52 Ancestors: #46 - Joshua SHIFLETT

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

For a long time I just assumed that my 4X great-grandfather Joshua SHIFLETT was the brother of another of my 4X great-grandfathers, Jacob SHIFLETT.  After all, they were contemporaries; they lived near one another; they appeared together as witnesses in a number of legal documents.  But another descendant of Joshua has presented a stronger argument that Joshua was the son of Thomas, thus making him the brother of Jacob’s father John, and therefore Jacob’s uncle. 

So I’m going with that unless I can prove otherwise.

Joshua was born in Albemarle County, Virginia about 1774 and remained there his entire life.  On August 22, 1797, he married Melinda BRUCE, daughter of Richard BRUCE and Caty WHITE.  They raised at least three confirmed children but perhaps more.  The 1820 census for Fredericksville Parish in Albemarle shows a family that I expect to see:

MALES

1 10-15 – possibly Isaac

1 16-25 – possibly a son-in-law Michael Shiflett

1 45+ – Joshua

FEMALES

2 under 10 – possibly children of Minerva and Michael

2 16-25 – Minerva and Melissa

1 26-44 – Melinda

But in 1830, the family is more difficult to pinpoint:

MALES

2 5-9 – ?  Who are these children?

1 20-29 – Isaac

1 60-69 – Joshua

FEMALES

1 15-19 – ?  Who is this?

1 50-59 – Melinda

1 female slave 36-54

THREE GENERATIONS:

Joshua SHIFLETT ( 1774 Albemarle Co, VA –  About 1838 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Melinda BRUCE (1783 Albemarle Co, VA – Sep 1872 Greene Co, VA )   22 Aug 1797 Albemarle Co, VA

1. Minerva SHIFLETT ( 1798 Albemarle Co, VA – Before 1850 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Michael “Miley” SHIFLETT  (1793 Albemarle Co, VA – After 1850 Albemarle Co, VA ) 10 Feb 1818 Albemarle Co, VA

• Caroline SHIFLETT ( 1825 Albemarle Co, VA – )
• George SHIFLETT ( 1828 Albemarle Co, VA – )
• Hardinia SHIFLETT ( 1831 Albemarle Co, VA – )
• Franklin SHIFLETT ( 1833 Albemarle Co, VA – )
• Columbus SHIFLETT (1835 Albemarle Co, VA – )
• Decatur SHIFLETT ( 1837 Albemarle Co, VA – )
• Hester A. SHIFLETT ( 21 May 1841 Albemarle Co, VA – 23 Jun 1920 Greene Co, VA & William MCALISTER 30 Jul 1866 Greene Co, VA
• Henrietta Clay SHIFLETT ( 02 Jan 1845 Albemarle Co, VA – ) & Lucian Quint COLEMAN (1859 – ) 21 Nov 1880 Augusta Co, VA 

2. Melissa SHIFLETT ( 1802 Albemarle Co, VA – After 1870 Harrison, WV ) & Joseph Joel SHIFLETT (1791 Albemarle Co, VA –  19 Apr 1856 West Virginia)  20 Oct 1824 Albemarle Co, VA

• Joab SHIFLETT ( 1824 – )
• Maria SHIFLETT ( 1825 – )
• Joseph SHIFLETT ( 1832 – )
• Zephania SHIFLETT ( 1834 – )
• Catherine SHIFLETT ( 1837 – )
• Anderson / Alfred SHIFLETT ( 1839 – )
• John SHIFLETT ( 1840 – )
• Louis SHIFLETT ( 1842 – )
• Melican SHIFLETT (1844 – ) 

3. Isaac SHIPLETT ( May 1807 Albemarle Co, VA – Jan 1862 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Susan JORDAN  (1814 – 28 Feb 1882 Rockingham Co, VA ) 24 Oct 1836 Albemarle, VA

• Philip Penelton SHIPLETT ( 29 Oct 1837 Albemarle Co, VA  – 16 Mar 1919 Rockingham Co, VA ) & Jennetta Ann DOVEL (17 Jan 1841 – 24 Mar 1922 Rockingham Co, VA )
• Octavius SHIPLETT ( 1841 Albemarle Co, VA – 03 Jul 1863 Gettysburg, Adams, PA )
• Lycennius H. SHIPLETT ( 1844 Albemarle Co, VA  – 16 Mar 1919 Rockingham Co, VA) & Emily J. “Ginny” BRUCE  17 Dec 1867 Albemarle, VA
• Comaia Clarissa SHIPLETT ( 1847 Albemarle Co, VA – 03 Sep 1894 ) & John Wesley LONG ( 1847 – )  25 Jul 1867 Albemarle, VA
• Segourney F. SHIFLETT ( 1851 Albemarle Co, VA  – 09 Feb 1926 Washington DC) & George Harvey EPPARD (1839 Albemarle Co, VA – 13 Jan 1917 Rockingham Co, VA )  28 May 1870 Rockingham Co, VA
• M. E. SHIPLETT ( 1854 Albemarle Co, VA – )
• George SHIPLETT ( 1856 Albemarle Co, VA – )

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: #45 - Richard BRUCE

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

My 5X great-grandfather Richard BRUCE is a bit of a puzzle.  (But aren’t they all?)  He was the baby of the family born to George Bruce and Elizabeth Quinn in 1754.  He was surely old enough to have served in the militia during the Revolutionary War, but I have found no evidence of that on Fold3.  However, his brothers served and received pensions. 

Richard must have been a smart man who earned the respect of his family and neighbors.  He might have been a lawyer, in fact.  He was asked to seek the aid of Thomas Jefferson in settling a military claim: 

on Ancestry.com
used by permission from mrtsix3

Albemarle 12^th Dec 1791

Sir,

Having repeatedly experienced favors of this kind from you it emboldens me still to intrude further on your goodness.  David Owings & David Wood have got some military claim sent on by the Assembly to Congress to have them settled.  And they have wrote to Mr. Madison to lay them separately before Congress.  And as I was in some measure the instigation of their not being paid as you will see by the papers therefore beg you to be so good as to try to get them settled when they come to hand [not sure that’s what it says] and write me word their fate.

I am Sir your most obt [obedient] servant

Richd Bruce

In 1794, Richard’s brother William and his wife Ann Nancy, who were residing in North Carolina, appointed him to be their attorney to sell 300 acres of land in Albemarle [Deed Book 1, p. 34].

There are many deeds and other documents witnessed by Richard Bruce; however, quite often the date is many years after the 1813 death date that seems to be accepted by Bruce researchers.  His absence in the 1820 census makes that date seem probable.  Still, the deeds between Richard Bruce and Joshua Shiflett, the husband of Richard’s daughter Malinda, make me wonder whether he was still living beyond 1813 or if there is another Richard Bruce, a son perhaps, or a nephew. 

The rest of Richard’s life can be summed up with statistics from the early census records for Albemarle County in Virginia:

• 1782 – one free male above 21; owned 8 cattle and 5 horses; had no carriages, billiard tables, or license to operate an ordinary
• 1790 – one white male over 16; 2 blacks over 16; owned 2 horses but no carriages
• 1800 – 2 white males over 16; 2 blacks over 16; 2 blacks between 12 and 16; owned 3 horses but no carriages
• 1810 – 3 males under 10, 1 male 16-25, 2 males over 45, 2 females under 10, 2 females 26-44, and 7 slaves

THREE GENERATIONS:

Richard BRUCE ( 1754 Albemarle Co, VA – 1813 Loudoun, VA ) & & Catherine “Caty” WHITE (1744 Virginia – 1784 Virginia)  1773 Albemarle Co, VA

1.  Elizabeth “Betsy” BRUCE ( 1774 Albemarle Co, VA – 24 Nov 1854 Albemarle Co, VA )

2.  Sarah “Sallie” BRUCE ( 1776 Albemarle Co, VA – ) & Zachariah GARRISON (1772 Albemarle Co, VA – )  26 Dec 1797 Albemarle Co, VA

3.  Malinda BRUCE ( 1783 Albemarle Co, VA –  Sep 1872 Greene Co, VA ) & Joshua SHIFLETT (1775 Albemarle Co, VA – 1838 Virginia )  22 Aug 1797  Albemarle Co, VA

• Minerva SHIFLETT ( 1798 Albemarle Co, VA – 1863 Virginia )
• Melissa SHIFLETT ( 1802 Albemarle Co, VA - After 1870 Harrison, WV ) & Joseph “Joel” SHIFLETT (1791 Albemarle Co, VA – 19 Apr 1856 West Virginia)  20 Oct 1824 Albemarle Co, VA
• Isaac SHIPLETT ( May 1807 Albemarle Co, VA – Jan 1862 Albemarle Co, VA ) & Susan JORDAN (1814 – 28 Feb 1882 Rockingham Co, VA )  24 Oct 1836 Albemarle, VA

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.

52 Ancestors: #42 - Darby QUINN

Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued a challenge:  write one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor.  It can be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem – anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Darby QUINN – is that not the cutest name to find in one’s ancestral tree?  Being very Irish on my father’s side of the family, I was surprised to discover this bit of Irish goodness on my mother’s side.  But just “how Irish” is questionable.  A quick look through other people’s research on Ancestry.com reveals that most believe the parents of my 7X great-grandfather came from England even though some say Darby himself was born in Ireland. 

One researcher even reported a family legend about Darby’s GRANDSON:  that the grandson had been kidnapped in Ireland and brought to America as a child and that based on his fine clothing he must have come from wealth.  However, this story is unlikely to be true since Darby Quinn had been in America since a teenager in 1712.

Darby died in Culpeper County, Virginia.  He held deeds in Orange County, but it is likely his home in Culpeper had at one time been part of Orange since so many counties were carved out of Orange.

Brumfield/Bromfield Parish where his will was recorded straddled the line between present-day Culpeper and Madison counties.  In a number of deeds, Darby’s land is described as being on the Rapidan River.

Little is known of his life other than a few records left behind including a will, some deeds, and his name as witness on a number of neighbors’ deeds.

ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
Deed Bk. 3-4 1738-1741
Mar. 22, 1738 David and Mary Phillips of St. Mark's Parish in Orange Co. to Darby
Quin of Drysdale Parish of King and Queen Co., 20 pounds current money, 200 acres
in the fork of the Rapidann River...on a branch of Beautiful Run corner to Nicholas
Christopher...on Michael's Branch ... in the fork of a branch of Beautiful Run..
Witnesses: Robert Cave, John Mackdaniel, and Joseph Amons

ORANGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA

Deed Book 10 pp. 517-518 July 23, 1747

Deed of Gift to Elizabeth Quinn Bruce

Know all men by these presents that I, Darby Quinn of Orange County, do by these presents for several good Causes and consideration and for the love and goodwill me thereunto moving Give Grant bargain make over and confirm unto my well Beloved Daughter Elizabeth Bruce all and singular the parts and parcels of my Estate as follows: (viz) Negro Robin and Negro Jane and all the time of service hereby indenture of a ... woman named Catherine McCoy, nine head of cattle, one mare, one horse, four head of sheep, sixteen hogs one featherbed and furniture two iron pots one small chest one table and pewter dish one pewter basin two pewter plates two chairs one washing tub two pails one Great Bible two  … axes one candlestick ten pewter spoons one raw hide one side of tanned leather one large bottle two Earthen Muggs seven mislings of bason, sixteen hundred pounds of Tobacco twelve barrens of Indian corn two geese one handsome great augre one spinning wheel ten pounds of cotton unspon one iron pestle one iron ... one grubing hoe, two weeding hoes two hilling hoes one frying pan one fine wheat sive one coarse sive one plough hoe one iron chair one pint bottle one iron form one brick band three case knives and forks one cotton and Haymes one rendering [?] tub, four bushels of rye, four wooden noggins, one pepper box, which said above Negroes, good and chattels, I give to my daughter Elizabeth Quinn with all the increase for the future of the said negroes same with all the future increase of the above said cattle and all the future increase of the said mare to have and to hold the said Given and Granted Negroes, Good and Chattels to her by said Daughter Elizabeth Bruce her heirs and assigns.

To have and to hold the same forever from me the aforesaid Darby Quinn my certain attorney or assigns forever.

In witness whereof I have hereunto sit my hand and seal this 31st day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-seven.

Darby Quinn

Signed Sealed and Delivered
in the presence of us
Robert Sharman
Lucy Sharman

CULPEPER COUNTY, VIRGINIA

Will Book A, 1749-1770  pp. 137-138

Darby Quinn, Brumfield Parish, Culpeper Co, VA (1754)

IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN, I Darby Quinn of Brumfield Parish in Culpeper County, planter, being very sick and weak in body but in perfect health of mind and memory, thanks be to almighty God for the same, but calling to mind the certainty of death and that all men must die and as touching all such worldly estate that it hath pleased God to bless me with, do make this my last will and testament revoking, disallowing and disannulling all other Wills and Testaments heretofore made and given by me allowing this only this to be my last will and testament. Imprimiss: I give and bequeath my soul to God that gave it me and my body to the earth to be buried in a christian like manner.

Item: I give and bequeath unto my son Richard Quinn all that tract of land containing by Patent four hundred acres lying in Frederick County which said land I took up and the Patent is in my own name and I give the same to my son Richard and his heirs lawfully begotten.

Item: I will and desire that the writing formerly made by me shall be and remain as it is.

Item: I will and desire that what other of my personal estate that is not mentioned and given in the above said writing shall be equally divided between my two children, viz: Richard Quinn and Elizabeth Bruce and in case either of them should die before such division be made that then the heir of either of them that shall die shall have the part of the dec'd part of my estate.

Item: I constitute, ordain and appoint my son Richard Quinn my sole Executor of this my Last Will and Testament. IN TESTIMONY whereof I have this twenty first day of December one thousand seven hundred fifty four set my hand and seal.

Darb X Quinn  his mark

Signed, seal'd, published and pronounced in the presence of Robert Sharman William Alexander Ann Sharman

At a Court held for the County of Culpeper Thursday, the 16th day of September 1756.

THREE GENERATIONS:

DARBY QUINN (1696 Ireland or England – 16 Sep 1756 Culpeper Co, Va) & Mary ASHWORTH ( 1698 Virginia – 21 Dec 1754 Culpeper Co, VA )  1718 Culpeper Co, VA

1. Elizabeth QUINN ( 1719 Culpeper Co, VA – 1793 Bland, VA) & George G. BRUCE ( 1713 Augusta Co, VA – 1787 Bland, VA)   1738 Culpeper Co, VA

• George BRUCE ( 1739 Augusta Co, VA – 1808 Lexington, Fayette, KY)
• Martha BRUCE ( 1741 Augusta Co, VA – 1786 )
• Elizabeth BRUCE ( 1743 Augusta Co, VA – 1803 )
• Charles Austin BRUCE ( 30 Oct 1745 Culpeper Co, VA – 31 Jul 1833 Greer, Greenville, SC)  &  Margaret Hannah RAMSEY (1741 Culpeper Co, VA – 1822 Spartanburg, SC )
• Benjamin BRUCE ( 1750 Culpeper Co, VA – 31 Dec 1809 Clark Co, JY ) & Mildred Millie WATTS ( 1753 Albemarle Co, VA – 1842 Clark  Co, KY )  26 Mar 1773 Albemarle Co, VA
• William BRUCE (1752 Orange, VA – 1814 Giles Co, VA ) & Anne Nancy BALLARD ( 1755 Albemarle Co, VA – 1811 Giles Co, VA )  1775 Albemarle Co, VA
• Richard BRUCE ( 1754 Albemarle Co, VA – 1813 Loudoun, VA ) & Catherine Caty WHITE (1744 Virginia – 1784 Virginia )  1773 Albemarle Co, VA

2. Richard QUINN ( 1724 Culpeper Co, VA – 18 Oct 1790 Culpeper Co, VA ) & Elizabeth MANN (1724 – 1793)  1738 Culpeper Co, VA

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.