inherited part of the land where his parents lived. His wife was Mary (“Molly”), birth surname unknown. The Pennsylvania Archives confused this David with his first cousin David Rankin, son of William and Mary Huston Rankin.[23]

      4 Molly Rankin m. Mr. Sellars.

          5 Mary Elizabeth Sellars, b. by Jun 1829.

       4 James Rankin, b. abt 1799-1800, d. 1879.[24] Wife Elizabeth, birth surname unknown.[25]

         5 Elizabeth Rankin, b. abt 1829, m. Mr. Rhodes.[26]

             6 Hannah E. Rhodes or Rhoades m. Mr. Zuck

             6 David C. Rhodes or Rhoades.

         5 Mary Rankin, b. July 1835.

         5 David Rankin, b. abt 1833-34, d. 1882. Apparently never married. Left everything he owned to his brother J. Hervey Rankin, including land in Montgomery Twp. conveyed to the two brothers by their parents.[27]

         5 Marion Rankin, b. abt 1836, d. bef. 1860.

         5 Sarah Bell Rankin, b. abt. 1840, m. Mr. Hoffeditz. See Find-a-Grave memorial here.

         5 James Henry or Harvey Rankin, 26 Dec. 1841 – 7 Jun 1915. Evidently never married.[28]

        4 Betsy Rankin, born about 1795. Living with her brother James in 1850. Apparently never married.

     3 James Rankin Jr. To be continued in Part 3 of n.

Whew! And that’s it for now. I will return to this chart after I publish one other article that has been running loose in my head.

See you on down the road.

Robin

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

            [1] Franklin Co., PA Will Book A: 345, will of James Rankin Senior of Montgomery Township, Franklin, dated 25 Mar 1788 and proved 20 Oct 1795. The will names his wife Jean, daughter Ruth Tool and SIL Samuel Smith (whose wife was James’s daughter Esther Rankin), and sons David, William, Jeremiah, and James.

[2] Esther Rankin Smith’s memorial is in the Shannon Farm graveyard in Mercersburg.  The Find-a-Grave memorial cites Franklin County Cemetery Records, Vol. 31, 5 for the information on the website. I cannot find a complete citation for this series, a location on the FHL website, or any other means of verifying the information. The only reference I can find to it is at Esther’s Find-a-Grave memorial.

[3] Franklin Co., PA Will Book B: 124, will of William Rankin of Montgomery Twp., Franklin Co., PA, dated 8 Feb 1797, proved 16 Feb 1802. Wife Ann. Son James, not married. Daughter Elizabeth Ritchie. Four daughters not of age: Jean, Ann, Ruth, and Mary Gillespie Rankin. Witnesses Jeremiah Rankin and David Rankin (who were the testator’s brothers). William’s 1797 will was not proved until 1802. However, an Ana Rankin — with the right census profile to be his widow and no adult male in the family — was listed as a head of household in 1800, perhaps indicating William was dead by then. See 1800 census, Montgomery Twp., Franklin Co., PA, Ana Rankin, 00100-02201.

[4] Franklin Co., PA Deed Book 8: 380, deed dated 29 Jun 1809 from James Rankin of Montgomery Twp. to James Buchanan. Deed recitals, in part: in 1771, James Rankin Sr. (s/o Adam) acquired 280 acres from Wm. Marshall. In his will, James Sr. left half to his son William. Then William, by will dated 8 Feb 1797, devised his realty to his son James Rankin, the grantor in the 1809 deed. James conveyed 125 acres plus 6% on Licking Creek.

            [5] Virginia Shannon Fendrick, American Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chambersburg, PA: Historical Works Committee of the Franklin County Chapter of the D.A.R., 1969) (copyright 1944) 180:  “Jeremiah Rankin, Ranger on the Frontier, served in 1778, under Capt. John McConnell and as Ensign, 1780-81, with Captain Wm Huston; a son of pioneer James Rankin of Montgomery Township. He mar. Mary, dau. of James Clark. His will was dated June 1803 and prob. August 1803, only son James Clark Rankin and three daus.: Nancy; Mariah; Esther. The widow Mary later married Charles Kilgore. James, Jeremiah, David and William Rankin were pewholders in the “Lower Conococheague” or Welsh Run Church. Nancy Rankin mar. John Imbrie, Beaver Co., Penna., 10 children. Maria Rankin mar. Samuel Johnston, son of Thos. and Anne Houston Johnston. Esther Rankin mar. Alex. M. Johnston, son of Thos. and Anne Houston Johnston. Pennsylvania archives fifth series Vol 6 Pages 262, 269, 274, 282, 374.” RRW note: the pewholders James, Jeremiah, David, and William Rankin were the four sons of James Sr. and Jean Campbell Rankin.

[6] Franklin Co., PA Will Book B: 167, will of Jeremiah Rankin of Montgomery Twp. dated 13 Jun 1803, proved 1 Aug 1803. Wife Mary. Four minor children, all less than 18: son James Clark Rankin and daughters Nancy Rankin, Mariah Rankin and Esther Rankin. Mentions land in Ohio. Executors were his wife, brother James Rankin, brother-in-law James Clark, and brother-in-law David Humphreys. Witnesses John McFarland, David Rankin, John Rankin. Nancy and Mariah were twins, born in 1796. James Clark Rankin was b. 1800-01. Esther was b. 1802.

                  [7] 1850 census, Franklin Co., Montgomery Twp, James C. Rankin, 49, farmer, entire household b. PA, Elizabeth Rankin 49, Mary Rankin 19, Rebecca Rankin 17, Johnston Rankin 16, Watson Rankin 14, Jeremiah Rankin 5; 1860 census, Mercersburg, Montgomery Twp., entire household b. PA, James Rankin, 60, farmer, Eliz Rankin, 59, Mary Rankin, 28, Rebecca Rankin 26, S. J. Rankin (Samuel Johnston) 34 (sic), and Jeremiah Rankin, 16.

                  [8] Franklin Co., PA Will Book G: 162, will of James C. Rankin of Mercersburg dated 9 Jun 1865, proved 1 Jun 1866. Wife Elizabeth, sons S. J. (Samuel Johnston), J. W. (J. Watson), and Jeremiah C. Rankin. Daughter Mary Jane C. McNary of Washington Co., PA. Mentions the “Home Farm,” the Patterson Farm, the Shrader Farm, all in Montgomery Twp., plus a house in Mercersburg. He is buried in the Fairview Cemetery, Mercersburg, with the names of his wife and two of his daughters on the same monument.

            [9] North American Family Histories, image available with an Ancestry subscription at this link.

            [10] Rebecca Vance Rankin is buried in the Fairview Cemetery and shares a memorial with her parents and her sister Esther.

            [11] Esther Rankin is also buried in the Fairview Cemetery and shares a memorial with her parents and sister Rebecca, see prior footnote.

                  [12] 1870 census, Montgomery Twp., Samuel J. Rankin, 36, farmer, $18,000/$2,600, Elizabeth Rankin, 30, Elizabeth Rankin, 1. 1880 census, Johnson Rankin, 46, farmer, wife Lizzie Rankin, 36, daughter Lizzie Rankin, 12, and niece Elizabeth Rankin, 6. Samuel J. and Elizabeth Knox Rankin have a shared monument in the Fairview Cemetery in Mercersburg.

                  [13] See PA death certificate for Elizabeth Watson Rankin, File No. 74957. Resided Mercersburg, PA, Rt #1, Montgomery Twp. Identifies her as a daughter of Samuel J. Rankin and Elizabeth Knox. Born 11/19/1868 in Mercersburg. Died 22 Aug, 1959. Never married.

                  [14] 1870 census, Franklin, Montgomery Twp., J. Watson Rankin, 34, b. PA, Molly D. Rankin, 25, PA, James C. Rankin, 1. Franklin Will Book G: 549, will of J. Watson Rankin dated 27 Feb 1872 proved 1 Apr 1872. Wife Mary D. Rankin, children James Clark Rankin and Mary M. C. Knight, both children under 21.

                  [15] 1900 census, Montgomery Twp., Franklin Co., James Rankin, b. Jun 1868, PA, parents b. PA. Lawyer. Wife Jennette, b. Aug 1868. Married 3 years, one child living. Daughter Margaret Rankin, b. Nov. 1898. James C. and wife Jenette are buried in the Fairview Cemetery, see memorial here.

                  [16] Margaret E. Rankin was baptized 21 Apr 1899 in the Presbyterian Church of the Upper West Conococheague in Franklin Co. The church record identifies her parents as James C. Rankin and Janette Forster, image available here.  See also PA Death Certificate for Margaret E. Varden, which identifies her as a daughter of J. Clark Rankin and Jennette Forster. Born 10 Nov 1898, d. 15 Mar. 1962. Spouse identified as Duffield W. Varden. Image available at this link with an Ancestry subscription.

            [17] 1870 census, Mercersburg, Franklin Co., Elizabeth Rankin, 69, and Jeremiah C. Rankin, 24, reaping machine agent.

            [18] For the names of John and Nancy Rankin Embrie’s 10 children, see a compiled history of the Embrie family  at this link. Requires an Ancestry subscription.

            [19] 1850 census, Beaver Co., PA, household of John Imbrie, 54, Nancy Imbrie 52, DeLorma (m) 26, Mary 24, Nancy F. 22, Robert S. 21, John 14, Euphanus M. (f) 17, Jeremiah 11, and David 9, all b. PA. You can find Nancy’s Find-a-Grave memorial at this link.

            [20] 1850 census, Montgomery Twp., Franklin Co., PA, household of Samuel Johnston, 58, farmer, Maria Johnston, 54, Ann Johnston 23, and J. Rankin Johnston, 14. The same family is listed in the 1860 census for Montgomery Twp., Franklin. The younger child was Jeremiah Rankin Johnston, a minister. He moved to Washington Co., PA, where he can be found in the 1870 and 1880 census.

                  [21] Esther Rankin Johnston is buried in the Fairview Cemetery in Mercersburg, see memorial here.

[22] Franklin Co., PA Will Book D:250, will of David Rankin of Montgomery Twp. dated 6 Jun 1829 proved 22 Jan 1833. Wife Molly, children James and Betsy, granddaughter Mary Elizabeth Sellars, only child of daughter Molly. Executor Andrew B. Rankin. 1830 census, David Rankin in Montgomery Twp is listed adj Jacob Kline and James Rankin. Jacob Kline was mentioned in a deed recorded in Franklin Deed Book 16: 507 conveying land adjacent James Rankin.

            [23] See an article about the David Rankin confusion here.

                  [24] Franklin Co., PA Will Book H: 578, will of James Rankin of Montgomery Twp. dated 24 Jul 1872, proved 10 Apr 1879. Wife Elizabeth, life estate in land, remainder to daughter Mary in fee simple. Daughters Elizabeth Rhoads and Sarah Bell Hoffeditz, cash. Mentions deeds to sons David and James Henry for “mansion farm and a tract of Mountain land.” Witnessed by S. J. Rankin. The witness was probably Samuel Johnson Rankin, son of James Clark and Elizabeth Watson Rankin.

                  [25] 1830 census (00001-10001) lists James Rankin in Montgomery Twp. adj his father David. The 1840 census has a family that fits the profile of David’s son James adj. Mr. Cline. He is identified as James C. Rankin, although the middle initial may not be correct. See 1850 census, Montgomery Twp, James Rankin, 51, $3,000, b. PA, Elizabeth Rankin 39, Elizabeth Rankin 21, Mary Rankin 18, David Rankin 17, Marion Rankin (fem) 14, James Rankin 8, Elizabeth Rankin 55 (undoubtedly his sister because she has $1500), and John Watson. 1860 census, Montgomery Twp, James Rankin, 61, Elizabeth Rankin 48, Mary Rankin 25, David Rankin 23, Sarah Rankin 20, and Harvey Rankin, 18; 1880 census, Montgomery Twp., Elizabeth Rankin, 70, daughter Mary 48, son David 46, son Harvey, and John Watson, 49.

                  [26] Elizabeth Rankin Rhodes/Rhoades had two children identified in an acknowledgement by heirs in Franklin DB 69: 49.

                  [27] Franklin DB 52: 299. Franklin Will Book I: 434, will of David Rankin dated 13 May 1882 proved 16 Nov 1882, J. Harvey Rankin sole beneficiary and executor.

                  [28] 1900 census, Mercersburg, Franklin Co., Harvey J. Rankin, 53, b. Dec 1846, single. Landlord. With sister Mary W. Rankin, b. Jul 1835.

Dr. Henry F. Willis – When the Saints Go Marching In

Did you have a sibling a grade or two ahead of you who made straight “A’s” and was well-beloved by teachers? Not much fun following in her wake, was it?

That’s how I feel about my great-great grandfather, Dr. Henry Fisher Willis. I’ve researched him ad nauseam, looking for the inevitable hint of horse thievery, Civil War desertion, or other juicy story in his background. But no.  The man was apparently a saint, a devoted husband and father, a leader in the community, and a church trustee. All I have for him is just one sainted fact after another. No juicy stories, or really any story at all.

So be it. I’m writing an article about him anyway for my Willis family and any other Willis researchers who might find some helpful information here. It mostly will be a litany of facts, which is like what we call “Aggie counting” in Texas — one, and then another one, and then another one.

First, the Basics

Henry was born on 22 Apr 1831 near Friendship in Caroline County, Maryland, a settlement about ten miles north of Preston.[1] He was the eldest of seven sons of Zachariah Willis of Caroline County and Mary Broome Fisher of Marsh(y) Hope, Delaware. Zachariah farmed his father’s old homestead until he was almost 87. However, Henry got his fill of farming much earlier. He went to school during the winter months and worked on the farm the rest of the year until age fifteen. He then gave up school entirely to work on the farm, but continued self-study. In 1850, he quit farming, began teaching in a country school, and studied medicine as well.[2] Ultimately, Henry left to attend medical school and graduated from Philadelphia College of Medicine in 1854.

Henry’s medical degree has a good story. In the 1960s, my father inherited a large china cabinet. Rattling around in the bottom of the cabinet was a handcrafted metal tube about eighteen inches tall. Inside were a diploma and a license to practice medicine, each more than a century old. The diploma from the Philadelphia College of Medicine, written in Latin, named the recipient “Henricum F. Willis.” What a treasure![3]

Dr. Willis Opens his Practice in Delaware

Henry did not return to Maryland upon graduation. Instead, he became licensed in Delaware in July 1854[4] and began his practice in Millsboro, Sussex County, Delaware, some forty miles east of his childhood home.[5] Why, you might ask? The 1860 census provides an economic explanation.

In 1860,  almost 30,000 residents lived in Sussex County, nearly three times the population of Caroline County.[6] Further, with 2,475 residents, Millsboro was the largest town in its county and had only one doctor. In contrast, only 440 lived near Preston, but the town already had two doctors.[7] Clearly, Millsboro presented a greater opportunity for establishing a successful practice.

Henry’s choice is supported by an 1867 gazetteer, which describes other small towns in Caroline County as “post villages.” It tabulates the number of churches, stores, carpenters, and doctors followed by a list of businesses in the community. However, its entry for Preston is only six words – “A post office in Caroline County.”[8] No listing of businesses or churches. Preston was apparently little more than a crossroads.[9]

Dr. Henry Willis was undoubtedly busy in Millsboro, but he kept ties to his home county. He made the all-day, forty-mile trip to Maryland frequently enough to successfully court a young woman. On 19 Apr 1856, he married Emily Rumbold Patton,[10] the daughter of Zachariah’s neighbors Matthew and Martha Rumbold Patton.[11] Henry and Emily undoubtedly had known each other for years. John Isler’s 1875 map of Caroline County shows the proximity of lands owned by the Pattons and Willises.[12] Both families attended the Friendship Methodist Episcopal Church at the crossroads south of their homes.

Although living out of state, Henry invested both time and money in Caroline County. In late 1857, he and his wife Emily spent $1,000 to purchase eight acres of land in Preston. The land had been owned and was still occupied by Henry’s cousin Richard Willis.[13] The land had been sold in a sheriff’s auction to satisfy a judgment. The auction buyers were Richard’s wife Mary Jane Bailey Willis and John Rumbold. Rumbold was Emily Willis’s grandfather and the source of funds to buy the property. Henry and Emily bought the land from her grandfather and Mary Jane Willis,[14] and sold it less than a year later.[15]

After five years in practice, Dr. Willis was elected Vice President of the Medical Society of Delaware for the 1859-60.[16]Henry and Emily appear in the 1860 Census in Millsboro with two young daughters, Cora and Mary.[17] According to the census, their first child was born in Maryland, and the second in Delaware.[18]

A Return to Caroline County

The family’s good fortune in Millsboro did not continue. In about 1861, Henry contracted malaria and abandoned his practice, returning to Caroline County to regain his health.[19] In 1862, he took over the practice of Dr. Edwin E. Atkinson, who had joined the Union Army as a surgeon.[20] Henry became the only doctor in Preston when Dr. Andrew Stafford also left for the war.[21] As the lone doctor in Preston, Henry was successful. However, he was not immune to personal tragedy. About a year after taking up residency in Preston, Henry’s and Emily’s third child, an infant daughter, Emma Patton Willis, died.[22]

Henry and Emily Willis soon became prominent members of the Preston community. In 1867, they bought 33 acres of land adjoining the village of Preston.[23] Prior to the purchase, they probably rented a house on the property. They subsequently added a two story wing and a kitchen to the original structure.[24] In 1872, the Willises also purchased farm acreage southwest of town.[25] The land was part of a tract called Poplar Grove. It is located on Marsh Creek, where Willis ancestors once owned land.[26] The family gained more property in 1883 when Emily inherited from her father half the land called the “Rumbold Farm.”[27] By 1870, the Willis assets totaled $4,000 of real estate and $1,500 in personal property. In 1870, the family lived on Noble Avenue in Preston, Maryland with daughters Cora and Mary and a son, Henry.[28] They named their son after his father and gave him a middle name – Noble – borrowed from another Preston family.

The Noble Name

Usually, a borrowed surname pops up after a marriage between two families. However, that is not the case here. There was no marriage between a Willis and a Noble until well after the birth of Henry Noble Willis. The name seems to have been adopted out of respect and friendship. The most likely family with whom the Willises had such a relationship is that of Twiford S. Noble.[29] Mr. Noble was a decade older than Henry Willis and may have been a mentor. Both were trustees of Bethesda Methodist Episcopal (now United Methodist) Church in Preston and were possibly friends before that.[30] When Twiford’s son Jacob graduated from medical school in 1876, Dr. Willis took him into his practice for a while before Jacob moved to Dorchester County and established his own practice.[31] Whatever the reason for its adoption, the Willis family has used Noble as a first or middle name for five generations beginning with Henry Noble Willis.[32]

Another Family Tragedy

The year 1875 began with another tragedy for the Willis family. Henry’s and Emily’s eldest daughter Cora had just turned eighteen and had become a teacher at Castle Hall school in the town of Goldsboro north of Denton, Caroline County.  She was a boarder in the household of Dr. Alexander Hardcastle. She retired to her room the evening of February 3rd in apparent good health but was found the next morning dead of some unknown illness.[33] Speculation reported in the newspapers said she possibly died of heart disease.[34]

In 1875, Henry Willis was a member of the Building Committee of Bethesda Methodist that raised  funds to erect the current church building.[35] He also served for a time as a Judge in Caroline County’s Orphan Court, which has primary probate jurisdiction. That must have been a burden, since he resided in Preston but the court was in Denton, the county seat. During the 1880s, Willis was also a witness or executor for half a dozen wills made by people to whom he was not related, a sure indication of the community’s respect for him..

The Willis’s surviving daughter Mary wed Joshua B. Clark of Seaford, Delaware on 23 Jan 1878. A report of the wedding indicated J. B. Clark, of Seaford, Delaware, was Junior Editor of the Sussex County Index, presumably a local newspaper. By 1880, son Henry Noble had become the only child in the household.[36] Young Henry followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a doctor and establishing a practice outside Caroline County — but that is another story.

As Dr. Willis began to age and his health deteriorated, he invited Dr. Jacob Noble back to Preston to join and then take over his practice.[37] Dr. Henry F. Willis died 27 April 1890, five days after his 59th birthday. Bethesda United Methodist Church honors his life of contribution with a stained glass window dedicated to his memory.

Remarkably, despite his time on the Orphan’s Court, his being an executor or witness to numerous wills, his involvement with his father’s estate who died in December 1889, and knowing he was in bad enough health to invite Dr. Noble to take over his practice, Henry did not make a will. He died intestate.

Administration of his estate by his son Henry N. Willis and son-in-law Joshua B. Clark began in May 1890.[38] Disposal of his real estate provides more information about the family into the 1900’s. Again, a story for another time.

____

[1] Tombstone, Bethesda Methodist Cemetery, Preston, Caroline County, Maryland, Henry F. Willis, MD, 22 Apr 1831 – 27 Apr 1890

[2] Jensen, Dr. Christian E., MD, Lives of Caroline County Maryland Physicians, 1774 – 1984, Printed by Baker Printing Company, Denton, Maryland, 1986, 189. Dr. Jensen described at a  meeting of the Upper Shore Genealogical Society of Maryland the diligent research that went into his book. He accessed historical documents and interviewed people who had first-hand knowledge of the doctors. Having met Dr. Jensen (via Zoom) and listened to his presentation, I cite his work with a lot of confidence.

[3] Diploma from Philadelphia College of Medicine in possession of William Burke Willis of Travis County, Texas as of Nov 2023. Per the website of Philadelphia Architects and Builders, the Philadelphia College of Medicine occupied the Adelphi Building at 214-216 South 5th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building was erected in 1829-30. It was home to the Philadelphia Club 1834-35 and the Odd Fellows Club in 1845. The Philadelphia College of Medicine used the building from 1846-59 The building was altered in 1847 to add a Surgical Amphitheater. The website notes that the building was demolished but does not give a date.

[4] Original License to Practice Medicine, in possession of the author.

[5] Jensen, 189.

[6] 1860 U S Census shows 29,615 total population of Sussex County, Delaware and 10,520 for Caroline County, Maryland.­­­

[7] Id, Dr. John Martin in Millsboro, Sussex County; Dr. Edwin E. Atkinson and Dr. Andrew Stafford in Preston, Caroline County per the 1860 census.

[8] Geo. W. Hawes’ Maryland State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1867-1868, Geo W. Hawes Publisher and Compiler, 45 West Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD, p 134, image 146 of 584, online at ancestry.com

[9] Such directories charged a fee to list a business. Possibly, the Gazetteer had not yet descended on Preston to sell its service. On the other hand, a sales rep might not have had much luck. The Preston region was highly rural with an agricultural economy. It would not make much  sense for a business ­to pay a listing fee if everyone already knew how to find the general store at the crossroads and the carpenter and two doctors who lived just down the road.

[10] “Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970”,  see link here : 16 January 2020, H. Fisher Willis, 1856.

[11] 1850 Census for Caroline County, MD, Mathew Patton, 43, M, Farmer, Martha, 35; Robert, 16; Emily, 14; James B., 10; Lydia, 8; Hugh Grimes, 26, Laborer; and Lydia Patton, 69.

[12] Isler, John B, “Map of Caroline County, Maryland – 1875,” see link here. The map also shows other families connected to the Willises  by marriage — Todd, Nichols, Cochran, Turner, and Covey – but those are stories for another article.

[13] Mitchell, 134. Richard was the son of Dorcas Willis and Joseph Willis, who were first cousins. Their grandfather was Richard Willis, Senior. Dorcas and Zachariah Willis, Henry’s father, were children of Richard Senior’s son Richard Junior.  Joseph was the son of Richard Senior’s son Robert.

[14] Caroline County, Maryland, Deed Book CC: 614. The eight acre property was directly across the road from the Bethesda Methodist Episcopal Church and included two dwellings, an office, a smokehouse, and other outbuildings. It was not uncommon for relatives to purchase property at such auctions in order to keep the property in the family.

[15] Caroline County, Maryland Deed Book RJ 29:112. Dr. Willis paid $1,000 for the property and sold it ten months later for $1,200.

[16] Jensen, 189.

[17] 1860 Federal Census, Sussex County, Delaware, Dagsboro Hundred, Millsboro Post Office, Household of  Henry F. Willis, 29, M, Physician $500 Personal Property, E.R. [Emily] Willis, 24, F, Cora F. Willis, 2, F, Mary Willis, four months, F, born in Delaware, Martha Burton, 15, F, a Black servant.

[18] That might be an error; both might have been born in Delaware.

[19] Jensen, 189. No citation is given for this information. I cannot find a reference to any malaria outbreak during this period in Millsboro, but it was a common disease in the region.

[20] Id, and US Civil War Pension Index, see link here. From 1862 – 1864, Atkinson served as Surgeon US Volunteers, Asst Surgeon 4th Maryland Infantry, and Surgeon 2nd Eastern Shore Maryland Infantry. Filed Invalid Pension 23 Jun 1881 and Widow Pension 22 Apr 1891..

[21] US Civil War Pension Index, see link here. Dr. Stafford, however, did not join the medical corps. He organized a company of infantry and served as its captain for three years. Company E, 1st Eastern Shore Maryland Infantry, and then as Provost Marshall.

[22] Tombstone in Bethesda Methodist Cemetery, Emma P, daughter of Henry F & Emily P Willis died 6 Nov 1863 aged 10y 10m [GNW Note: the stated age is in error. Her age should be 10m 10d]

[23] Caroline County, Maryland Deed Book 32:425. Purchased from James Douglass.

[24] Mitchell, Dora, A History of the Preston Area in Lower Caroline County, Maryland, (Caroline County Historical Society, Inc., 2005), 196.

[25] Caroline County, Maryland Deed Book 34:643. 19 Sep 1872 – James E Douglass and wife Annie E sell for $625 to Dr. Henry F. Willis a tract of 67 acres on the east side of Poplar Road.

[26] In 1879, Willis sold the land under a mortgage (Deed Book 41:172) and got it back in 1882 when the debt went unpaid (Deed Book 45:372). It remained in his name at his death in 1890.

[27] Caroline County, Maryland Will Book B:573.

[28] 1870 Federal Census, Caroline County, Maryland, 4th Enumeration District, Preston Post Office, Household of Henry F. Willis age 39 physician , Emely Willis age 34 Keeping House, Cora F. Willis age 12, Mary M. Willis age 10, Harry N. Willis age 4, Helen D Farguhason age 21 School Teacher, Caroline Chase age 45 Domestic Servant, Mathew Chase age 4, Abraham Camper age 14 Farm Laborer. The last three residents were Black. All residents were shown as born in Maryland.

[29] One Noble family was a Willis neighbor in the 1870 census, Isaac L. and his wife Mary E Noble. I have not found any relationship between the Willises and Isaac Noble.

[30] Email 13 Jun 2012 with Dr. Eric Cheezum, historian at Bethesda Methodist.

[31] Jensen, 118.

[32] These include Henry Noble Willis’s son Noble Sensor Willis, grandson Gary Noble Willis, great grandson Noble Sutherland Willis, and great-great grandson Christopher Noble Willis.

[33]  Mitchell, 196.

[34] “Wilmington Daily Commercial,” 8 Feb 1875, page 4, online at newspapers.com

[35] Bethesda United Methodist Newsletter, see link here.

[36] 1880 Federal Census, Caroline County, Maryland, 4th Enumeration District, Preston,  H.F. Willis 49 Physician, Emmily [sic] Willis 44 Keeping House, Henry N. Willis 14 At School, Bessie Farguharson 24 Milliner, Mary Lake 45 Servant.

[37] Mitchell, 197.

[38] Caroline County Administrations Key, online at Family Search, 169. Widow Emily P. Willis and daughter Mary W. Clark renounced their right of administration. Letters of Administration granted to son Henry N. Willis and son-in-law Joshua B. Clark with bond of $5,000 and securities Jeremiah B. Fletcher and Robert Patton [GNW Note: Robert Patton is Emily’s brother].

Enter Spade and Columbo: Autosomal Evidence

It pays to have friends who excel at family history research and know DNA stuff. In that category, I am lucky to know Spade and Columbo. Y’all have met Spade before at least twice.[1] He is a California guy, famous for slurping Cutty Sark and hanging up on people. I don’t know where Columbo lives or what he drinks, if at all. Like Spade, though, he usually gets his man.

The two genealogy detectives are distant cousins. Both are descended from Adam Rankin who died in 1747 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and his wife Mary Steele Alexander. Spade has a solid gold paper trail back to Adam and Mary. Columbo’s chart has one, um, interesting link, but it is still golden. Spade is descended from Adam and Mary through their son James and his wife Jean Campbell Rankin. Columbo descends through their son William and Mary Huston Rankin.

That brings us to an article published here on October 29, 2023 concerning Joshua and Mary Rankin Cox and her purported parents, John and Anna Craig Rankin.[2] That article wonders whether there was a relationship between those Rankins and Adam’s line. The article suggests some speculative possibilities — with no evidence as far as the eye could see.

It also pays to admit it when you don’t know nuthin’ and ask for help. Enter Spade and Columbo, both of whom have done autosomal tests, as have three of Columbo’s close relatives. Between them, they have numerous Cox matches. Spade sums up the autosomal evidence as follows:

“There’s zero chance that Mary Rankin Cox was not a very close relative of Adam Rankin d. 1747.”

Of course, we are still in the dark about how Adam and Mary Rankin Cox were related. DNA leaves that for us to figure out. Here are some possibilities:

…  Mary Rankin Cox and Adam Rankin were siblings.

…  Mary Rankin Cox was Adam’s niece; thus her alleged father John and Adam would have been brothers.

…  Mary Rankin Cox was Adam’s daughter.

Here is what Spade has to say:

“Lady, you ask so many questions I’m going to have to demand my usual retainer pretty soon. But this one’s on me: I go with siblings as the relationship between Adam Rankin and Mary Rankin Cox. Her oldest child would have been born about 1726, while Adam and Mary Steele Rankin were also having children in the 1720s. Joshua Cox, Mary Rankin Cox’s husband, died the same year as Adam, 1747, also in Lancaster County.  That looks like Mary and Adam were from the same generation. I think she would have been  Adam’s younger sister. Looks to me like there are too many matches at too many centimorgans to say that the connection extends back another generation.”

Columbo, on the other hand, opines that the John who was allegedly Mary Rankin Cox’s father was Adam’s brother, which puts Mary in the role of Adam’s niece. That theory gets support from the oral family legend that Adam of Lancaster County had a brother John.

The notion that Mary Rankin Cox may have been Adam’s daughter seems like forcing Cinderella’s shoe to fit. The argument in favor is that Mary had a proved brother William, while Adam had a proved son William. The glaring flaw here is that Adam’s will didn’t name a daughter Mary or a son-in-law Cox. Adam did give his married daughter Esther Rankin Dunwoody a cash bequest, so he wasn’t just omitting daughters. If there was ever a surefire way to stir up resentment, or even a will contest, failing to give a child at least a token bequest qualifies.

The other issue with the theory that Mary Cox was Adam’s daughter arises from the plethora of William Rankins in the area. Why pick on Adam’s son William to be Mary Cox’s brother out of all the William Rankin possibilities who appeared in Franklin County? Equally as reasonable — although just as speculative — Adam Rankin and Mary Rankin Cox could well have had a brother William, who would then have been the Rankin named in Joshua Cox’s will.

Spade’s argument sounds more persuasive. My only addition is the fact that Joshua Cox’s will, written in April 1747, provides that his children should be “put to trades” at age sixteen.[3] That suggests some of his children were born in the 1730s. His son John, named an executor, was probably indeed born by 1726. That seems to support Spade’s opinion that Mary Rankin Cox may have been Adam’s younger sister.

In short, there doesn’t seem to be any compelling logic dictating the type of family relationship between Mary Rankin Cox and Adam Rankin. Also, there is the niggling matter of evidence, which is entirely lacking in this matter. Does anyone reading this have any other ideas, evidence, or suggestions? If so, please share!

Meanwhile, I owe you the next installment in Adam and Mary’s descendant chart. Soon.

See you on down the road.

Robin

            [1] See articles written by or featuring Spade here and here.

            [2] See the article about Mary Rankin Cox and her possible parents at this link.. So far as I know, the only evidence of the existence of John and Anna Craig Rankin is a Cox researcher’s letter in a Franklin Co. historical society.

            [3] Lancaster Co., PA Will Book A: 131. The clerk’s transcription twice calls the testator Joshua and once John. In the margin where the deceased’s name is written, “Joshua” is struck through and “John” is written in. This may be the reason many people refer to this man as “John Joshua Cox” or “Joshua John Cox.” In any event, the will names as executors Joshua’s wife Mary and son John, with Joshua’s brother-in-law William Rankin to assist his wife. Joshua left two-thirds of his estate to his children, but identified by name only his sons John and Richard and a daughter Mary. The will also provided that his children should be “put to trades” when they reached age 16. That suggests at least some of the children were born after 1731, since the will is dated 22 April 1747. John, named an executor, was probably of age in 1747 and thus born by 1726.

Imagine that! A chart for Adam and Mary Steele Alexander Rankin (Part 1 of n)

THIS JUST IN!!! A Big Y test and well-documented papyrus trail prove that Adam Rankin, who died in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in 1747 (wife Mary Steele Alexander), is descended from Adam Rankin of the Garden of Eden (wife Eve, birth surname unknown).

Just kidding. There were no surnames back then.

Enough fun. I’m attempting to construct an outline descendant chart for Adam’s and Mary’s family, including citations to evidence so that readers can evaluate issues for themselves. This will make for copious footnotes, although not for entertaining reading. My hope is that it will be useful reference material. The chart will expand to an unknown number of posts, thus the “Part 1 of n” in the title.[1]

We will begin with Adam, the original immigrant in his line, and the four children he named in his will.

1 Adam Rankin d. 1747, Lancaster Co., PA. Adam arrived in the colonies by at least 1722.[2] His only proved wife was Mary Steele Alexander, widow of James “the Carpenter” Alexander and daughter of John Steele of New Castle County, Delaware. Deeds establish that Adam and Mary married between August 1718 and 1724 in the Colonies.[3]

 The only evidence I have seen for Adam’s acquisition of land is a 1742 warrant.[4] Adam willed that land to his son James Sr., and a deed executed three-quarters of a century later by James Sr.’s son James recited the tract’s provenance.[5] The family probably lived on or near Conococheague Creek (also spelled Conogocheague) close to Greencastle, then in Lancaster County, now Franklin.

Adam’s 1747 will names three sons, a daughter, and a wife, although it doesn’t mention his wife’s given name.[6]  There is evidently no documentary evidence[7] for — take a deep breath here — Adam’s birth year, the birth years of his children, the identity of any wife prior to Mary, where he was born (although it was undoubtedly either Scotland or Ulster), his parents, or any siblings.[8] Anything to the contrary, no matter how “many online trees” claim otherwise, is unproved absent evidence. In that regard, the oral family history and “many online trees” identify a John Rankin who died in Lancaster in 1749 as Adam’s brother, although Big Y testing conclusively negates that claim.[9]

     2 James Rankin Sr. d. 1795, Franklin Co., PA.[10] Adam’s son James Rankin Sr. appeared on the 1751 tax list for Peters Township in Cumberland County, which would then have comprised the southwest part of modern Franklin County (including Peters and Montgomery Townships).[11] James appeared in the records of Peters or Montgomery Townships from 1751 until he died.[12]

Based on his first appearance in county records in 1751, James Sr. may have been born about 1726. Adam’s 1747 will, which states that James was already in possession of some land, suggests an earlier birth year, perhaps 1722.[13]

James Sr.’s wife was Jean/Jane Campbell, daughter of William Campbell.[14] James Sr.’s tract in Montgomery Township was on Licking Creek.[15] He died in 1795 in Franklin County, leaving a will identifying his wife and six children.[16] This family attended the Lower Conococheague  or “Welsh Run” Presbyterian Church.[17]

     2 William Rankin died in 1792 in Antrim Township, Franklin Co., PA. This William is well-known to Rankins, some of whom claim descent from him in error.[18] His wife was Mary Huston (died about 1824), daughter of Archibald and Agnes Huston.[19] Both William and Mary left wills. His named all his children and describes locations of the tracts devised to his sons. That makes it possible to find them thereafter with confidence. Mary’s will named inter alia four grandchildren for whom I have found no other documentary proof.[20] There is also a family Bible containing birth dates of their children and some grandchildren.[21] With those foundations, this is a fun and easy family to track.

William’s birth date is not proved. He began appearing in county records in 1751, when he was named on a tax list for Antrim Township.[22] As with his brother James, that suggests he was probably born by 1726. William lived in Antrim Township until he died.

His Revolutionary War service is deemed sufficiently proved to admit descendants into the S.A.R., although he was probably too old to have been in active military duty. His will proves seven sons and one daughter, as does the family Bible.[23] All of William and Mary’s children were born before Franklin was created in 1784, suggesting they were born in Cumberland Co., the predecessor county. Quite a few members of William and Mary’s family are mentioned in the records of the Upper West Conococheague Presbyterian Church.[24]

William appeared in a plethora of county records, but is never shown with a middle initial, much less a middle name. I have asked a number of people who assert he had one to share any evidence on that issue. So far, no takers. It is a solid gold bet that the middle name “Steele” frequently claimed for him is fiction.

     2 Jeremiah Rankin died in 1760 in what was then Cumberland County in an accident in his mill (or perhaps the family’s mill? I don’t know) on Conococheague Cr. near Greencastle.[25] He married Rhoda Craig about 1754. After Jeremiah died, Rhoda remarried to a Mr. English.

I have found no records for Jeremiah in Pennsylvania except for his mention in his father Adam’s 1747 will. There should be guardian’s records since he left four minor sons, and presumably probate records concerning his land, but I have found neither. Jeremiah and Rhoda’s sons went to Fayette and Woodford Counties, KY.[26]

Fortunately, there is secondary evidence concerning Jeremiah’s family. It includes (1) a letter written in 1854 by John Mason Rankin, a grandson of Jeremiah and Rhoda,[27] and (2) a history of Kentucky Presbyterianism, which includes information about Rev. Adam Rankin, a son of Jeremiah and Rhoda.[28] History is based in part on Rev. Adam’s autobiography, establishing its credibility. It identifies Rev. Adam as a son of a Miss Craig and confirms that his father died in 1760 in a mill accident.

     2 Esther Rankin, the only daughter named in Adam’s 1747 will, married a Mr. Dunwoody. I apologize for my failure to research daughters, including Esther. My focus is on the paternal line in an effort to identify potential Rankin Y-DNA test volunteers. The omission is likely shortsighted, since families frequently intermarried and/or migrated together. The Dunwoody family might provide helpful information. If you are a descendant of Esther’s, I would love to hear from you.

And that’s it for this installment. Next, assuming I don’t get diverted, will be the children of James Sr. and Jean/Jane Campbell Rankin.

See you on down the road.

Robin

            [1] Disclaimer: a friend and blog reader has pointed out my regrettable tendency to promise follow up articles but then fail to do so. My usual excuse is that some cool new puzzle became a distraction. Then life went on and I forgot about the follow up. I will try to do better. No guarantees.

                  [2] Some Adam Rankin, almost certainly the same man as the Adam who m. Mary Steele Alexander, was among the signatories to a 1722 petition to Lord Baltimore saying the petitioners believed they lived in MD, not PA. Calvert Papers, Maryland Historical Society Manuscript Division MS 174, Microfilm No. 6, Document No. 279. Family oral tradition says that Adam came to the Colonies in 1720, although I’m not aware of any records for him prior to 1722.

                  [3] For evidence of Adam and Mary’s marriage date and Mary’s parentage, see the article at this link.

            [4] 11 Nov 1742 warrant to Adam Rankin, 100 acres “situate at Conegocheage between the lands of Samuel Owen, James Swaster?, Samuel Brown and the Blue Mountains.” See the grant  here.

            [5] Franklin Co., PA Deed Book 12: 28, deed dated 27 March 1818 from James Rankin and wife Mary to Jacob Kline, all of Montgomery Twp., conveyance of land including a 107-acre part of a tract of 188 acres surveyed per a warrant to Adam Rankin dated 11 Nov 1742. Adam devised the tract to his son James Rankin Sr., dec’d at the time of the deed, who then devised it to his son James Rankin, the grantor, on March 25, 1788. That is the date of the will of James Sr., proving James the grantor in the deed was a son of James Sr.

            [6] Lancaster Co., PA Will Book J: 208, will of Adam Rankin dated 4 May 1747, and proved 21 Sep 1747. His wife was mentioned although her given name not stated. Sons James, William, and Jeremiah; daughter Esther Rankin Dunwoody. The deed establishes that James was already in possession of some of Adam’s land.  Adam devised the home tract to William and Jeremiah.

            [7] When I say, “there is evidently no documentary evidence,” it simply means I have not found any relevant records, nor have I found anyone who claims to have any.

[8] Family oral history claims Adam first married an Elizabeth May in Ireland. She allegedly died after arriving in the colonies and was reportedly the mother of Adam’s son James. While it is certainly possible that Adam had a marriage prior to Mary Steele Alexander, there is evidently no evidence for a prior wife other than oral family history. Adam’s alleged parents and Rankin grandfather are also identified in the oral history, also despite an apparent lack of evidence. Adam’s purported ancestry is nevertheless cast in bronze in a tablet located at the Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church cemetery in Jefferson Co., TN. It is therefore cast in concrete in online trees. I don’t find the legend entirely credible, in part because there is evidence that it was a relatively recent creation, probably in the early twentieth century. Also, the fact that the legend is mistaken about Adam d. 1747 and John d. 1749 being brothers is significant. See an article about the legend here.

            [9] There was another John Rankin whose daughter and son-in-law reportedly went to Chester County (predecessor to Lancaster, Cumberland, and Franklin Counties) circa 1720, when Adam also allegedly arrived. That John’s wife was reportedly Anna Craig, or perhaps Mary Craig. Their daughter Mary Rankin m. Joshua Cox. It is possible that John Rankin was Adam’s brother. Alternatively, John and Miss Craig could conceivably have been Adam’s parents. I have found no evidence for either possibility, both of which qualify as rank speculation. Probably the only way to assess them is to find a male Rankin descendant of John and Anna and persuade him to Y-DNA test. See a brief article about John and Anna Craig Rankin at this link.

            [10] Franklin Co., PA Will Book A: 345, will of James Rankin Sr. of Montgomery Twp., will dated 25 Mar 1788, proved 20 Oct 1795.

            [11] FamilySearch.Org Film No. 7856871, Image No. 29, 1751 tax list for Peters Twp., Cumberland Co., PA.

            [12] E.g., Cumberland Court of Quarter Sessions Docket 2: 115, James Rankin, constable in Peters Twp., March 1764; Id. at Docket 5: 270, James Rankin et al. appointed supervisors of roads in Peters Twp., 27 Mar 1778. His 1788 will states that he was “of Montgomery Township,” which had been created in 1781. Franklin Co., PA Will Book A: 345.

            [13] My observation is that colonial men consistently began appearing in county records and/or marrying around age 25. I have no actual evidence for that estimate, just a quarter-century of looking at county and other records. If I were estimating James Sr.’s birth year, I would choose “about 1724” and deem him a son of Mary Steele Alexander Rankin. In that regard, there is an 1854 letter written by John Mason Rankin (son of Rev. Adam Rankin of KY, grandson of Jeremiah and Rhoda Rankin, and great-grandson of Adam and Mary) which asserts that James Sr. was Mary’s son.

                  [14] Cumberland Co., PA Will Book A: 108, will of William Campbell of Peters Twp. dated 16 Aug 1776, proved 16 Mar 1787. William Campbell named inter alia his daughter Jean (Campbell) Rankin and a son Dugal Campbell. Dugal was the father of Frances (“Fanny”) Campbell, who was thus Jean Campbell Rankin’s niece. Fanny married David Rankin, a son of William and Mary Huston Rankin. David was thus James Rankin’s nephew. If I have this straight, one of James and Jean Campbell Rankin’s nieces (her Çampbell niece) married one of James and Jean’s nephews (his Rankin nephew).

            [15] Franklin Co., PA Deed Book 1: 36, deed dated 10 Mar 1785 from James Rankin Sr. of Montgomery Twp., Franklin Co., to William Rankin, son of James Sr., one moiety (i.e., half) of  279 acres, where William now lives, containing 133.5 acres on Licking Cr. by the division line of the original 279-acre part to Jeremiah Rankin. James Rankin’s land was located in part of Montgomery Township now called “The Corner,” south of Mercersburg, at the foot of Two Top Mountain.

[16] Franklin Co., PA Will Book A: 345, will of James Rankin Sr. of Montgomery Twp., will dated 25 Mar 1788 and proved 20 Oct 1795. Wife Jean to live with son David. Sons David, William, Jeremiah, and James; daughter Ruth Tool; SIL Samuel Smith and granddaughter Mary Smith. James Sr. had earlier deeded half of his 280-acre Licking Cr. tract to his son William. See id. In 1809, William’s son James, a grandson of James Sr., sold the tract on Licking Creek. Franklin Deed Book 8: 380.

            [17] Virginia Shannon Fendrick, American Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chambersburg, PA: Historical Works Committee of the Franklin County Chapter of the D.A.R., copyright 1944) 180, “Jeremiah Rankin, Ranger on the Frontier, served in 1778, under Capt. John McConnell and as Ensign, 1780-81, with Captain Wm Huston; a son of pioneer James Rankin of Montgomery Township … James, Jeremiah, David and William Rankin were pewholders in the “Lower Conococheague” or Welsh Run Church.” James Sr.’s will proves sons James, Jeremiah, David, and William. Franklin Co., PA Will Book A: 345.

            [18] See an article describing some of the confusion about this family at this link.

                  [19] Franklin Co., PA Will Book A: 110, will of Agness Huston, widow of Archibald Huston, dated 15 Nov 1776, proved 14 Mar 1787. She named William Rankin executor and identified him as the husband of her daughter Mary.

            [20] See an article about Mary Huston Rankin’s will here.  I don’t have a citation for this will.

                  [21] A transcription of information in the family Bible can be found on Disk 4 of the so-called “Cloyd tapes,” available from the Tennessee State Library and Archives. I do not have references to the relevant disk page numbers. Wading through Flossie Cloyd’s materials is a daunting task guaranteed to induce glassy eyes. Rev. J. O. Reed, a former pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Opelousas, LA, was a descendant of William and Mary Huston Rankin and owned the family Bible. He sent a transcription of information in the Bible to Ms. Cloyd in a letter dated May 6, 1954.

            [22] FamilySearch.Org Film No. 7856871, Image No. 26.

                  [23] Franklin Co., PA Will Book A: -B: 256, will of William Rankin of Antrim Twp., Franklin, dated 20 Oct 1792, proved 28 Nov 1792. William named his wife Mary and children, in this order: Adam, Archibald, James, William, Betsy, David, John, and Jeremiah. He identified Betsy, John, and Jeremiah as being less than 21 years old.

            [24] E.g., Archibald Rankin died 24 Jun 1845, an entry in the records of the Upper West Conococheague Presbyterian Church. Several other family members also appear in entries, including some children of David Rankin, son of William and Mary Huston Rankin. The original records may be viewed at an LDS Family History Center or with an Ancestry subscription at this link.

                  [25] Here  is an article containing sources for information about Jeremiah.

            [26] Id.

            [27] See a transcription of John Mason Rankin’s letter online at this link.   It is somewhat controversial, not least because the location of the original is a mystery. I for one haven’t communicated with anyone who has seen it. I exchanged emails with a Rankin researcher who talked to someone who claims to have seen the letter. She was informed the letter is in a museum in San Augustine, Texas. However, there is no museum in that city, although there is an historical/genealogical society. Further, the letter has so much information in it that either (1) John Mason had an astonishing memory or a source such as a family Bible, or (2) the letter is an elaborate fraud based on recent research. To the extent I have researched this family, the information in the letter is mostly accurate. It is noteworthy that John Mason’s letter says the father of Adam d. 1747 was named Adam, although the oral family legend claims his name was William. Also, the letter makes no mention of the oral legend’s stories about martyred Rankin ancestors in Scotland and the Siege of Londonderry. Prepare for a broken record here: there is apparently no documentary evidence for those ancestry claims. I believe John Mason’s letter is genuine in part because it is clear the writer was not familiar with the fabulous oral legend. Someone perpetrating a 20th century fraud would surely have included its stories. Also, the letter includes extensive comments about the local economy which suggest a contemporaneous familiarity.

            [28] Rev. Robert Davidson, History of the Presbyterian Church in the State of Kentucky (New York: R. Carter, 1847) 95.

Dr. Seuss again: “Thing 4,” need help!

Sometimes one has to belly up to the bar and admit she hasn’t a clue. This is one of those times.

Also, how could I possibly have omitted Thing 4 from my last post? He is one of the William Rankins who gives some of us gray hair. Or, to be accurate, more gray hair. If you are mystified by the Dr. Seuss and “Thing 4” references, please read the previous article on this website.

There are at least two sources attesting to the existence of Thing 4:

  • The 1747 Lancaster County, Pennsylvania will of Joshua Cox naming as executors his wife (given name not provided) and his brother-in-law William Rankin.[1]
  • A letter dated April 13, 1995 from Lucille Cox Thompson to the Kittochtinny Historical Society in Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Ms. Thompson identified a John Rankin and Anna Craig as the parents of (1) Mary Rankin who married Joshua Cox and (2) William Rankin. It also says that Joshua and Mary Rankin Cox’s daughter married John Craig.

The letter goes on to say that John and Anna Craig Rankin arrived in the Colonies circa 1720 and settled in “Upland, Pennsylvania.” That borough is now in Delaware County, which was created in 1789 from Chester County.

Here’s the scanty outline chart the above information defines:

1  John Rankin m. Anna Craig

    2 William Rankin

    2 Mary Rankin m. Joshua Cox

      3 Mary Cox m. John Craig

So … who was the William Rankin with a sister Mary Rankin Cox?

I don’t know. The Rankin DNA Project doesn’t have a member who claims descent from William, son of John and Anna Craig Rankin.[2] He could be the same man as the William who married Victory Alcorn in Cumberland County and went to North Carolina, AKA “Thing 1.” Or he could be the same man as the William who married Mary Stewart in Franklin County and went to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, AKA “Thing 2.” He might even be the same man as “Thing 3,” William Rankin of Indiana County, Pennsylvania. If anyone out there has a theory, please say so.

Here is another question: who was the John Rankin whose wife was Anna Craig?

Again, I don’t know. He was almost certainly not the John Rankin who died in Lancaster County in 1749. That John Rankin’s will named his wife Margaret,[3] while his family’s oral history identifies his wife as Jane McIlwee.

However, the surname Craig – which appears twice in the above minimal chart –  caught my attention. If you are a Rankin researcher or follow this blog, you know that Adam and Mary Steele Alexander Rankin of Lancaster County (created from Chester) had a son named Jeremiah. He died in a mill accident in Cumberland (created from Lancaster) in 1760. Jeremiah Rankin’s wife was Rhoda Craig.

As you undoubtedly know, colonial families frequently intermarried. If you find Rankins and Rankin descendants who married Craigs — e.g., John Rankin/Anna Craig, Jeremiah Rankin/Rhoda Craig, and Mary Cox/John Craig — a reasonable inference is that the Rankins were related. Alternatively or additionally, that the Craigs were related. But how? That, my friends, is the $64,000 question, to use an outdated metaphor.

Jeremiah’s father Adam Rankin allegedly had a brother John, according to an oral family legend that has become the conventional wisdom. Adam’s brother John, claims the legend, was the John Rankin who died in Lancaster County in 1749, two years after Adam died there. The problem with this part of the legend is that Y-DNA tests of both men’s descendants conclusively establish that the Adam who died in 1747 and the John who died in 1749 were not genetically related in the paternal line. They could not possibly have been brothers.

There are several possibilities here. Perhaps (1) the legend is just flat wrong about Adam having a brother John, or (2) the legend identified the wrong (albeit extremely convenient) John Rankin as Adam’s brother.[4] Enter a hoary genealogy maxim: family legends nearly always contain some element of truth, even if the details are frequently in error. What immediately sprang to mind was this: could the oral legend be right that the Adam who died in 1747 had a brother named John, but Adam’s brother was the John Rankin who married Anna Craig rather than the John who died in 1749?

Alternatively, might it be possible that John and Anna Craig Rankin were the parents of Adam died 1747, rather than John and Adam being brothers? The Cox family oral history, which is probably due as much deference as the Rankin family oral history, is that John and Anna’s daughter Mary Rankin Cox and her husband Joshua came to the colonies about 1720, which is supposedly when Adam arrived.

Those theories suggest two alternative speculative short charts for the line of Adam d. 1747:

Theory 1: John and Adam were brothers …

1  Unknown Rankin parents

2 John Rankin m. Anna Craig

2 Adam Rankin m. Mary Steele Alexander

OR Theory 2: John was Adam’s father …

1 John Rankin m. Anna Craig

2 Adam Rankin m. Mary Steele Alexander

2 Mary Craig m. Joshua Cox

2 William Rankin

I am not endorsing these theories, just throwing them out there as food for thought. I hope to find someone having relevant information and/or thoughts to offer on the subject.

See you on down the road.

Robin

            [1] Lancaster Co., PA Will Book A: 131.

                  [2] Not all members of the Rankin DNA Project provide a family tree. One of them could be descended from John and Anna Craig Rankin.

                  [3] Lancaster Co., PA Will Book J: 211.

                  [4] The fact that Adam d. 1747 and John d. 1749 were not related in the Rankin line is one of several aspects of the legend that make me wonder whether it was created relatively recently — i.e., in the 20th century — rather than having been handed down from generation to generation since the 18th or 19th century. Some of Adam’s and John’s descendants appear never to have heard the legend. Rev. Adam Rankin (son of Jeremiah and Rhoda Craig Rankin and grandson of Adam and Mary Steele Alexander Rankin) was apparently not familiar with the legend. Nor was Richard Duffield Rankin, a great grandson of the John Rankin who died in Lancaster in 1749. See this article about the legend.

With apologies to Dr. Seuss: Thing 1 (William Rankin), Thing 2 (William Rankin) … etc.

If you have children and/or grandchildren, or were a child yourself by the 1950s, you are almost certainly familiar with The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss. It features two characters named “Thing 1” and “Thing 2.” My friend Jess “Gams” Guyer, a talented Rankin researcher, suggested those would be appropriate names for any of the vast number of William Rankins who lived in southern Pennsylvania in the mid- to late 1700s. The only problem is that two “Things” aren’t enough.

With a large population of Williams to choose from, it was inevitable that some of the Things would be conflated with some of the other Things. “Same name confusion” is the easiest family history mistake in the world. Anyone who hasn’t made it yet just hasn’t been at this hobby long enough.

The clear winner in the “Thing Confusion Contest” is the William Rankin who married Mary Huston and died in Franklin County in 1792.[1] William d. 1792 was a son of Adam and Mary Steele Alexander Rankin of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.[2]  Adam and Mary are the first proved generation of a famous Rankin line from which numerous people aspire to descend, many erroneously. That may be attributable to a fabulous legend associated with Adam’s and Mary’s line.[3] Also, William d. 1792 was a Revolutionary War soldier, which often attracts hopeful descendants.[4]

So far as I know, at least three Williams have been mistakenly identified as either William d. 1792 or his son William of Centre County, Pennsylvania. Let’s call them Thing 1, Thing 2, and Thing 3. There are undoubtedly others.

Thing 1: the William Rankin who married Victory Alcorn and moved from Franklin County, Pennsylvania to Orange County, North Carolina.

Thing 2: the William Rankin who married Mary (probably née Stewart) in Franklin County and moved to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Thing 3: the William Rankin with wife Jane who died in Armstrong Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

Despite giving it the old college try, I have not made a dent in slowing proliferation of the above errors. These Things are a great case of “Whack-a-Mole.” Wictionary gives the example of spam e-mails: as soon as you delete one, another appears.[5] More like ten more. This article is therefore an attempt to whack some of the moles — AKA Things — into submission.

Thing 1: William Rankin m. Victory Alcorn

 Thing 1 William is easy to distinguish from William d. 1792 thanks to their different locations, another example of the “follow the land” theory. The William who married Victory lived in Hamilton Township, Cumberland (later Franklin) County.[6] William d. 1792, on the other hand, lived and died in the same county but in Antrim Township, appearing there in tax, court, and deed records consistently from mid-century until he died.[7]

Here are records locating William m. Victory in Hamilton Township, Cumberland/Franklin, Pennsylvania …

  • In May 1751, William Rankin obtained two surveys on Conococheague Creek in Hamilton Township when it was still in Cumberland County. Adjacent landowners were George Galloway and Thomas Armstrong, who help us track him with confidence. Samuel Moorhead, who also helps ID him, filed a caveat against one survey, claiming prior entitlement.[8]
  • In 1752, William Rankin appeared on the tax list for Hamilton Township.[9] He was the only Rankin on the list for that township.
  • In 1760, the will of Joseph Armstrong of Hamilton Township devised to his son Thomas Armstrong “land between Robert Elliot’s and Willm Rankins.”[10]
  • By 1761, William was married to Victory Alcorn, daughter of James Alcorn. The Alcorns owned land in the Conococheague “settlements” adjacent to Samuel Moorehead, the man who caveated William Rankin’s survey in Hamilton Township.[11]
  • In October 1765, William Rankin executed a deed conveying warrants for 150 acres in Cumberland County. It said, “William Rankin of Orange Co., North Carolina, farmer, to James McFarlan of Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania, blacksmith, 2 warrants by Rankin for a total of 150 acres in Hamilton Twp., Cumberland, adjacent James Dickson, George Gallaway, Thomas Armstrong.”[12]

The last deed proves that William and Victory moved to Orange County, North Carolina by at least 1765. William died in Caswell County, a successor county to Orange. William’s 1788 estate distribution in Caswell establishes that his widow was named Victory, his only son was named James (the name of Victory’s father), and they had a daughter named Victory.There seems to be no reasonable doubt that the William Rankin whose estate was probated in Caswell County was the same man as Thing 1, William who married Victory Alcorn of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.

William and Victory’s son James married as his first wife Elizabeth Fuller in Caswell County.[13] He later moved to Logan County, Kentucky, where he married Hannah Forbush. He ultimately migrated to Sumner County, Tennessee, where his estate was probated.[14]

 The good news for Whack-a-Thing is that a male Rankin descendant of William and Victory has Y-DNA tested. He is not a match to descendants of Adam and Mary Steele Alexander Rankin. Thus, William m. Victory — Thing 1 — cannot possibly be the same man as William d. 1792, a son of Adam and Mary.

This article is already overlong. I will try to make short shrift of Thing 2 and say even less about Thing 3.

Thing 2: William Rankin and wife Mary (probably née Stewart) of Allegheny County

There are some major differences between Thing 2 and William d. 1792. They establish that Thing 2, the William Rankin buried in Allegheny County, cannot possibly be the same man as William d. 1792 of Antrim Township, Franklin County. Here are the big ones …

  • Thing 2 died in Allegheny County and was buried there in Round Hill Cemetery in 1813, while William, husband of Mary Huston, died in 1792 in Franklin County.
  • Thing 2’s wife Mary died in 1808, five years before her husband, and is buried in the Round Hill Cemetery in Allegheny. William d. 1792 named his wife Mary in his 1792 will. Mary survived him by more than three decades, leaving a will dated 1818 and proved in 1824.[15]
  • William d. 1792 lived in Antrim Township, Franklin County, as his will explicitly states. He appeared in the records there for roughly four decades. I’m betting his family didn’t wait until 1813, twenty-one years after his death, to bury his remains to a cemetery 150 miles away in a county where he most likely never set foot.
  • Thing 2 had two children named Andrew and Mary who died in 1794 and 1795, respectively. They have tombstone styles which are identical to their father William’s. The family Bible of William d. 1792 in Franklin names eight children. So does his 1792 will. None are named Andrew or Mary, both of whom died after William d. 1792 signed his will.[16]

Thing 2 and his wife Mary (and children Andrew and Mary) are buried in the Round Hill Cemetery in Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The Find-a-Grave entry for Thing 2 has more errors than I can count, so I’m not going to provide a link to it, hoping you won’t be exposed to all that misinformation.[17]

Incidentally, there were a number of other Rankin families in Allegheny County. The William who died there in 1813 may well be related to one of the others, although I haven’t established any credible connection. Or even a speculative connection, for that matter. If you find one, I hope you will let me know.

Thing 3: the William Rankin with wife Jane who died in Armstrong Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania in 1826.

Thing 3 has been wrongly identified as William and Mary Huston Rankin’s son William, who moved from Franklin to Centre County, Pennsylvania. A number of descendants of Thing 3 claim to be descended from Adam and Mary Steele Alexander Rankin, no matter how many Williams in Adam’s line it took for them to get back to Adam.[18]

I will cut to the chase, courtesy of science. A descendant of William and Jane Rankin of Indiana County has Y-DNA tested. His result places him squarely in Rankin DNA Project Lineage 2. He does not match descendants of Rankin Lineage 3B, which is the line of Adam and Mary Steele Alexander Rankin. Thus, the William Rankin with wife Jane who died in Indiana County cannot possibly have been either the son of, or the same man as, Adam and Mary’s son William d. 1792.

For the evidence, here is a link to an article about William Rankin of Indiana County with wife Jane.

It is a gorgeous day here, mild temps with a high, cloudless blue sky that makes you squint. It is time to bid adieu to the laptop and go outside.

See you on down the road.

Robin

            [1] Franklin Co., PA Will Book A: 256, will of William Rankin of Antrim Twp., Franklin Co., dated and proved in 1792. William named his wife Mary, sons Adam, Archibald, James, William, David, John, and Jeremiah, and daughter Betsy. William’s wife Mary is proved as a daughter of Agnes Huston (widow of Archibald) by Agnes’s will. Franklin Co. Will Book A: 110, will of Agness Huston dated 1776 and proved 1787. Agnes bequeathed a gift to her daughter Mary Huston, “alias Rankin.” One of her executors was her son-in-law William Rankin, “husband of my daughter Mary.” Also, you can find articles about William d. 1792 and Mary Huston Rankin’s line here  , and  here , and here , with still another here.

                  [2] Lancaster Co., PA Will Book J: 208, will of Adam Rankin dated and proved in 1747. Adam named his wife (although he did not mention her given name), sons James, William, and Jeremiah, and daughter Ester Rankin Dunwoody. His wife is proved as Mary Steele Alexander, widow of James “the Carpenter” Alexander, by a series of deeds that are a great example of the “follow the land” theory of family history research. Here is a link to an article containing the evidence.

                  [3] The oral family traditions of Adam and John who died in Lancaster Co. in 1747 and 1749, respectively, are memorialized in a bronze tablet in the Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Jefferson Co., TN. The legend has several problems, not least of which is that it identifies Adam d. 1747 and John d. 1749 as brothers. Y-DNA testing has conclusively disproved that possibility, leaving this interesting question: does the oral family history “belong” to Adam d. 1747 or to John d. 1749? The only part of the legend related to Scotland and/or Ireland that has been substantiated is that an Alexander Rankin was present at the Siege of Londonderry in 1689. There is no evidence SFAIK that Alexander was an ancestor of either Adam d. 1747 or John d. 1749. Here is a link to an article about the legend.

            [4] Virginia Shannon Fendrick, American Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chambersburg, PA: Historical Works Committee of the Franklin County Chapter of the D.A.R., 1969, copyright 1944), citing PA Archives 5th Series, Vol. 6, 576, 583: “WILLIAM RANKIN of Antrim Twp., appears as a private under Capt. James Poe, 1782, on an undated roll. He married Mary Huston, daughter of Archibald, as shown by the will of Agnes Huston, widow of Archibald. The will of William Rankin of Antrim Twp., was dated Oct. and prob. Nov. of 1792.” See also PA Archives, 3d Series, Vol. 20: 254 for additional evidence of William d. 1792’s Rev. War service.

                  [5] Here is a link to a definition of Whack-a-Mole.

            [6] Here is a link to a Franklin Co. map showing Hamilton and Antrim townships, which are adjacent. Hamilton Township was founded in 1752; Franklin County was formed in 1784, so Hamilton was originally in Cumberland County, from which Franklin was created. Antrim Township is adjacent to and south of Hamilton. This was a crowded area for Rankins.

                  [7] See Note 1. I’m not going to cite records for William d.  1792 proving that he lived in Antrim Township because there are so many of them. See tax lists at Family Search for an easy start.

                  [8] William Henry Egle, Pennsylvania Archives Third Series Vol. II (Harrisburg: Clarence M. Busch, State Printer, 1894) 264, Samuel Moorhead entered a caveat against the acceptance of a survey made by William Rankin on a tract on the west side on Conecocheague Cr., in Hamilton Township, Cumberland Co. Moorehead alleged a prior warrant for part of the tract.

                  [9] FamilySearch.org film 7856871, image 30, 1752 tax list for Hamilton Township, Cumberland Co., PA.

            [10] Cumberland Co., PA Will Book A: 79, will of Joseph Armstrong.

                  [11] Cumberland Co., PA Will Book A: 88, will of James Alcorn. See Note 8.

                  [12] Franklin Co., PA Deed Book 6: 124, FamilySearch.org Film # 8,035,192, Image 361. The deed was executed in 1765 when the warrants were located in Cumberland, but recorded in the Franklin County deed records in 1803, when the warrants were for land then located in Franklin.

                  [13] Caswell Co., NC Will Book B: 341, LDS Film #004754650, image 333, will of Henry Fuller dated 1788, proved 1790, names his daughter Elizabeth Rankin.

                  [14] James Rankin’s widow Hannah was party to a deed in which the male devisees of James’s land (all named as parties to the deed) divided his land, see Sumner Co., TN Deed Book 12:43.

                  [15] See an article about Mary’s will here.

                  [16] See Note 1 for information about the will of William d. 1792.

                  [17] Instead, read this article for an explanation of what Find-a-Grave got wrong, plus citations to information about Allegheny County William AKA Thing 2 and his wife Mary.

                  [18] An erroneous S.A.R. application is probably to blame for many of the faulty claims by Thing 3 descendants to be descended from Adam and Mary Steele Alexander Rankin, see this article.

Alexander’s Gambit: How to Snare an Unwilling Rankin

Right off the bat, I need to put this story in context. First, my friend and distant cousin Roger Alexander is the main character. Roger is the all-time gold medal award-winning recruiter for convincing men to swab a cheek for the sake of country, motherhood, world peace, and the Alexander DNA Project. Second, this story takes place in the Genealogical Dark Ages, when amateur family history researchers had to walk barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways, in order to do research in person at a genealogy library.

I explain Roger’s success like so: you have either agreed to Y-DNA test, or you are still talking to him. Today. If you are within a three-hour radius of where he lives, he may show up at your front door. As a favor to me, he once convinced a Rankin about whom he knew virtually nothing to Y-DNA test. He has retired from the recruiting business, or I would still be pestering him for help.

Some of you may not know what the genealogical Dark Ages were like. The Church of Latter Day Saints (“LDS”) had not yet made available online the zillions of county records it has microfilmed, now accessible free at FamilySearch.org. Consequently, family history researchers back then either had to (1) rely on abstracts and microfilm[1] at their local libraries, (2) go to county courthouses to look at original records, or (3) go to the LDS main library in Salt Lake City to access the church’s vast microfilm library.[2] Alternatively, one could write a snail mail letter to a clerk of court to ask for copies of original deeds. I actually did that once and only once, and the resulting deeds play a minor role in this story.

O.K., now to the actual story. It begins a quarter-century ago, in the mid- to late 1990s. The Genealogical Dark Ages. I struck up an email conversation with a very nice man named John Alexander. One of my ancestors is Eleanor (“Ellen”) Alexander, the wife of Samuel Rankin of south-central North Carolina, so John and I had that surname and approximate location in common. He is the best researcher I have ever known, bar none.[3] We were unable to help each other, and the correspondence ended.

Fast forward about ten years, to 2005-ish. Not only was this still the Genealogical Dark Ages, it was also a time when many of us still had land lines, a telephone option some of you may not be familiar with. Landlines featured phones that may have actually dialed, and they were connected to the wall with a wire. We had eliminated our land line because it was a magnet for junk calls.

About this time, John Alexander and his cousin and fellow researcher Roger Alexander had reached an impasse. They had been convinced they were descended from a famous Alexander family known as the “Seven Brothers and Two Sisters.” That Alexander family had probably been among the early arrivals to the Colonies during the so-called “Great Migration” of Scots-Irish that began in 1717. Many of them moved to the Piedmont Area of North and South Carolina, which includes both Mecklenburg County, NC and Spartanburg, South Carolina. Several men from the line of the Seven Plus Two signed the famous Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.[4]

John’s and Roger’s earliest proved Alexander ancestor first appeared in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, just a short hop across the state line from Mecklenburg. When Y-DNA testing disproved their descent from one of the Seven Brothers, they labeled themselves the “Spartanburg Confused,” or “SpartCon” for short.[5] Because their Alexanders first lived in North Carolina, they mucked around in NC records. They found — in a deed abstract rather than a film or an actual deed book — a series of gift deeds from James and Ann Alexander to their children James, David, Robert, and Eleanor. Roger’s and John’s mutual Alexander ancestor was a James, the right age to have been a son of James and Ann.

This was exciting, but for one problem: Y-DNA testing also suggested that their ancestor James had a brother named John. There was no John among the gift deeds in the deed abstract, however.

Roger’s cousin John Alexander, whose memory is as outstanding as his research skills, recalled having had a conversation some years earlier with a descendant of Eleanor Alexander Rankin. Roger and John thought I might be able to help them solve their puzzle.

Unfortunately, my email address had changed, eliminating the obvious means of contact. Roger switched into detective mode in high gear, trying to track me down.

Our next-door neighbor Sabrina rang our doorbell one morning. She handed me a scrap of paper with a name and phone number on it: Roger’s. I invited her in, but she was busy.

“What’s this all about?” I asked.

“I just got off the phone with this Roger guy after a half hour conversation. He is looking for you.”

“OK,” I said, still in the dark.

“He tried to get me to tell him your phone number or email address.”

“Did you?” I asked.

“Hell, no,” she responded. “He claimed he needs to get in touch with you about something having to do with Alexander genealogy. He made it sound like the earth would stop rotating on its axis if he couldn’t talk to you.”

I’m still confused by all this.

“So … why did he call you, rather than me?”

“Because he couldn’t find your phone number since you no longer have a land line.”

“OK, that’s why he didn’t call me, but why did he call you?”

“He was able to tell from an online map that we are next door neighbors, and he was also able to find our land line.”

All was now clear except for the apocalyptic nature of Roger’s need to talk to me.

“He made me promise to give you the message that he urgently needs to talk to you about some earth-shattering issue concerning Alexander genealogy, but he didn’t tell me what that is.”

“OK,” said I, “thanks Sabrina. I’m sorry you were inconvenienced by this nut.”

“No problem,” she said. “This will probably be the most interesting thing that happens to me all day.”

After she left, I promptly deposited the slip of paper with Roger’s name and number in the trash, having concluded that he was a total nutcase. Who on earth tries to contact you by calling your next-door neighbor?

A week or two passed. At some point the mail arrived, including a short handwritten letter on lined paper saying this:

“Please call or email me. I urgently need to talk to you about an important matter concerning Alexander genealogy. You can reach me at ______ (phone number) or _____ (email address).

Roger Alexander”

At this point, of course, my curiosity finally kicked in and I was hooked. Wouldn’t you be? Moreover, I didn’t have to call Roger — I could just email him and find out what the deal was. If he was truly wacko, I could simply block his emails.

Turned out that Roger and John are sixth-ish cousins of mine. We are all descended from James and Ann Alexander of Anson/Rowan, North Carolina. Furthermore, Roger turned out to be smart, witty, and fun — as well as being constitutionally incapable of accepting defeat.

All they needed to know from me was that the abstract of the gift deeds they consulted had omitted the deed from James and Ann to their son John. The copies of the gift deeds I had obtained from the county clerk identified James and Ann’s children as James,  John, David, Eleanor, and Robert.[7]

The unintended moral of this piece: don’t trust an abstract, check the original. That’s easy to do now, thanks to FamilySearch.org.

It is a good thing I emailed Roger, or he might have driven from his home to Texas and knocked on our front door.

If you have a better story about the lengths someone will go to in order to further their family history research, I really want to hear it.

See you on down the road.

Robin

[1] The library where my father researched in Shreveport, LA in the late 1960s had a microfilm collection limited to census film, so far as I knew.

[2] Another alternative was to go to a local LDS “family history center,” an option we didn’t use.

[3] If John Alexander tells me that James Alexander’s parents are X and Y, I will believe him without any evidence whatsoever.

[4] If you read this blog, you have run across a member of the Seven Plus Two before: Adam Rankin’s wife Mary Steele Alexander was the widow of “James the Carpenter” Alexander, one of the Seven Plus Two. If you do this hobby long enough, you will run over your own tail.

[5] You can find the lines of the Seven Plus Two and the SpartCons here.

[6] This is poetic license, of course. There are several places on the planet, particularly in Scotland, where Alexanders are thick as thieves.

[7] Anson Co., NC Deed Book B: 314 et seq., five deeds dated 12 Jan 1753 from James Alexander Sr. to his children James Jr., John, David, “Elener,” and Robert, gifts of land and/or livestock. Two other deeds prove another child, a son William, almost certainly the eldest son. Rowan Co., NC Deed Book 3: 495, 498, deeds from William Alexander identifying David and Robert as his brothers and Ann Alexander as his mother. Numerous court records establish that James Sr.’s widow was named Ann. See, e.g., Rowan Co., NC Court Order Book 1: 53, record dated 9 Oct 1754, Ann Alexander, “wife and relict of James, dec’d,” took the oath of office as administrator of his estate.

Keeping Up With the Joneses

The surname Willis is relatively common, which means I struggle to keep unrelated Willis families from infiltrating my research. Until now, I have never tried to research a Jones family – a surname that occurs ten times more frequently than Willis. However, a recent comment on this blog led me into the morass.

The comment arose because an article “The John Willis Family  of Dorchester and Caroline Counties, Maryland” mentioned Andrew Willis, son of the immigrant John Willis, and  Andrew’s wife Jennet Jones. She was the daughter of William Jones and his wife Jennet LNU. The commenter wondered if I had any information about the migration of the Jones descendants from Dorchester County, Maryland to Amherst County, Virginia. I did not, but offered to help — with some trepidation. As it turned out, a paper trail of deed and probate records identified the correct family, traceable through four men named William Jones. The record indicates, however, the Dorchester County Jones family went to North Carolina, not Virginia. For clarity in this article, I numbered these men the First through the Fourth. Here are the provable facts about this family.

William Jones the First was an early inhabitant of Dorchester County.

Dorchester County deed records show that a William Jones sold two 100-acre tracts of land in 1674, which establishes him aas one of the early settlers of the Eastern Shore of Maryland.[1] One tract was on the Hungar (now Honga) River; the other was in the same vicinity.[2] The Hungar River is in far western Dorchester County. Based on information in other deeds, Jones probably acquired the land via grants from the colonial proprietor.

William Jones the First’s wife was “Jone,” who married John Kimball after Jones died.

In 1676, William Jones and his wife “Jone” LNU sold a 50-acre tract called “Sealvas Choice” on Hungar River to Richard Kemball and John Early.[3] William Jones apparently died a year or so after that sale, and his widow Jone married John Kimball. In 1678, the same 50-acre tract, identified by its name, was the subject of a duplicate deed to the same two men. However, the sellers in the second deed were John Kimball and his wife Jone, identified as “formerly the wife of William Jones.”[4] This second deed confirmed that Jone did not claim or retain any dower interest in the land.

William Jones the First and wife Jone had two sons, John and William the Second.

In 1690, a John Jones gave his interest in 200 acres of land at the head of Hungar River to his brother William Jones the Second. The deed stated that the land had previously been owned by their now deceased father William Jones, who died without a will. It states further that the land was then in the possession of their mother and “their father-in-law” John Kemboll.[5]

William Jones the Second moved from the Hungar River region.

In 1691, John, William the Second, and his wife Jennet (LNU) sold their interests in several parcels of land in western Dorchester.[6] The deed states the sale excluded the tract and plantation house chosen by their mother Jone Kemball in lieu of dower during her life. The deed recites that all the tracts were originally laid out as land grants, one dating back to 1670.

This sale establishes that John and William the Second were the only surviving children of the first William Jones family. Having died intestate, William the First’s property would have been shared equally by all his children, with his widow entitled to a third during her life. Any sale of land inherited in this manner required the agreement of all the heirs. Since only sons John and William participated in this sale, we can conclude they were the only children.[7]

William Jones the Second lived on Shoal Creek adjacent Andrew Willis

There does not seem to be a deed in which William the Second acquired land on Shoal Creek, which flows into the Choptank River at a point several miles east of Cambridge, Dorchester’s county seat. However, a probate record proves he was there. A will written in 1722 involving parties not related to this search mentioned a 50-acre tract of land on Shoal Creek, describing it as a plantation where Andrew Willis lived on a branch lying between Andrew Willis and William Jones.[8] Apparently, Willis was or had been renting from the land owner. The Jones family may have lived on Shoal Creek for 28 years. Possibly, it was from about the time William and Jennet married – before mid 1691 – until they moved further east in the county. In any event, it was long enough to raise a daughter Jennet who wed their neighbor Andrew Willis, as we will see later.

William Jones the Second and his wife Jennet moved to Cabin Creek.

In 1718, William Jones bought 101 acres of land called “Goodriches Choice” on Cabin Creek, which flows into the Choptank River to the east of Shoal Creek.[9] About two years later, he bought an adjoining 150 acres.[10] The Cabin Creek property remained in the Jones family for more than 60 years.

William the Second and Jennet Jones had a son and a grandson named William Jones,  the Third and Fourth, respectively.

In 1729, William Jones the Second died. He left a will naming his wife Jennet, a son William the Third, and four daughters.[11] His daughters Sarah and Elizabeth were unmarried at the time; a married daughter was Rebecca Vearing. The fourth daughter was Jennet Willis, already deceased. Jones’s will divided his land among son William the Third and the two unmarried daughters. It left one shilling each to his four grandchildren, identified only as children of Jennet Willis.

Five years later, William’s widow Jennet Jones gave some livestock and home furnishings to four named grandsons: William Jones the Fourth, the son of her son William Jones the Third; and William, Thomas and Andrew Willis.[12] The Willis grandsons were three of the four children of her daughter Jennet, deceased, and Andrew Willis.[13]

William Jones (probably) the Fourth sold the land on Cabin Creek.

In 1780, a William Jones of Cabin Creek, Dorchester County, and wife Delitha sold 209 acres of “Goodriches Choice,” where they lived at the time.[14] This sale was most likely by William the Fourth. William the Third was possibly 25 years old at the time the widow Jennet Jones gave his child personal property in 1734. If so, he would have been 71 in 1780. That is pretty late in life to be pulling up stakes and moving to new territory.

On the other hand, William the Fourth may have been less than 50 years old in 1780 and more likely to move. The opportunity to cash out (the sale of “Goodriches Choice” netted 313 pounds in gold and silver) and move the family to better land would have been tempting. Further, the Cabin Creek land, if used for growing tobacco, may have been played out. That crop was notorious for rapidly depleting soil nutrients. The 1780 deed gives no clue as to the family’s destination, however, a lost deed helped track them to North Carolina.

William the Fourth and Delitha Jones moved to North Carolina.

In about 1790, the new owner of the Cabin Creek land decided to sell the property. At the time, apparently, a copy of the original deed could not be immediately located in the Dorchester County records. The owner got in touch with William Jones at his new residence and asked him to sign a duplicate, which William did. This was possible because William and Delitha had planned their move carefully.

Before selling the Cabin Creek land, William applied for a 150-acre land grant in Guilford County, North Carolina.[15]His application was entered in the record and a survey ordered on 3 May 1780. With this new acreage awaited their arrival, William and Delitha sold the Cabin Creek land six months later and left Maryland. They undoubtedly told friends and neighbors where they were going.

While the Joneses took up residence in North Carolina immediately, the land grant took time to be formally completed, a normal occurrence. The county surveyor did not conduct the survey until 1787. By that time, the land was located in Rockingham County, which was created from part of Guilford in 1785. The grant was fully executed and filed in Rockingham in 1788.

When the new owner of the Cabin Creek property decided to sell and could not locate the original deed, he knew where to find Jones. Their destination had been no secret. The buyer contacted Jones and asked for a duplicate deed. William and Delitha complied, and appointed two Dorchester County attorneys to represent them in acknowledging the sale. That replacement deed recites that William Jones was then of Rockingham County.[16]

And here is where we got really lucky …

In a final twist to the story, during the slow, long distance communication between Maryland and North Carolina, the original Dorchester deed apparently turned up. The original and the new deeds are recorded sequentially in the Dorchester land records. It is just lucky for our research that the original deed had been lost or misfiled and not quickly located. Had it not been lost or had it been found sooner, we would not have the replacement that identified Jones’s new location.

The Jones family appears in Rockingham in the 1790 and later censuses and in the deed and marriage records into the 1800s. However, I did not review those later records. Having kept up with the Joneses thus far, I did not want to press my luck.

Good Hunting,

Gary N. Willis

____

[1] All deed records cited here are available for review at MDLANDREC.net. See Maryland Land Records Online for a discussion about using this valuable resource.

[2] Deed Book 3 Old 98 and 3 Old 100 – 10 July 1674 – William Jones, planter of Dorchester County, sold a 100-acre tract called “Keenes Rest” and a 100-acre tract called “All Three of Us” to Raymond Staplefort.

[3] Deed Book 1 Old 187 – 16 April 1676 – William Jones and wife Jone of Dorchester County sold 50 acres called “Sealvas Choice” on Hungar River to Richard Kendall and John Early.

[4] Deed Book 1 Old 187 – 1 April 1678 –A sale to Richard Kimball by John Kimball and his wife Jone, formerly the wife of William Jones, deceased, of Jone’s dower interest in the 50 acres called “Sealvas Choice” on Hungar River.

[5] Deed Book 4 Old 69 – 27 February 1689/90 – John Jones of Dorchester County, carpenter, grants for love and affection to his brother William Jones of Dorchester County, Planter, John’s interest in two tracts of land adjoining one another at the head of Hungar River, containing about 200 acres. The land belonged to their father the late William Jones, deceased who died without a will. It is now in the possession of grantor’s mother and father-in-law John Kembell.

[6] Deed Book 4 ½ Old 29, also at Deed Book 1 Old 135 – 1 June 1791 – John Jones, William Jones and Jennett his wife of Dorchester County, Planters, to Richard Tubman, Planter, for 3,000 pounds of tobacco: “Georges Point” 100 acres on the head of Slaughters Creek 100 acres, formerly granted to Thomas Newton, deceased, by patent dated 31 Aug 1670; “Jones Orchard” 50 acres on Hungar River; “Jones Chance” 4 adjoining acres on Hungar River; and “Matthews Vineyard” 46 acres on Hungar River. The last three parcels were formerly granted, surveyed and laid out for William Jones late of Dorchester County, deceased. The sale excludes the tract and plantation house taken by “our loving mother Jone Kemball in lieu of dower during her natural life.”

[7] Further, the two sons were probably minors at the time of their father’s death. Thirteen years elapsed after the father’s death before the sons’ land transactions began in 1690, which they could not have done without a guardian or “next friend” until they reached maturity. It is reasonable to assume they were no older than about ten when he died.

[8] Baldwin, Jane, The Maryland Calendar of Wills, Vol IV, (Baltimore: Koln & Pollock, Publishers, 1904, reprinted Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1988), 167-9 (Will Book 14:631) – 7 May 1718 –Will of Thomas Ennalls – to Thomas Hayward, 50 acres, part  of “Ennalls Purchase,” a plantation where Andrew  Willis lived, at head of Shoal Creek, and on a branch lying between William Jones and the said Andrew  Willis. Filed for probate 13 August 1718.

[9] Deed Book 2 Old 16 – 2 February 1718 – Thomas Gray and his wife Mary sold to William Jones 101 acres part of a tract called “Goodriches Choice.”

[10] Deed Book 2 Old 27 – 15 November 1719 –Jacob Gray and his wife Isabell sold 150 acres on Cabin Creek, part of “Guttridg Choice” to William Jones. Philadelphia Williams assigned to Jones her “third part of ye within mentioned lands.”

[11] Baldwin, 127 (Will Book 19:765) – 10 May 1729 – Will of William Jones

[12] Deed Book 9 Old 257 – 18 February 1734 – Deed of personal property for love and affection from Janet Jones to her grandson William Jones, son of William Jones and to her three grandsons William Willis, Thomas Willis, and Andrew Willis.

[13] William’s will and Jennet’s gift deed establish even without a marriage record that their daughter Jennet married their earlier neighbor Andrew Willis and had four children with him before her death. Andrew remarried (Rebecca Goostree) and moved from Shoal Creek to land his second wife inherited from her father 1728.

[14] Deed Book HD 3:425 – 16 October 1780 – William Jones of Cabin Creek, Dorchester County, Maryland Planter sold to Benjamin Collison of Dorchester County for 313 pounds and 10 shillings in gold and silver a tract on Cabin Creek called “Goodridges Choice” where William Jones now lives containing 209 acres with all the houses, etc. Signed 16 Oct 1780 William X Jones. Wit: Jos Richardson, Thos Jones. Acknowledged in court 16 Oct 1780 with William Jones’s wife Delitha being questioned privately as to her agreement to the sale

[15] At Ancestry.com – North Carolina, US, Land Grant Files, 1693-1960, Image 225 of 1506 – Entry No 1990, entered for William Jones for 150 acres of land in Guilford County, NC, on Brush Fork of Great Rock House Creek. Entered 3 May 1780 at Guilford County Court House by Will Dent, entry officer. Survey of 150 acres adjoining Aaron Allen and Adam Baker dated 21 April 1787 by A. Philips, County Surveyor, Chain bearers: Robert Brown and Aaron Allen. Grant executed 11 July 1788

[16] Deed Book HD 3:428 – 22 Oct 1790 – Deed – Whereas William Jones of Rockingham County, North Carolina Planter sold to Benjamin Collison of Dorchester County, Maryland for 313 pounds and 10 shillings in gold and silver a tract on Cabin Creek called “Goodridges Choice” where William Jones formerly lived containing 209 acres with all the houses, etc, being all of the lands William Jones owned on Cabin Creek, Jones now authorizes trusty friends Henry Waggaman and Nicholas Hammond Esquires attorneys of the County Court to appear for him and acknowledge this deed. Signed 22 Oct 1790 William X Jones. Wit: Timothy X Corkran, Edwr Collison, Jonathan Bird. Acknowledged in court by two witnesses and by Waggaman and Hammond 22 March 1792.