The "Mystery" of Jacob Akers Wife

   If you look up the wedding bond for Jacob Akers in Orange Co. NC, you will see something like this in whatever index you are using:

  Leeroy Akers   +   Rebecca Nealey     29 Oct. 180-    Bond:  Samuel Faucett

   If you further research the subject online, you will even see that some folks have gone as far as giving Rebecca "Neeley's" parents--which is an interesting accomplishment, seeing as how Rebecca's last name is incorrect in her wedding bond!

   Thanks, again, to cousin Rob Riley for digging out the original bond in the Orange Co Courthouse!
                                                               

    So there really was no transcription error.  John Taylor just made a total mess of the bond!  Complicating matters was the fact that there really was a group of Neeleys living nearby.

   The first real clue as to just how much of a mistake was made comes as we follow Leroy's move to TN.  In the 1840 census for Hickman Co. TN, we can see him right next to Thomas McNeeley (age 20-30) and the obvious widow, Mary McNeeley (age 60-70).  That's pretty suspicious.  What's a man married to a "Neeley" doing right next to two "McNeeleys?"
  The comedy of spelling errors doesn't get any better in 1850.  Still in Hickman, Leroy and Rebecca Akers are indexed in Ancestry with the surname "Aerois."  But, clearly it's them, and both are showing as having been born in VA.  Leroy's age gives us a birth year of 1786....
    By 1860, Rebecca has died, Leroy can be found in Humphreys Co. TN living with R. A. Singleton.  Leroy's birth place and year remain stable: VA in 1786.

   Luckily, there's a 15 year old post still remaining online that can put us out of our misery.  R.A. Singleton is Robert Singleton--son-in-law of Leroy Akers....

  The source is a compendium of Tennessee Civil War veterans who were questioned.  The first set of questions was sent to veterans in 1914 and 1915.   16,00 forms had been returned by 1922.  One of them was from the son of Robert Singleton-i.e. the grandson of Leroy Akers.

   For those wanting to read all the information on the posting, the link is here.

   As for the immediate concerns: here is the relevant information provided by grandson, James Leroy Singleton: to the questions:
8. Maiden name in full of your mother:...... she was the daughter of .....
(full name) and his wife ..... (full name) who lived at .....

Frances Stadley Akers; Leroy Akers; Rebecca Akers; Sugar Creek
Humphreys Co Tenn....


 My maternal grandfather was born in N.C. in about 1783 and
married Rebecca McNelly in 1806. Moved to White Co. Tenn in about
1832 and moved to Hickman Co 1836.

  We can forgive James Singleton for messing up his grandfather's birth state.  He certainly knew that Leroy came from NC and lived there at a young age. (We have to take Leroy's two statements that he was born in VA as gospel).  Transcription problems aside, we can see that Rebecca's surname has a "Mc" in front of it.  We can also get an idea of Leroy's journey west from Orange Co. NC from the further details.....

Given her birth year stated in the 1850 census, Rebecca would appear to be the sister of the James McNeeley who married Mary Yates in Caswell about the same time as Leroy and Rebeca married.  Most records show that Mary McNeeley died in Hickman Co. TN in 1846.  She looks pretty much assured to be the Mary McNeeley living right by Leroy Akers in the 1840 census....

Hopefully, this will resolve the error of Rebecca's surname in the wedding bond.

I'll leave the rest for Akers-McNeeley-Yates genealogists to work out and start to move back into the Ward line from here....
                                                                                      <Kevin>
                                   

Jacob Huggins and Mary Akers' Wedding Bond--and a brief note on Leroy Akers

Thanks to cousin Rob Riley for pulling the original wedding bond for Jacob Huggins Sr and Mary Akers (Orange, NC--1793).

You can see how the clerk, A B Bruce, made his loop at the start of the letter 'u' a bit too big and the name around Jacob's mark looks like "Haggans."  And that's how it ended up becoming indexed that way.  However, the first line clearly shows his surname to be Huggins. So there is no doubt.

The key thing here is that the marriage year is 1793.  Jacob Jr can be found in both the 1850 and 1860 census--and he seems not to have caught the nasty Ward habit of radically misstating ages.  In both instances, his reported age gives the birth year of 1794.  And, unless someone has a family Bible hidden away somewhere, this is pretty much all the evidence we are likely to ever get.  All in all, it's safe to conclude that Jacob Jr was the son of Jacob Sr and Mary Akers Huggins.

Whether Mary was a widow--or just had Leroy Akers (and likely others, according to the census) as a bastard child--is impossible to say given what we currently know.  But, because we can conclude that Jacob Jr was Mary's son, we can also reasonably say that he was the half-brother of Leroy Akers.

One can also infer that Jacob Sr was really taken with Leroy.  As you saw in a previous post, Jacob sold one of his two tracts to Leroy in 1807.  But even more indicative is the small notation on one of  the issuing deeds of Jacob's two land grants:

This is from Orange Co NC  Bk 12, p. 277 (1798).

Reports vary on Leroy's exact birth year (and I'll get into that another time when dealing with Leroy's 'mistaken' wife), but it ranges from 1783-1786.  So, we can say that Leroy was anywhere from 12-15 years old when this grant/deed was finally formally issued. 

Clerks were required to note who was given the official copy of the grant/deed.  Jacob, himself, collected his first grant--and it clearly reads at the bottom; "Deliv'd Jacob Huggins."
If you click on the one above, you will see written along the bottom left-hand side: "Deliv'd Leroy Akors."
That's a lot of trust to put in a young teenage boy....
                                                                          <Kevin>

The Wards Caswell Co Church

Courtney has asked about the Wards' Church that I mentioned in one post...

There are a couple of things here that will certainly be of interest to Huggins descendants:

Lynches Creek Primitive Baptist Church was just North of the Orange Co line.  Today all that's left is a just a small gathering of gravestones, surrounded by a fence.  Many of the stones are now being engulfed by the woods.

  According to the church records, the very first Ward to become a member of the Lynches Creek was Susannah Ward, who joined by baptism in July, 1813.
   While about a dozen Wards eventually became members here--including Sutton's son, James and the latter's wife, Rebecca Oakley Ward--the ones of most interest here would be John and Linnea Ward and their daughter, Cassander.

    This particular John Ward married Linney (Melinda) Compton in 1809.  (Sutton Ward placed the bond.)  But this was not the John who was Sutton's son--that one died at the very same time as Sutton in Feb, 1816.
   To be honest, nobody has yet figured out just who the parents of this John were.

    But we do know this about him:  he was the only related John Ward alive in the area at the time of the wedding of Susannah Ward and Jacob Douglas Huggins.  So it was clearly this John Ward who placed the bond for that wedding in Oct, 1817. 
   Also, there is at least one estate file in Orange Co where you can see this John and Jacob Huggins Jr jointly indebt to the deceased's estate.  These two guys were very close even before Susannah married Jacob--to the point of borrowing money together.

    So, you can see that both Susannah and the bondsman of her wedding to Jacob Huggins Jr were both members of the Caswell church.  And it was this fact that led me to state that this was likely the reason the wedding took place in Caswell....

The Akers--where next?

This is where Cluster Theory comes in (you can read about that in an early post).

We know that Leeroy Akers was born in VA....as was his wife, Rebecca Nealey.

So these entries from the old Augusta books sticks out right away:

Processioners' Returns) - 1765: Wm. Bryans and Jas. Neely report as follows, viz: For James Bryan (on Roanoke), for Wm. Bryan, Jr., for David Bryan (Geo. McAfee present), for Rees Bowin, for Hugh Mills, for David Cloyd (Tinker's Creek), for David Robinson, for Wm. Graham, for Wm. Graham (on Bufallo Creek), Benj. Paulson present; for Wm. Graham, Henry Holston present; for Peter Evans; for Thos. Tosh, Danl. McNeal present; for Jno. McAdoo, Jas. Mellin present; for David Dutton, Wm. Elam present; for Israel Christian, for Joseph Snodgrass, for Joseph Robinson, for John Neilly for Baptist Armstrong, present Thomas Acres; for Wm. Carvin, for Wm. Terry, for Thomas Ackers, for James Neilly (on Carson's Creek).


29th January, 1750-51. William Alexander's appraisement, by Thomas Tosh, Wm. Akers, James Neeley.

While I'm not sure I have the time to keep digging right now.  This is surely where I'd look.

Besides...the old census records show a cluster of Akers/Acres in Franklin Co Va (as well as Montgomery Co for that matter).  Franklin is just north of the NC border and not all that far from the Huggins....

Happy hunting!
                       

So what about Mary Acres Huggins?

I'm going to start with the 1810 census here.  It doesn't matter which of the double-count entries you wish to look at--the one next to the Wards (which we know is where Jacob lived), or the one showing him by the young Leeroy Acres.  In both cases Jacob shows to be over 45 and so does his wife.

We know that Jacob made out his will on 7 Oct 1809, but clearly he lived on for a time as the will wasn't proven until Nov 1813.  Hence we still see him alive (if not so well) in the 1810 census.  And we also know that his wife, Mary, was alive since he leaves half of his estate to her.

The main thing here, though, is that the census tells us that Mary was over 45 years old and thus, born before 1765.
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Moving backwards to the 1800 census, we find the following entry for Jacob Huggins:

1 male   45+  (born before 1755) Obviously Jacob
2 males  10-16 (born 1784-1790)
1 male under 10 (born 1791-1800) Quite likely Jacob Douglas Huggins Jr

1 female 45+  (born before 1755)
1 female 16-26 (born 1774-1784)

And this is why I decided to start with the 1810 census.  I wanted to rule out any chance that Jacob was 'robbing the cradle'--that is to say, the female showing 16-26 was clearly not Mary Acres Huggins.  She's way too young.  The 1810 census showed us Mary had to be born before 1765. Now the 1800 census helps narrow that down a bit more.  Here we see that Mary had to be born prior to 1755.

As we have seen, Leroy Akers was born in 1786. (So we can figure he was one of the two males showing born between 1784-1790).
Mary is at least 31 years older than him.
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  Here's what Leeroy is showing us:  Since he's at least 31 years younger than Mary,  we have 3 options (remember, the only people named in Jacob's will are Mary and son, Jacob Jr).

1)  Mary was single when she married Jacob and Leeroy is her younger brother.  Not highly likely at all given the age discrepancy.
2)  Mary was single and had several bastard children over the years, Leeroy being one of them.   The other two are living with them--or, at least one of them could be someone 'bound' to Jacob.  Certainly possible. But how probable is it?
3)  Mary was a widow who had several children while living in VA.  Sometime between 1786 or so and 1793, her husband died.  She somehow ended up meeting and marrying Jacob Huggins.  This is by far the most likely scenario.
   If nothing else, all of this tells us where to begin to look for Mary.

The will of Jacob Huggins certainly seems to strongly infer that Jacob Jr was the son of he and Mary.  But it never actually says that from what I can see.  This means there is a small 'window'--if you will--where it's possible (but not very likely) that Jacob Jr was born to a previous wife of Jacob's.  Although it's not likely, the best thing Huggins researchers can do is to gather every bit of census information--and any other documents/data--that help show Jacob Douglas Huggins' exact birth year.  That will certainly help 'nail things down.'

  For now, the working model is this:  Jacob Huggins Sr, marries the widow from VA, Mary Akers.  She brings several children with her.  She and Jacob then have Jacob Jr together.  The likely reason the two don't have anymore children is because Mary enters menopause.  Recall: she had to be born prior to 1755.  This means that by the time she and Jacob married in 1793, she had to be 38-39 years old--at a minimum.
  So, everything is starting to 'fit' together and we have a working model. But that's all it is--a model. It's looking like Mary Acres was a widow who brought some children with her into her marriage with Jacob Huggins Sr.  One of these clearly looks to be Leeroy Akers. 
  And this would mean that the deed I mentioned would be Jacob Huggins Sr selling to his stepson--Leeroy Akers.  It would also mean that Leeroy was the step-brother of Jacob Douglas Huggins.
   But where do we go next?
   We'll deal with that in the following post....

New movement along the Huggins line--the Akers

Preface:  Just want to make clear that nothing I say from here on out has anything to do with Huggins from Onslow Co..  After this point, anyone who wants to assert that the Orange Co Huggins line springs from Onslow will please come armed with some form of paper trail....;)
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(Again, thanks to Courtney for her comment mentioning the wedding of Jacob Huggins to Mary Acres on Nov 25, 1793 in Orange Co.  This one is for you!)

You've likely heard the old saying "Naked is the best disguise."  Well, we get to see this vividly in this posting.

So, Jacob Sr marries Mary "Acres" in 1793....
If you would like to, go back to my posting of 3/31/14 and click on the deed there.  You will see that it's Jacob Sr selling some of the land he owned next to John Ward to.....Leeroi AKERS.

Oops, we all missed that one entirely.
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The next question is obvious.  Who is the Leeroi/Leroy/Leeroy Akers and what is his specific relation to Mary Akers Huggins?

Well, for one thing, we can find his wedding bond in the index:
Leeroy Akers to Rebecca Nealey  29 Oct 180?   Bond: Samuel Faucett.

We can then find him in the horrid 1810 Orange Co census two lines from Jacob Huggins (who was double-counted in this census, as were several other people I've seen).  Here, Leeroy is showing 18-25 years old.  This guy isn't much older than Jacob Douglas Huggins Jr!

Long story short:  jump way forward to 1850 and you can see Leeroy, age 64, in  Hickman TN. (He is indexed as Leeroy Aerois)
With him is wife Rebecca, age 72.  Two likely daughters: Arkela,  27, Elizabeth 24, both show being born in NC.
The major story here, though, is that both Leeroy and his wife are noted as being born in VA! And from this we get that Leeroy was born in 1786

The 1860 census confirms Leeroy's data.  Here you can see him in Humphreys TN living with the Singleton family. 
His age is 74; born in VA  Once again, Leeroy shows being born in 1786.

So now that we have Leeroy pinned down, the question is: what can he tell us about the Huggins line?  That will require a touch of analysis in the next post.

But what about the DNA?

I guess the best place to start is by quoting from the first few lines of a brilliant and massive article, written by Jack Taylor, in an attempt to explain all the meanings of DNA results.  It goes like this:

"DO NOT READ FURTHER if you're hoping to substitute DNA for traditional genealogy, based on documents and records. DNA cannot tell you your ancestors' names or where they lived and can only estimate a probable range of time in which they might have lived.  DNA helps focus documentary research; it can't replace it. You should know genealogical time frames and standards. Always, answers to the meaning of matches involve probabilities – statistics"

  Right away--if any company is telling you that a specific person is a Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA), then they are full of it.  DNA testing simply cannot do this.
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 So what about the "5 matches" that Courtney mentions in the comments section?  (Thanks, Courtney!  You've been a great help--I have a neat posting forthcoming with some new information about the Huggins line that I found solely because of your comments!)

As Jack Taylor's preface above shows, there are really only two 'rules'  to keep in mind:
1)  DNA testing always deals in probabilities, not specifics.
2)  A DNA result without a paper trail is almost useless.  (I will explain why I say "almost" later).
 
   In the case of Jacob Huggins of Orange Co NC, father of Jacob Douglas Huggins Jr who married Susanna Ward, here is the paper trail ( if we can call it that) of proof that he's the son of Jacob and Francis Cooper Huggins of Onslow Co NC:
    A)  They have the same name.

  That's all.  Not another scrap of evidence has ever been offered to support this claim.

   B) In response, we have shown dozens of documents, date conflicts, time and place contradictions, literacy conflicts, etc. that demonstrate that the Jacob Huggins in Orange Co (father of Jacob Douglas Huggins) cannot be the son of Jacob and Frances Cooper Huggins of Onslow Co.

   I would simply contend that descendents of Jacob Douglas Huggins deserve better.  They deserve a genealogy that is real--one that is documented and demonstrable.
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So...what about the 5 matches? 
There is a corollary to Rule #2 that says this:
 2a)  A DNA 'match' is only as good as the paper trail.

Here's what I mean:
  It's pretty rare that folks given a list of matching test results ever know the specific documentation the other person(s) have for their professed lineage.

  Applying this specifically here (and I don't know any other way to say this other than being really blunt, sorry)  the first question is:  "How many of the 5 'matches' are descendents of Jacob Douglas Huggins and have been following the same crap genealogy that became online 'gospel?'" 

  Again, since it's rare that you get their documentation and actual lineage, this might be hard to say.  It may be that every single one of them fits this description.  My guess is that, if you were to be able to get all that information, you would find that many of them do.
   Thus, you can toss these matches out.
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    But what if there is one match (or more) that is from someone who is from the Onslow line--and totally independent from Jacob Douglas Huggins of Orange Co?!
   That's actually an exciting thing.
 Recall that Rule #2 said: "A DNA result without a paper trail is almost useless."
     Here's why I insert the word "almost' in there:

   In this specific case, if there are people who 'match' your test coming from an independent Onslow line, then take note of how Onslow Huggins researchers keep focusing on Maryland (with lots of good reasons) as the likely originating point of that Huggins line prior to coming into the Onslow area.  There were early Huggins in Somerset Co MD...also some in Anne Arundel. 
   And, as I have shown in a previous post, there was a John Huggins in Baltimore Co by 1730 living right by our Wards who then had a son named Jacob Huggins. 
  What these matching results would then be showing is that the line that came down to Onslow and the one that came down to Orange both may well have originated from the same point.  DNA can't really show you that Jacob Huggins of Orange Co came from Onslow, but it can show you that the two lines had a common ancestor at some place and time previously.  That focal point would be Maryland--or, possibly previous to that, I suppose.
   In this case, DNA testing can hint to us 'where to look next.'  That's its one use devoid of a paper trail.  And that's why I use the word "almost" in Rule #2.
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  In that light, assuming you have matches with someone from the Onslow Huggins whose lineage is independent of Orange Co.,  then it all comes down to the 'quality' of the match.

  For example, let's say you matched 35 of 37 markers with one of these people.  All that means, really, is that you have a 90% probability of sharing a common ancestor within the last 360 years.  There is a 95%  probability that your common ancestor was in the last 420 years.

  And, although, it's impossible for DNA to name a specific person--results like this are exciting in that the two different lines may each point to a common place of origin. And that can help us know what to look for.

   I hope that all was a bit more clear than mud.  Feel free to hammer me with questions.
                                                              <Kevin>

One last point about the two different Jacob Huggins

I should have mentioned the following in my last post as well:

The assembled online genealogies of the Huggins family from Onslow go something like this:

Jacob Huggins is b. about 1740 and marries Francis Cooper between 1762 and 1765.

They have son Jacob who was born between 1763 and 1765 and married Salomey Roberts on Sept 22, 1790 in Onslow Co.

Now, let's look at the 1800 census, once again:

1) The Jacob Huggins in Orange Co is showing to be 45+ years old.
   A) This means he's born prior to 1755.  At this time the Jacob who would marry Frances Cooper back in Onslow was only about 15 years old, given his reported birth year.
   B) This also places Jacob of Orange being born anywhere from 7-10 years before the reported wedding dates of Jacob and Frances.

2) The Jacob Huggins in Onslow Co is showing to be 26-44 years of age. 
   A) This places his birth year between  1756 and 1774.  His reported birth year of 1763-65 fits in perfectly here.
   B)  It also means he's young enough to be the son of Jacob Sr and Frances Copper--and thus a perfect 'fit' to be the one who married Salomey Roberts.

It all comes down to the simple fact that the age of Jacob Huggins of Orange is far too old to be a son of Jacob Huggins and Frances Cooper.

The Huggins line--a summation

In one of the first posts on this blog I briefly discussed methodology.  I talked about what we call "Spot it, got it" genealogy.  For those interested, I refer them back to that post for all the details....

The story:  I'm sure it happened something like this.  At some point, years ago, someone researching the line of Jacob Huggins from Orange Co NC noticed a wedding record in Onslow Co NC.  It was for a Jacob Huggins and the year was 1790.  The person thought:
1) "Hey!  This is at pretty much the right time"
2) "This is in the same state of North Carolina" (albeit almost 200 miles away)
3) "And, this guy has the very same name!"
4) "This must be our guy!"

And so this person then puts it on their webpage... or their online tree...or in a genweb posting.  Over the next few years, person after person takes this as 'gospel' and puts it on their own tree...or webpage.  Several years later, this is now the 'accepted' line.  People see it in writing and think "It must be true."  And that's that.

Except for one thing:  The actual amount of proof sums up to this:
1) They had the same name
2)  They lived in roughly the same time period
3) They came from the same state (but we won't mention the two locations were almost 200 miles apart...).

That's it.  There are no documents offered in support. No actual proof at all.  It just comes down to the fact that someone spotted a guy who had the same name....and then jumped to a conclusion.

This sort of thing has been a pox upon so many lines I've researched.  It's something to always keep in mind and watch for.
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1a)  The Jacob Huggins of Orange Co (father of Jacob Douglas Huggins, Jr) was in Orange Co by at least 1788 and owned 100 acres--as I have shown in a previous posting of the Orange Co tax list.
1b) The Jacob Huggins who was the son of Jacob and Frances Cooper Huggins was in Onslow Co helping to settle his father's estate in 1790.

2.  The Jacob Huggins of Onslow then went on to buy land in that county in all the years I've mentioned previously.  The image of the original from the Onslow deed book in 1800 in that posting shows this Jacob involved a transaction that is witnessed by his two brothers, Luke and Cooper Huggins (seen in the bottom left of the second page).  This links this Jacob Huggins fully with the other off-spring of Jacob and Frances (these sons' names are all noted in Jacob Sr's will from 1790). There can be little doubt that this is their son, Jacob Jr.  The deed also refers to him as "Jacob Huggins of Onslow County...."

3a)  Every document involving Jacob Huggins of Orange Co is signed by a mark--indicating that the was illiterate.
3b)  Every document involving Jacob Huggins of Onslow Co is fully signed.  This man was literate.

4) This one is easy and fun.  Go to Ancestry and bring up the 1790 census.  For the name, type in "Jacob Huggins."  For the location, simply put "North Carolina.
   You will get two top hits:  A Jacob Huggins in Orange Co and one in Onslow.

   Now do the same with the 1800 census:  The top two hits:

    One in Wilmington, Onslow, NC
    One in Hillsborough, Orange, NC

  Repeat with 1810:

    One in Onslow, NC
    One in Hillsborough, Orange, NC

  It's a wonderful, graphic depiction that these are not the same men.  And there's a message in this as well...  Had the person who first 'spotted' the marriage bond of a Jacob Huggins in Onslow Co taken just a few minutes to check the most basic thing of all in genealogy--the Census-- they would have found out right away that these weren't the same guys....

So, the evidence is overwhelming that the Jacob Huggins in Orange Co was not the Jacob Huggins who was the son of Jacob and Frances Cooper Huggins in Onslow Co.
  The only evidence in support of them being the same person is that they shared the same name.
   If someone out there wants to provide a document that says otherwise, I'm wide open and would love to see it. Please share it with us....

But what about DNA results, I hear you say. :)  Sadly, it's late and I'll have to deal with that another time.
                                                                                           <Kevin>

Some more Huggins Documents

 First up is the original will of Jacob Huggins, Sr.  Things to look for: 1) his wife is mentioned a few times. Her name is Mary.  2) Jacob signs by mark.  As has already been mentioned in the posting of one of Jacob's deeds., the Jacob Huggins from Onslow Co was literate. 3) One of the executors (and he is also a witness to the will) is John Campbell.  Sutton Ward's son, Thomas, died seven years after the date of this will--John Campbell was made the guardian of his two children.
                                                                           

 Next is the original marriage bond for Jacob Huggins Jr and Susanna Ward from the Caswell Co, NC records.  Worth noting is the man who co-bonded the wedding.  This is not the elder John Ward who first came into Orange Co--he always signed by mark.  Also, we know from court and estate records that Sutton's son, John, had died prior to Feb 28, 1816.  So this is not him, either.  That leaves only the John Ward who married Linney Compton in 1809 (the bond on this wedding was Sutton Ward).


                                                                

Meshach's real mother

 Just back from a trip to Va and got to stop by the Archives in Raleigh for a few hours on my way back.  We already knew that Meshach Ward was bound to Caleb Wilson from his Apprentice Bond in 1816.  Although most of the court records I'd seen in other places would often note such a bonding, they rarely named the parent(s).  But we decided to give it a go.

    The court clerk in Orange was a gem.  In every similar case I saw, he listed at least one parent.  In those instances where the father had just died, he would name the man and add "dec'd" after it. The majority of entries, however, just named the mother.  There were some I recognized where the mother had been a widow for some time.  Other times, I had seen bastardy bonds for the child in question.
   It's a kind of bittersweet find here.  For the first time, we now know who Meshach's mother was. But, sadly, we have absolutely no other information on her.  This is the first time her name has ever surfaced in Orange Co records. <sigh>
   If nothing else, this should put an end once and for all to the myth of Meshach being the son of William and Delilah Ward....

From the Minutes of the Quarter Sessions and Pleas (Feb. 1816):

    "Ordered that Meshack Ward Son of Charlotte Ward of the age of 10 years be bound to Caleb Wilson until he arrive to lawful age to learn the art & mystery of a farmer."
                                                                         (Kevin)

Letter from Wayne Co.--Raney Ward 1859

  I already posted the first page of this letter as an example in a previous entry.  But I thought that the entire text is worth viewing, simply because it mentions so many names associated with the family.

   Names and things to look for:
   Page 1:-- Raney refers to his brother Quinton who remained in NC.
               --He discusses the disposition of the children of Andrew and Nancy White Ward's children.  Both were deceased by the time.  Andrew was Raney's brother.  Nancy was the sister of Raney's wife, Ruth.  Two of the children are with Hampton White--Nancy and Ruth's brother.  A good link to his picture and gravestone is here.
              --A reference to the 'old man' and the White family, obviously refers to Luke and Nancy White, parents of the above Whites.
              --Raney notes that Meshach Ward and family are well, and then mentions Meshach's recent election as County Judge.
              --Last is an interesting mention of all the people who have gone off to Pike's Peak and California (and how many have returned broke).

     Page 2: --Begins with the usual farming discussion you see in most of his letters.  Note the rust outbreak the previous year which wiped out the entire crop.
                --Mentions he taught Public School for 3 months, receiving $16.6667
                --Notes that the Huggins are well, but 'the Old Folks' still live quite distant from him, a good ten miles.  (Raney seems to call everyone older than him "the Old Folks")
                --A reference to Brown and Quinton, his brothers back in NC.  He wants Quinton to come and visit, saying the journey could be made alone in 6-8 days.
                   A side note here: Raney will die in a hospital while in Union uniform.  Meanwhile, Brown died in a hospital about the same time in Confederate Uniform. 

    Page 3: --"Ruth wants to be remembered to you..."  It takes almost the full paragraph before one realizes that from that point, it's Ruth's words as she signs her name at the end of it.  She discusses the horrid reaction of Andrew and Nancy's son, James Murphy, to becoming an orphan.  Ruth also makes a plea for Shad to come see them.
               --Raney concludes with a plea for his brother, Brown, to write.

  All in all a very important letter because it helps nail down all the parties in this particular family cluster that have moved from Orange Co NC to Wayne Co MO.
                                                                         (Kevin)              

Still more on the Huggins situation

  Ok, so you all have me hooked on the Huggins question.  I thought I'd do just a bit more digging before moving back to the Wards. 

   Although some of the following were not filed until a few years after the actual transaction date (not unusual back then),  Jacob Huggins of Onslow Co participates in 5 indexed deeds there.
   He is Grantor in deeds: 1800, 1815, and 1827.
   He is Grantee in deeds: 1791 and 1815.

   One can see how some of the confusion might have come about.  Frankly, there were several researchers who used to think that the Wards in Orange Co must have come from Onslow--such is the size of the Ward concentration over there.  But those Wards have been quite well researched and are a part of the Virginia Ward line. Still, in this case, the first deed on record for Jacob Huggins of Onslow Co is in 1791 from Edward Ward Jr. It must have been very tempting to see a Huggins (by the name of Jacob!) associated with Wards in Onslow...and then just make the 'leap' to assuming this must be the Jacob whose son marries a Ward in Orange Co.  Same surnames--but, sadly, it's a different Ward line.
   I think it will become pretty clear that we can say the same thing about Jacob Huggins of Onslow Co. as well.
   I've chosen to post a couple of the Grantor deeds for the Jacob Huggins from Onslow so you can see them for yourselves--as well as for one other reason I'll get to afterward:
                           
                                    Deed #1 is from Onslow Deed Book B, pp6-7.

   

Deed #2 is from Onslow Deed Book 7, pp157-8:

In addition to the years in question, the main thing to note here in each of these deeds is that Jacob Huggins of Onslow signs his name--he is literate.

    Below is a deed that falls, in the timeline, right between these two documents.  This is Jacob Huggins of Orange Co selling a portion of his land.
                               
                                          Deed is from Orange Co Deed Book 12, p.370

  
Again, the thing to notice here is that this Jacob signs by mark. He is illiterate.


   Thus, the Jacob Huggins out of Onslow Co shows documentary evidence of a quite constant presence in that county from the time of his being exec. of his father's will in 1789.  He is steadily involved in deeds there from 1791 until 1827.  In each instance, he is referred to as "Jacob Huggins of Onslow County."  Further, he is literate and always signs his name.
   The Jacob Huggins in Orange Co is clearly present by 1788 (as shown previously in the Orange Co tax list).   He is dead by 1813 when his will is proved (the Jacob Huggins of Onslow is involved in at least 3 deeds after this time). And, this Jacob is illiterate, signing by mark.

  I would humbly submit these are not the same men.
                                                                                 (Kevin)

A bit more on Jacob Huggins

  While I've already expressed my questions about the timeline involving Jacob Huggins of Orange Co vis a vis the Jacob Huggins from Onslow Co in the comments section of the previous Huggins post, certainly nobody should ever have to take what I say at face value.  I dug this out of my files and am posting it with the hope that some Huggins researchers out there can make use of it.

   First is a page from the actual 1788 Orange Co tax list.  This is the portion from the Orange District where John Ward and Jacob Huggins resided.

                

We are seeing a nice little cluster here:
The first name on the list is Zebedee Hicks.  Well-documented to be from Baltimore Co.  He will stay in Orange for a bit and then move out west.
Moving down there's John Millington--Son-in-law of John Ward.  He married John's daughter, Constant Ward, in 1784.
Next name is Richard Minson.  You'll sometimes see the name as Richard Menson.  He's shown in the Parish register back in Baltimore Co marrying John Ward's first cousin.  He stays in county briefly and then also heads west.
Then comes Jacob Huggins, showing that he owns 100 acres.
The two Lynches that come next have close ties to the Rileys, but nothing that solid to the Wards, other than living close by.
Then you see John Ward, followed by son, Sutton Ward.

  Sadly, I do not have the original of Jacob Huggins' will, but I will post a copy of the abstract.

                   

Hopefully someone out there can make some sense of it all for the rest of us to enjoy.
                                                                            (Kevin)

Wayne Co--the smoking guns.

 I have to laugh.  It was simply my intention to show that Meshach Ward's biographical entry about his parents was almost certainly a concoction of his--and, I suppose more importantly, to separate the two Ward lines from each other in Wayne Co.   I didn't figure on getting so drawn into the line from Lincoln Co NC, however. :)

   In his book, Old Wayne, Ellinghouse wrote the following passage:

"Alexander Ward was taken into custody by Union soldiers on October
11, 1862, and charged with aiding guerrillas but released two days later after
denying the allegation and taking the oath of allegiance. His siblings who came
to Wayne County were Susanna (wife of Jacob Douglas Huggins), Iverson,
Meshach, and Lawson H. Ward, according to a published account. They are
said to be the children of William Ward (1780-1812) and the former Delilah
Compton (1785-1812) who, after the deaths of their parents in Orange County,
North Carolina, were reared by guardians."

   Ellinghouse was getting most of this information from previous researchers and publications.  At one point in this book he even admits that real proof of this supposed William and Delilah being related to the Lincoln Co line has never been forthcoming.  I hope that I have already shown that there was, very likely, no William Ward who married Delilah Compton.
   Now I'd like to take on the prevalent notion that Alexander Ward and Lawson H. Ward (mentioned in the passage above) were somehow 1) sons of the mythical William and Delilah and 2) that they were Meshach's siblings.
   In Lincoln Co NC (1831-4) there were a series of what are known as 'love and affection' deeds carried out from Frederick Ward to 4 different people.  Although not always the case, generally speaking a 'love and affection' deed goes to a child of the grantor.  I've certainly seen several where this wasn't so--most of those went to grandchildren.
   Luckily, in the case of two of the parties involved below, Frederick Ward made it very clear as to the relation of the grantee.

              

                                   

   As you can see in the above deeds (Lincoln Co DB 35, pp 385-387), Frederick Ward clearly names both Alexander and Lawson H. Ward as his sons.  
   Hopefully this will put an end to the notion that Alexander and Lawson H Ward were sons of the mythical William Ward.   For genealogists of the Lincoln Co NC Wards, I'm hopeful that it will also bring about a new re-examination of the line.
   For what it's worth, the other two 'love and affection' deeds were from Frederick to Thomas Ward and, also, to Conrad Ward.  I assume this infers they were likely his sons, also?
                                                        (Kevin)

Wayne Co, Mo.--Jacob Huggins

  Although it's already quite well-known that Meshach Ward's supposed sister, Susanna Ward married Jacob Huggins Jr back in Caswell Co, NC, I wanted to take a few minutes to discuss an alternate view of the Huggins' origins.
   After Jacob Jr died, we can see Susanna living in Meshach's household in Wayne Co.  She's the only other Ward there that Orange Co genealogists accept is a sibling of his.  None of the others frequently claimed make any real sense in terms of Meshach's origins.  Jacob Jr grew up next door to John Ward in Orange Co.   His father, Jacob Sr, held land bordering John's land right near the Caswell border.  In fact, many of the Wards were known members of a church just over the county line in Caswell, so this is likely the reason that you see Jacob Huggins Jr and Susanna Ward being married in that county.  Here you can see Jacob Sr selling a part of his land shortly before his death.  Note the line that mentions his neighbor, John Ward, in the middle of the page:

                                               

Mostly what I wanted to show here was that not only are Meshach and Susanna closely associated with the John Ward family of Orange Co.--but also Susanna actually married the son of John Ward's next door neighbor!

   Jacob's father names his son in his will a few years later.  Sadly, though, Jacob and Susanna lost their inherited land in 1818 to a Sheriff's sale, when they failed to pay their taxes.

   But what about the Huggins' whereabouts before they moved to Orange Co?  If you look online, pretty much all you will see is that Jacob Sr came from Onslow Co NC.  And, it's true, there are records of a Jacob Huggins over in that area.  However, here's the alternate case that Cluster Theory would present:

   Below is a page from the transcribed 1737 Baltimore Co tax list.  Notice in the upper part of the left column you will see the name of John Huggins.  About 10 lines below him is John Ward Jr's father-in-law, Sutton Sicklemore.
                              

   On the prior page, there is Richard Ward showing "At Joseph Wards."  Since there is only one poll assessed, we can take this as a clue that Joseph was over taxable age by this time.  John Ward is nearby, as are the ancestors of Sutton Ward's wife, the Crabtrees.

      If you then look in the very same Parish register back in Baltimore that contains so many Ward birth and wedding records, you will find the following entry:                          
   JACOB HUGGINS, son of John Jr. and Mary, born July 20, 1739.

   I don't know volumes about the Onslow NC stuff, but any Huggins descendent might want to consider that there was a Jacob Huggins born in Baltimore near the Wards--and that a Jacob Huggins ended up living next to the descendents of these very same Wards in Orange Co. The age and circumstances of this Jacob Huggins fit quite well.

   (Worth considering-- A man named Samuel Taulbee was also a resident of Baltimore Co.  His daughter, Ann, married William Huggins on Dec 19, 1754 there. Samuel Taulbee will also move to Orange Co and leave a will in 1791....)



  
   

Back to Baltimore--Who were Sarah Burrough's parents?

  There is a running joke in the Ward line about their predilection for marrying first cousins.  As you will see, we have the Sicklemores to thank:

   In November, 1705, Samuel Sicklemore's daughter, Elizabeth, married a man named John Brown. After having three sons, John died at an early age sometime in 1715.  By March 1716 Elizabeth had remarried...
   John Brown's father, Thomas, died a number of years earlier.  Margaret Brown, John's mother, then remarried to a man named Andrew Drew.  The latter died about 1720, predeceasing Margaret by about a year.  Fortunately she made her own will at that time.  A key line mentions her grandson, Thomas "son of John Brown" and then she goes on to mention Elizabeth "my daughter-in-law, wife of Richard Burrough."
   Although you will see it posted on the web that Richard Burrough married Elizabeth Brown (and that's true), this will shows us that Elizabeth Brown was initially Elizabeth Sicklemore.
   If you go back to the previous posting and look again at the document involving Joseph Ward and Robert Cutchen, you'll see the two witnesses are Richard Burrough and Archibald Buchanan.  The latter was the executor of Margaret Brown Drew's estate.
   It's a very tight cluster going on here.  Given that, and the fact that Richard Burrough appears on several documents involving Sicklemores and/or Wards, it would seem pretty clear that he's the main 'suspect' for being Sarah Burrough's father--even though, Sarah is not mentioned in his will several decades later.  For one thing, there is no evidence found of any other Burroughs in Baltimore Co at that time.  And then there's the name, Sarah, itself--remember, Richard Burrough's mother-in-law was Sarah Sicklemore.
   Certainly there's always the remote possibility that Richard brought in a unknown niece from St Mary's  Co Md (his place of origin) and introduced her to John Ward Sr.  But, given all the family associations going on in Baltimore, the time frame, and the name "Sarah," we think it quite reasonable to conclude that Sarah Burrough was the daughter of Richard Burrough and Elizabeth Sicklemore Brown Burrough.
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From there, everything seems pretty straightforward--that is, until you start to consider the implications, not to mention attempt to put all this in your family tree. 

   So we've got:

   John Ward Sr marries Sarah Burrough--her mother is Elizabeth Sicklemore.

   Elizabeth Sicklemore is the older sister of Sutton Sicklemore.

   Sutton Sicklemore's daughter, Hannah, marries John Ward Jr.

   Uh oh...

   Yep,  John Ward Jr has just married his grandmother's niece.

   And so when people are asking you why the Wards so frequently married first cousins, just look them in the eye and blame it all on the Sicklemores!

(Another thing worth noting:  one son of John Brown and Elizabeth Sicklemore Brown was named Augustus Brown.   In April, 1729 he married Ann Cutchen--sister of Elizabeth Cutchen who was the wife of Richard Perkins mentioned in the previous post.  The folks really liked to keep it "all in the family.")

The Wayne Co Miracle

  Hopefully, I've done enough so far to convince you that the two Ward lines in Wayne Co. Mo. aren't related.  However....

   Recently, I was going back through Wayne Co census records to see if we could pinpoint any other family members from Orange Co who moved there (a few were discovered).  One name jammed in there one page between the two Ward clans was Perkins.  I started 'crunching' that name backwards.  When I saw online that this family started out from Baltimore Co MD, I cracked a wry smile, laughed, and decided to trace them back 'just for kicks.'
   An hour later I was left stunned and speechless.
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   After all, it was the Perkins who first led the way into Wayne Co from Lincoln Co.
   It was the Perkins who intermarried with the Wards of Lincoln Co a number of times.
   And...it was the Perkins who came to Lincoln Co from Baltimore--namely Richard Perkins Jr.

    Although it was most certainly time to make public all the recent findings about the heritage of John Ward of Orange Co. NC, the astute reader will discern that absolutely every posting so far on this website has all been leading up to this moment:

   Richard Perkins was born in 1713 in Baltimore Co.  Certainly by 1765 he starts showing up in NC records.  Eventually settling in Lincoln Co, he died in at the age of 76 in 1789, when in a drunken state he was defenestrated from the second floor of the county court house.
   The Perkins line continued on in Lincoln Co, eventually intermarrying with the Wards there a number of times.  For example, Jesse Perkins daughter, Rebecca, would go on to marry John Ward in that county.

   Stunningly, the connection we're discussing begins all the way back in 1702!  Note the following document.  This is the very end of a deed where Richard Perkins Sr is selling some land in Baltimore. Be sure to look at the signature in the very bottom left corner:

                                                 

                 


   Before Richard Jr left Baltimore he married Elizabeth Cutchin/Gudgeon.   We've already seen that name.  In this case, she turns out to be the daughter of Robert Cutchin.  And, as we have seen:
   Robert Cutchin is the brother-in-law of Samuel Sicklemore
   This means that Elizabeth Cutchin Perkins is the first cousin of Samuel's son, Sutton Sicklemore
   ....and Sutton Sicklemore is the father-in-law of John Ward, the man who starts the line in Orange Co. NC.

    But, the Wards were involved with these Cutchins back then, as well.  Elizabeth Cutchin Perkins' father had a debt to settle with Joseph Ward, himself!

                                               

  And so, if anything drew the Orange Co Wards to Wayne Co. Mo it wasn't another set of Wards--rather it was the Perkins family, who were close relations of  Hannah Sicklemore Ward (John Ward Jr's wife).  As we can further see, Richard Perkins Jr's father-in-law had financial dealings with John Ward Jr's grandfather back in Baltimore Co.

   The Wards of Orange Co are related to the Perkins....and the Perkins intermarried with another faction of Wards in Lincoln Co.  It could just as easily have been any other surname, but in a 10,000 to 1 shot, the Perkins just happened to intermarry with a family named Ward.
    Add to that Meshach Ward's dubious assertion of his parents' names in his biography and you can see why we genealogists have been left chasing our tails ever since.

   My desire is that the foregoing posts begin to dissolve all the fog around Wayne Co genealogy.  I'm certainly open to any questions, comments, corrections, additions....you name it.  In fact, I'm asking for them.
   Hopefully, what's been written so far on this website can be a new start...
                                                                                               (Kevin)
                                                
                                    

The Shadrach Ward Papers

   By 1850, you can see two Andrew Wards in Wayne Co. Mo.  This seems to have contributed to a lot of confusion.  Ellinghouse has written the following:
  Raney Ward (1819-1863), died in a Confederate prisoner of war camp in Jackson, Mississippi, while serving in the Thirty-First Missouri Infantry.  He resided in 1850 in the Wayne County home of Andrew J Ward, probably a cousin.  Later married, his widow, Rutha, was a daughter of Luke and Nancy (Bland) White, wed in 1813 in adjoining Chatham County.

  This particular Andrew Ward was no cousin.  And he wasn't from Lincoln Co. NC.  He was, in fact, Raney Ward's brother.  Both were sons of Shadrach Ward.  Andrew Ward married Nancy White back in Guilford Co in the 1840s.  Raney accompanied them to Wayne Co and, eventually, married Nancy's sister, Ruth.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  As previously mentioned, there is a collection of Shad Ward's letters in the Special Collections Dept. at Duke.
  There are a number of letters (mostly written by Raney) from Wayne Co to Shadrach in that file.  So you can get a taste of them, I'm posting the first page of one written a just over a year after Andrew died:

                                                  

  As you can see, Raney discusses things like the disposition of brother Andrew's children.  In his letters, he might occasionally mention someone known from back home--in this case Sela Edwards--and then, in several letters he gives account of Meshach Ward.
   In none of the letters back to Orange Co is there ever a mention of any other Wards living in Wayne Co.   

   The Wards from Orange Co, NC are as follows:
   Meshach Ward--son of unknown
   Andrew Ward--son of Shadrach Ward and Delilah Compton Ward
   Raney Ward--son of Shadrach Ward and Delilah Compton Ward

  A fourth, Yancey Ward, will eventually turn up in Wayne Co.  We'll have to deal with him (and his outrageous biography!) another time...
   Also worth noting is that another of Shad's sons, John A Ward, lived briefly in the county for a time in the mid-1850s.  He is usually referred to by his middle name, Alvis.

                                                                                       (Kevin)

Two lines of Wards

  While I'm certainly no expert on the Lincoln Co. NC Wards, I've seen enough good research about them to understand something of their origins.  Cletis Ellinghouse wrote the following in one of his books:

  "It appears that Johann Carl "Charles" Ward was the granddaddy of the Wayne County families....From what little is known of him, this much is certain: he was married in 1760 Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and lived there, across the Delaware River from Warren County, New Jersey, before moving south about 1773 into North Carolina where, a short time later, he became widely known as a partisan in the Revolutionary War."

   Researchers note that church records state he was married in 1760 to an Anna Catherine Kale--who had been born in Germany in 1739.  Reported names of their children also tend to show Germanic origins: Conrad, Frederick, Melger, Balser/Paulser, etc.
   Further, most reports show that Johann Ward doesn't arrive in Northampton Co until around the mid-1740s.
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   So, how does this compare to the Orange Co. NC Wards?
   As we have shown, Joseph Ward, progenitor of these Wards was clearly in the Colonies by 1707--and likely earlier.  All of his early associations are with well-known former residents of the UK  In many cases, these are names of 'high-flyers' like Sicklemore, Wriothesley and Day.  There are other known UK families like the Gudgeons, Ewings and Groomes as well.  In fact, research in the area of Ipswich has turned up several instances of the names Sicklemore and Ward on the same document.
   Joseph Ward's Joppa Inn looked out across the street at the Episcopal Church next door.  His children's birth records are in the St John's Parish records--as are his death record, along with that of son John Sr.
   The Wards of Orange Co. NC are clearly English in origin.

While I always assert that nothing is impossible when it comes to genealogy, it's pretty certain, isn't it, that these two clans of Wards are of such differing origins and backgrounds as to make it clear that the odds of their being related in any way is incredibly remote.
  It's certainly far too remote, for example, to think that a William Ward of Lincoln Co had anything to do with the Wards of Orange Co--much less to think that he somehow moved over there (married a Compton!?), died and then left a child (Meshach) to be raised there.  Also, given that he's the supposed father of a number of other Wards who ended up in Wayne Co, this seems even more improbable that only one of his sons would stay in Orange, while the others were raised back in Lincoln Co.
   None of it makes any sense.  What's to blame here?   The biographical entry for Meshach Ward, that's what.  It's been taken as truthful...and from there, many attempts have been made to 'force' things to fit.  The sad fact is, they don't.
                                                                          (Kevin)

"They all served under Washington....and at Yorktown"

  This is a phrase that still sticks in my mind, told to me by a veteran genealogist.
   These sorts of regional biographies are notorious for their fabrications and exaggerations.  One classic example is that of William Clenny--next door neighbor of Caleb Wilson in Orange Co NC.  William Clenny sold his land in 1822 and moved to Greene Co, IN.  Caleb was, in fact, the witness for the deed.  Meshach would have known this guy very well.  The following is from Biographical memoirs of Greene County, Ind.:

William Clenny--
the father of "Alec" Clenny, who lived and died north of Bloomfield, was a Virginian and fought in the Revolution with the highest and best leaders—both Washington and Greene. . Washington* always said if he was lost he wanted Greene put in his place .
    Mr. Clenny was at the closing scene of Yorktown. He remembered well the names of the French officers who served there, and to hear him pronounce them as he did was a rich literary treat to any one. He was an excellent citizen all his long life and made his own living by patient, useful labor, tanned his own leather, made his own and family's shoes, raised wool, cotton and flax, of which their clothes were made, and made his hand-mill on which was ground their breadstuff. He had an almost matchless figure, showing an exquisite model of perfect manhood, rugged and stalwart. In his last years he was entirely blind. His dust lies in the Bloomfield cemetery.

But, then  there is Clenny's own Revolutionary War pension application.  First of all it clearly shows what we already know, that Clenny was born in Delaware and moved to Orange Co NC and lived there over 40 years before moving to Indiana.  He never lived in Virginia at all--at least not for any discernible length of time.
  Secondly, you can see his service at the tail part of the War (in his own words)--while the Battle of Yorktown was going on, Clenny was serving in the Carolinas and Georgia!

  I know this is just one example (of many that I've seen over the years), but I hope it at least gives some indication of just how inaccurate regional biographies can be.
   And now, back to Wayne Co....
                                                                                        (Kevin)

Meshach Ward

According to Meshach Ward of Wayne Co. Mo., he was born in Orange Co. NC.    As previously mentioned, nobody knows who his parents were--that is unless you want to go with the entry in the well-known book of regional biography:

                         

  This is the entry that has caused so much trouble.  To be sure, Meshach was apprenticed out to Caleb Wilson in Orange Co NC in 1816.  You can see that bond here:
                                                  

 1) Caleb Wilson is well-known in Orange Co genealogy.  At this time he lived in the Union Ridge area--a couple of miles to the West of where the main body of Wards were living.  He would eventually sell out and move back a bit east to live right by the Wards.
  2)  All the Orange Co apprentice bonds have been surveyed.  Meshach is the only Ward to ever have been apprenticed.
  3) There is no wedding bond for Meshach's marriage.  But there is really no reason to doubt the truth of who he married.  Caleb Wilson's niece is accepted by Orange Co genealogists.  When Caleb Wilson sold out his land in the Union Ridge area, much of it went to his brother.  This is quite possibly Elizabeth's father.
  4) What isn't accepted by Orange Co genealogists is 'the rest of the story...'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The progenitor of the Compton line in Orange Co NC is Aquilla Compton.  He's known to have moved to Orange Co from the area of Frederick, MD, sometime around 1780.  There were no other Comptons in Orange before this time.  He bought land within 1/4 mile of John Ward's property. These Wards and Comptons intermarried heavily.
   1) Shadrach's brother, William, bought his first parcel of land from one of Aquilla's sons.
   2) While Aquilla's son, William Compton, first married John Ward's daughter, Rebecca: marriage records make it pretty clear that somehow she had died by 1792 and William Compton remarried to Mary Freeland.  In 1794, William Compton and Mary had Delilah Compton.  She went on to marry Shad:
                        Shadrach Ward married Delilah Compton in 1818.
  3) Even though there are amazing records about the Comptons, there is no record of a Delilah older than this one in Orange Co.

   So what we have is Meshach Ward spinning a story to the regional biographer.  He's totally honest about his indenture and his wife--he has to be, she's still around.  The problem is Meshach's mom and dad:

            Meshach says he's the son of William Ward and Delilah Compton.

1)  After years of acquiring just about every available record, there is no mention of a William Ward in Orange Co prior to the marriage of Shad's brother in 1811. 
2)  And this is where we go for the obvious regarding Meshach's stated parents:  William Ward is Shadrach's brother,  Delilah Compton is Shadrach's wife.  It would appear that Meshach is just borrowing the names in his story from relatives.  The 'coincidence' of names here is just a bit too much.
3)  I do realize that this still leaves open the question of declared father, William Ward, coming from the Ward cluster in Lincoln Co. NC.   We'll get to that shortly.
   But first, let's take a moment to discuss regional biographies...
   
 

The "Wayne Co Trap"

  Every Orange Co NC Ward researcher that I've talked to has fallen into it....I most certainly did.  It's Cluster Theory at its most basic.  And it's one of those rare times where that method fails.

   We all do it.  For example, we see a John Doe 3 places away from a James Doe on a census page, both show being born in the same state.  From there we just assume that they are related, right?  And 97 times out of 100 that's perfectly correct.
   How much 'stronger', then, is the likely link when in Wayne Co, Missouri, at least a dozen Ward households all show on the 1850 and 1860 census records as being near one another--and they are all from NC?!
  They've got to be related, right?

  Orange Co Ward researchers have all spent countless hours at one time or another in trying to find the connection.  In the end, everyone of them--myself, most certainly included--came away with nothing.  We all came to call it a 'trap.'  And that's how the name came about.
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  I know--and have experienced the fallout from attempting to suggest otherwise-- that once a piece of information goes 'into print' many people come to hold it true and that nothing can change their minds.  This seems to magnify in intensity when the publication is a book, rather than just an internet posting. Since the Wayne Co Ward line has been dealt with in a number of books, I know what I'm up against.
   I'm not writing to change the minds of those people--rather, my goal is to show a different version for those who still aren't convinced by what they have read.

   In that light, I'd like to approach this in two stages:
  1) To show all the reasons why the two groups of Wards in Wayne Co are NOT related.
  2) Paradoxically, to show a recent discovery that shows both groups ARE related--but not through the Ward line!

  Let's see if I can pull that off.
  We'll start with Meshach Ward....
                                                                 (Kevin)

  

 

Shadrach, William and X--Orange Co, NC

  Those familiar with the history of the Orange Co Wards know this problem all too well.  Steve Ward has already covered it nicely in his first book.
   Looking at all available records, it looks like sometime between 1800 and 1810, one or two Ward 'widows' appeared in the area.  We can see what appears to be them in the 1810 census.

   Out of this group come two well-known Wards: Shadrach and William.  A third Ward, named Joshua, makes his appearance around the same time as these two.  And then there will be a 4th one--who is currently given the name of X.  Although Joshua's parentage is not certain, we know from a few records like the 1850 census that the mother of Shad Ward was named Ruth.
  Steve deals with all of these people in his first book.  You can find out more there if you'd like.

  The main thing to note, is that since that book was written, the Shadrach Ward papers were 'discovered' in Duke University Library.  Contained in that file is a letter from Leticia Ward Barrow to 'Uncle Shad.'
She inquires about her mother's funeral, asks how grandmother is doing, etc.  She then asks about Uncle William and Aunt Anne.  
   William Ward married Anne Scott in 1811.

    Leticia was left an 'orphan' about 1823.  We can find the following entries in the Caswell Co Court records, just a mile or so North of where the Orange Co Ward's lived:

April Court 1823
   Sylvester Word (or Ward), orphan now 3 years old on 15 of May next bound to James Brown to learn the art of a planter.
   Laticia Ward orphan now age of 4 years on 4th of July next bound to James Heydon.

  To this day, we don't know the name of that missing brother.  But it's clear that since Leticia Ward was the niece of both William and Shad Ward the two men were brothers--and her dad (X) was a third brother--all sons of Ruth.

   We do know this--as Steve clearly has shown--William and Shadrach settle down right by the land of Sutton Ward and his offspring.
   Sutton's son, Thomas, bonded William's wedding.
  Shadrach bonded the wedding of Sutton's son, Archibald.
   Shad also bonded Joshua Ward's marriage.
   You can see both Shad and William witnessing many of the deeds of Sutton Ward and his children. 
 
   As Steve has noted, it's very clear that Shadrach and William were very closely related to the family of Sutton Ward.  Likely their father was Sutton's cousin.  We just don't know his name.  We can show, for instance, that other Ward cousins moved next to John/Sutton Ward from Baltimore, before heading on to other places...but, sadly, after going through almost the entire NC Archives, we still can't tell you who Shad's dad was....

   But a little bit later on, another mystery Ward appears in the records: Meshach Ward.  It would seem obvious by his name that he's somehow related to Shadrach.  But, again, there's no record of his parents. 
   Now we are headed straight into the infamous "Wayne Co Trap..."
                                                                (Kevin)