In 1997 Charles R. "Buddy" Mashburn of Williamson, SC, hired Mr. Ian J. Hilder, professional genealogist in England, to research the Mashburn family. These resulting records are extremely helpful, but Steve reports that some of the dates listed on his site that were extracted by Mr. Hilder were mis-copied, probably due poor quality of the old microfilms. It will be left to others to return to the original records to correct these dates. Those dates which are mentioned below in this document are correct. The spelling of the surname in England is seen intermittently Mashborne and Mashbourne and Mashbourn.

Edward Mashbourn, single, and Sarah Sindery, single, married on 13 June 1675, in London, England. Both parties lived at St. Giles-in-the Field Parish, and the marriage was solemnized at nearby St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East Parish. Their son Edward Mashbourn (Jr.) was baptized on 27 May 1676 at St. Giles-in-the-Field Parish in London. *William Murphy, a descendant of the Onslow County, NC, Mashburns, was hired by Mrs. I. M. Stinson to take a research trip to London. Mr. Murphy located the above baptism record for Edward Mashborne (Jr.) in parish records of St. Giles.

Sarah Sindery had died by the time Edward (Jr.) was nine years old, because Edward Masborne, (Sr.) next married Elizabeth Nash, (single), on 16 May 1685, and she raised young Edward until he was an adult. The marriage between Edward Mashburn (Sr.) and Elizabeth Nash was solemnized at St. Dunston-in-the-West Aldersgate in London.

The Mashbornes owned a house on Dogwell Court in the Whitefriars District (only a few blocks from St. Dunstan-in-the-West). The house was located beside the infamous George Tavern which became the print shop of England’s most famous printer, William Bowyer. Several doors down lived Sir Henry Clancy, the judge who indicted the last woman in England to be tried for witchcraft. *Research of Steve A. Mashburn

Edward Mashbourne (Sr.) was dead by 1693 when London tax records on their house listed Elizabeth Mashborne as a widow.

On 7 October 1698, Elizabeth (nee Nash) Mashbourne, widow, married Edward Lloyd, widower, at St. Botolph's Aldersgate in London. Edward Lloyd was the socially prominent owner of a coffee house at which politically connected men in London gathered to conduct business. The family business eventually evolved into Lloyds of London.

A robust paper trail can be established between Edward Mashborne (Sr.), and his wife, Sarah Sindery, to their son Edward Mashburn (Jr.), who in about 1698 immigrated to a remote area in the American Colonies to become a schoolmaster. To distinguish Edward, Jr., from several other men named Edward Mashborne/Mashburn/Marshborne in England at this time, he is known among the genealogy community as "Edward the Schoolmaster."

Edward the Schoolmaster was not an ordained clergyman, but in addition to teaching the English children to read, write and do arithmetic, he taught the catechisms of the Church of England and saw to it that the children were able to give the rationale for their faith. Based on his teaching of the catechisms and his desire to also teach the Indian children whose parents could not afford to pay their tuition, he twice appealed to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) in London, asking that they grant him a stipend to enable him to teach the Indian children. The appeals were written four years apart.

The first appeal was written by his friend who was an Anglican missionary from England, Rev. Giles Rainsford. The "Rainsford Letter" can be found immediately below, and also on Steve Mashburn’s website under the 1700 link.

To John Chamberlaine, Esq., of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
Chowan, in North Carolina, July 25, 1712
"I had several conferences with one Thomas Hoyle, king of the Chowan Indians, who seems very inclinable to embrace Christianity and proposes to send his son to school to Sarum to have him taught to read and write by way of foundation in order to a farther proficiency for the reception of Christianity. I readily offered my service to instruct him myself, and having the opportunity of sending him to Mr. Garratt’s, where I lodge, being but three miles distance from his town. But he modestly declined it for the present till a general peace was concluded between the Indians and Christians. I found he had some notion of Noah’s flood, which he came to the knowledge of and expressed himself after this manner, ‘my father told me, I tell my son.’ But I hope in a little time to give the society a better account of him as well as of those peaceable Indians under his command. There’s one Mr. Mashburn who keeps a school, at Sarum, on the frontiers of Virginia , between the two governments*, and neighboring upon two Indian towns who, I find by him, highly deserve encouragement, and could heartily wish the society would take it into consideration and be pleased to allow him a salary for the good services he has done and may do for the future. What children he has under his care can both write and read very distinctly and gave before me such an account of the grounds and principles of the Christian religion that strangely surprised me to hear it. The man upon a small income would teach the Indian children gratis (whose parents are willing to send them could they but pay for their schooling) as he would those of our English families had he but a fixed dependency for so doing, and what advantage would this be to private families in particular and the whole colony in general is easy to determine."

*(The above "two governments" may refer to the governments in counties of adjoining states, because it appears that Mr. Mashborne simultaneously (or intermittently) served in a small area located on the border between Nasemond County, VA, and Northampton County, NC).

The original copy of the above request that Mr. Mashburn receive a stipend is archived in The Letters of the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel in London, but is also published in the North Carolina History and General Register, Volume l, page 265, with the following footnote: "Sarum was, in all probability, located at or near the ‘Ballard Place’ about three miles northwest of Gatesville (NC) at the head of Sarum Creek. " Note that in 1712 (when the letter was written) Northampton County encompassed all of what would later become Northampton, Hereford and Gates Counties, NC.

There was prompt response to Rev. Rainsford’s letter from the Bishop of London regarding the above letter written in July 1712:*
" W. Hall to [Secretary, SPG]
1712 November 24
<26>
Fullnam Nov. 24, 1712
Sir: My Lord of London wonders, he can hear nothing from you in relation to Newberry in New-Hampshire; and is very much Surprised to find in the last Minutes, that a thing of So great Consequence, as that of Educating of Indian Children in the Colony of Virginia, and by Mr. Mashburn amongst the Chowan Indians, should meet with Such unaccountable delay. He thinks so good a Work should be promoted with all imaginable Speed and Application, and desiring you would move the Committee to consider it again, and not leave it till an Account be sent from Col Nicholson after his arrival in those Parts; least it would prove then too late to doe any Service in that kind. I am, to desire you to give an Answer the first opportunity to, Sir Your very humble Servant.
W. Hall
There is a Gentleman lately come from Virginia, who will give the Committee a full account of these Matters, if it be thought needful.
Address:
To Mr. Taylor at Cusitor’s Office
In Chancer Lane "
*Research of Steve A. Mashburn

While in London, the above William Murphy (descendant of the Onslow County, NC, Mashburns and was hired by Mrs. I. M. Stinson), located the following letter, and subsequently gave it to Connie Mashburn. This letter was written in 1716 by Edward the Schoolmaster himself, almost four years later than the above letter written by Rev. Rainsford. This letter can also be found was in the archives of the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel in England .

Following is a summary of this letter written by Edward the Schoolmaster to the SPG:

On 25 April 1716, in Nansemond County, VA, Edward the Schoolmaster wrote a letter to the SPG (Society of the Propagation of the Gospel) in England, in which he (again) "humbly offered himself to the Society for employ(ment)." He had continued here in Virginia these eighteen years a school master* . . . thought it proper that he should mention that he was born in London . . . was son to the late Mrs. Lloyd who operated a coffeehouse on Lombard Street, who I presume may be known to some of the Society" . . . . (his) "teaching writing and arithmetic had . . . fixed in the children . . . ( and he had) explained the Church’s catechism whereby they are able to give a rational and well grounded account of the faith in(to) which they were baptized . . . At the arrival of your late missionary, Mr. Rainsford in Virginia, I had the happiness to guide him to North Carolina . . . (and) had found the much greater necessity for one of my business in North Carolina rather than this place . . . and the lamentable circumstances they lie in under that Government." (The lamentable circumstances were that while the official religion in the colony of North Carolina was the Church of England, there had been few attempts to establish Anglican churches).

*Since Edward the Schoolmaster mentioned in his letter dated 25 April 1716 that he had been in Virginia for 18 years, this means that he came to Virginia ca. 1698, when he was about 20 years old, and also near the time when his step-mother married Edward Lloyd.

A full transcription of Edward Mashborne’s letter can be found on Steve Mashburn’s website under the 1600’s link.

The last record we have for Edward the Schoolmaster is the above 1716 request for employment, written in Nansemond County, VA, when he was about age 40. At the current time there is no paper trail from Edward the Schoolmaster to any proven descendant, but it is entirely possible that he was married and had a family, and based on naming patterns it appears that many, if not all, of the early Mashburns in North Carolina could have descended from Edward the Schoolmaster.

The Mashburn family has greatly benefitted from the comprehensive and scholarly research of Edna Grant Simpson, a descendant of Elisha Mashburn, Sr. of Burke County, NC, born 1765-70, and died 1845-50 in Georgia. Her self-published work, "The Mashburn Family of North Carolina and Georgia," written in the 1980’s, can be found in some major libraries, including the National DAR Library in Washington, DC., and on Steve Mashburn's website.

Edna G. Simpson’s book has a unique pagination system, with each person, then each generation, and then each chart beginning with a new numbering system. Following is a quote from:

"1^st Generation: Elisha Mashburn, Sr., page # 4 of 11 pages:"

"It is difficult if not impossible to run these families down from Nansemond County, VA, where they are first found, to Bertie County, NC (later Northhampton County) - to Onslow County - to Jones County - to the counties where they were living when the 1790 Federal Census was taken, and it is sincerely hoped that some descendant will be sufficiently interested to continue this search in that direction, and it is for this reason that this detailed report is being prepared at this time." It is hoped that Y-chromosome DNA will help solve this puzzle.

Please note that Hertford County, NC, was formed in 1759 from Bertie, Chowan and Northampton Counties.
Please note that Gates County, NC, was not formed until 1779, from Chowan, Hertford and Perquimans Counties.
Therefore, any person who is considered to be of Gates County before 1779 would necessarily at that time have resided in present-day Northampton, Chowan or Hertford Counties.
Please note that Craven County, NC, was formed in 1712 from Bath County, NC
Please note that Onslow County, NC, was formed in 1734 from Bath County, NC
Please note that Jones County, NC, was formed in 1778 from Craven County, NC

Following is a concise chronological summary of the Colonial Records of North Carolina that Edna Grant Simpson extracted, but the reader should not necessarily conflate the dates of these land records with a presumed chronological age (or generation) of the men mentioned in these records. Mrs. Simpson’s extractions begin on the page numbered:

"1^st Generation1: Elisha Mashburn, Sr., page # 2 of 11 pages:" (Keep in mind that Edward the Schoolmaster was born in 1676-M. F. Souder).*

2 January 1715: Edward Mashburn sold land on Whiteoak River. This land is located in present Jones County, NC, and the deed was recorded in Craven County, NC, which was formed in 1712, whereas Onslow County (where numerous Mashburns were later found) was not formed until 1734.

30 June 1719: Edward Mashburn of Upper Parish, Nansemond, VA, bought 300 acres on Chatawitskey Meadow in Bertie County, NC. "Since Nansemond County, VA, is on one side of Sarum and Bertie County on the other, and none of them very far from each other, it is possible that Edward is the . . . Mr. Mashburn referred to in the above letter. This is particularly true since Edward Mashburn served as Court Clerk in Bertie County and held other offices which he could not have done if he were illiterate." - Edna Grant Simpson.

7 September 1725: Mathew Mashborne of Nansemond County, VA, bought 225 acres on Urah (or Yourah) Swamp in Bertie County, NC. Wit: Jethro Mashburn.

1731: Edward Mashburn served as a Justice of the Peace in Onslow County, NC (date needs to be reconciled with year Onslow County was formed—1734. M. F. Souder)

1734: Mathew Mashburn was a juryman in Onslow County, NC.

1735 through 1741: Edward Mashburn was granted a total of 2,762 acres, Onslow County, NC.

1741 through 1775: Daniel Mashburn was granted a total of 3,034 acres, Onslow County, NC.

On this page Edna Grant Simpson states that Edward Mashburn and Daniel Mashburn (immediately above) were men of note for many years in Onslow County, NC. Also in Onslow County were Jethro, Henry and Thomas Mashburn, who were brothers or sons of Edward and Daniel. She then speculates that Edward and Daniel came from England together as George II was on the throne when they received their first grants and he was " giving them to loyal subjects only. "

10 August 1744: Daniel Mashburn, "brother of Mathew," acted as attorney for their deceased father, Edward Mashburn, who had patented land on 9 September on 9 September 1737 in Onslow County, NC.

21 November 1744: Daniel and Elizabeth Mashburn sold land in Onslow County, NC, previously patented to Edward Mashburn. Samuel Mashburn, to Wit.

1739: Mathew Mashburn was a juryman for Bertie and Edgecombe Counties, NC, (possible nephew of Mathew Mashburn who bought land in 1725 in Bertie County) . – Edna Grant Simpson

1754: Daniel and Samuel Mashburn served in the North Carolina Militia from Onslow County, NC. (Information from "Davies, Mashburns, Strouds" by unattributed author at an online post).

1750-1756: Matthew Mashburn had 225 acres on Potticasey Creek, 1750-1757, Quit Claim Rents, Northampton County, NC. "This may be the same Mathew Mashburn who was in Bertie County in 1725 and 1739." - Edna Grant Simpson

The Colonial land and county records presented by Edna Grant Simpson continue for two more pages, with many of the same given names repeated, indicating a relationship between the Northampton Mashburns and the Onslow County Mashburns, but this summary will stop here and the reader may continue with the examination of these two pages.

*The above Daniel MASHBORNE, mentioned in the Northampton County, NC, Will of Matthew Mashborne, is surely the same man as Daniel MARSHBURN (note the added ‘R’ in the surname) of Wake County, NC, , age 88, who in 1845 applied for a pension based on his Revolutionary War service. Although eligible for the pension a decade earlier, he did not know about his eligibility until one year ago, and "being able to support himself by his labor at this time was not led to inquire into his claim . . . but becoming unable to procure the necessities of life was led to make inquiry of his friends, and being informed by them . . . was led to file his declaration for a pension, etc." One of the men who was the witness for his military service was Samuel Crocker, age 85 and of Johnston County, NC, who said that his (Crocker’s) brother-in-law Ethelared Futrel had served with Daniel.

In 1849 Delpha MARSHURN, widow of Daniel Mashburn, applied for a widow’s pension. She stated that Daniel had died on 31 January 1848, that her maiden name was Delpha Warren, that they had married in 1792 or 1793 in Northampton County, NC, and that she "bore him ten children: Anna, George W., Susan, Sally, Samuel, Esther, William, Matthew, Henry H., and Samuel A. MARSHBURN." She received a pension of $20 per annum. Note two sons named Samuel. Perhaps the first Samuel died and the second one was named for him, Delpha erred in recalling the names of her ten children, or the Wake County scribe, Benjamin Mariott, JP, accidentally omitted the name of one child and subsequently repeated Samuel .

Although it is far from conclusive proof, a working hypothesis is that due to the ages and very close geographical proximity of Edward the Schoolmaster to Matthew Mashborn(e) of Northampton County, NC, who wrote his will in 1760, these men were father and son, respectively. It is further proposed that the Matthew Mashburn and William Mashburn who were enumerated in 1790 in Hertford County, NC, (in between Northumberland and Gates Counties) may have been the sons who were listed as administrators in Matthew Mashborne’s Will. Further, the eight named sons in the Northampton County, NC, Will of Matthew Mashborne (along with any additional sons born to Edward the Schoolmaster) could easily account for ALL the 16 households listed on the 1790 census. In fact, when looking at the entire 1790 US Census map for persons with the any spelling of the Mashburn surname, it is immediately obvious that there were very few persons named Mashburn, and that they all lived in North Carolina!

1790 US Census:

Hertford County:
Charitey Mashborn (female)
Matthew Mashborn
William Mashborn

Duplin County, NC:
Christopher Mashbourn

Onslow County, NC:
James Mashbourn
Joseph Mashbourn
Mary Mashbourn (female)

Chatham County, NC
Matthew Mashburn

Orange County, NC:
Elisha Mashburn, [Sr.]   (later of Burke County, NC)
James Mashburn
Josh Mashburn

Burke County, NC:
David Mashburn, (Sr.)
David Mashburn, (Jr.)
Drury Mashburn
Matthew Mashburn + Susannah Stroud

Moore County, NC:
Samuel Mashburn

Ibid: 1^st Generation, Elisha Mashburn, Sr., page # 4 of 11:

Edna Grant Simpson mentions that "Sometime between 1790 and 1800, several members of the Mashburn family removed from Orange County, NC, and settled in Burke County, where they were found when the 1800 Federal Census was taken . . . Subsequently many counties were carved out of the original Burke County. The Mashburns lived in the section of Burke from which McDowell County was formed in 1842."

Following is a brief history of the family represented in the Y-chromosome chart at the very top of this DNA study:

Generation 1: Participant # 664954: Matthew Mashburn of this study was born ca. 1758 in North Carolina, and is first found in 1790 when he and his wife Susannah Stroud and their young son were enumerated in Burke County, NC. They lived very near Susannah’s father, Peter Stroud, Sr. Since the Strouds had recently immigrated to Burke County from Orange County, NC, it is possible that Matthew and Susannah were married in Orange County, and that Matthew Mashburn was previously associated with the Mashburns of Orange County.

The 1790 Census in Burke County, NC, enumerated the following families in this order:

Matthew Mashburn + Susannah Stroud - Males: 1 < 16; 1 > 16; Females: 1
Isaiah Bradshaw
Peter Stroud
Peter Stroud, Jr.
Jesse Stroud
David Mashburn
Drury Mashburn

While the Matthew Mashburn (represented above by Kit # 664954) was living in Burke County, NC, in 1790, there were also men named Matthew Mashburn living in Chatham County, NC, and Hertford County, NC. By 1800 there were four men in North Carolina named Matthew Mashburn! The following information was reported in "The Burke (County) Journal," February 1995, page 8:

"May the 17 1800. The under named jurors Met and after being Duely Sworn to Revue the Rode (road) agreeable to order of the Corte from Joseph Riches to the Cross Rods (illegible)laid off and Markerd as the Rode has Run for sevrl years only at cletis? (actually Titus) atwaters as R____ Round his/this? plantation given under our hands & seals the day above written:

William Green		Jacob Cordy
Thos Green		peter Stroud
James Hicks		R Woody [Note: the
William Bright		April 1810 P&Qs shows
John Mitchel		Robert.]"*
Joseph richey
Stanley
Mathew Mashburn

*This is Robert Raburn Woody – M. F. Souder

"Note on the reverse side of the (above) page is the following:
We Recomend Joseph Richey as our Seeor (surveyor?) from Ch___ys *to Mathew Mashburns and James Hix from Mathew "Mosburns" to the Cross Rods.
Witness: H. Raburn, Shff."
*Probably Charles Stanley’s – M. F. Souder

Burke County, NC, census records show that Matthew and Susannah Mashburn were the parents of eleven children: four sons and seven daughters. Four children were mentioned in the Will of Matthew Mashburn: James, Thomas, Raburn and Lois Mashburn, the latter three being minors. Margaret Mashburn who married Moses Pendergrass* and Elizabeth Mashburn John Davis and Abel Harris were later proven daughters. Possibilities for other children are Matthew Mashburn, (Jr.), born 1800 who married Catherine Raburn, and Rebecca Mashburn, born 19 January 1804, who married James Gibbs in 1823 in Burke County, NC. Rebecca's mitochondrial DNA matches that of Margaret Mashburn Pendergraft and Lois Mashburn Hall. If these latter two children are correct, this would leave only two undientified daughters.

*The Pendergrass surname evolved to Pendergraft before 1850.

Matthew Mashburn wrote his Will in 1826 and died soon afterward. (His wife Susannah Stroud survived for at least another 24 years).

State of North Carolina
Burke County
Know all men by these presents that I Matthew Mashburn of the said state and county being in the use of my proper senses in full and sound and composed mind do Will and direct that after my death my property to be disposed of in the following way and manner that is to say to my beloved wife Susana the full use and possession during her life of that part of the land that I shall hereafter describe and Will to my son Raeburn Mashburn also one negro boy named Arthur* with all the stock of horses cattle hogs and sheep Also all of the household furniture farming tools and all other property I possess except that part of my land which falls to my son Thomas Mashburn as shall be hereafter described provided nevertheless that if the said Thomas Mashburn or Raburn Mashburn or my daughter Lois Mashburn when they come to age to lawfully to act for themselves shall demand it Then my above named wife is to give out of the stock and furniture each received from me of any moveable property I do also will and direct that all my land being part of five tracts containing three hundred and twenty eight acres be divided by a line running east and west as to be equal in value and that my son Thomas Mashburn shall have the south side and that my son Raburn Mashburn have the north side including the buildings but not the possession of the above named lands during his mothers lifetime I do further Will and direct that all of the above named property the land excepted with increase or decrease be at the death of my wife equally divided amongst all my children or their heirs by sale of the property or otherwise provided that if any of the above named three children shall not have received the above named portion to make them equal with what the others have received Then their part to make them equal be given and the remainder to be divided equally between them and the other children And I do hereby declare the above written to be my last will and testament And I do hereby nominate and appoint my sons James Mashburn and Thomas Mashburn to execute and put in force this my last will and testament In witness of which I have hereunto caused my name to be signed and affixed my mark and seal this 26th day of March one thousand eight hundred and twenty six.
attest Joseph Neal
Matthew (his X mark) Mashburn seal
James Hicks
a true copy Test
J. Erwin Clerk.
*The one negro boy named Arthur was the slave given in the 1821 Will of Peter Stroud, Sr., to his daughter Susannah, wife of the above Matthew Mashburn.

The above document was passed down among the descendants of son Thomas Mashburn of Macon County, NC. A photocopy was made by Robert Wilson Bishop, sent to Mrs. Ardath Tolson Stedman and transcribed by John Stedman, both descendants of Matthew and Susannah's daughter Elizabeth Mashburn who married John Davis and Abel Harris and lived primarily in Buncombe County, NC.

Generation 2: Thomas Mashburn was born ca. 1806 in Burke County, NC. He married Letitia "Letty" before 1830, and by 1840 they were living in Macon County (which had been formed in 1828 from Haywood County, NC). The 1850 census shows Thomas and Letta farming in Macon County, Tennessee Valley, with six children. They owned their home, valued at $600. Thomas and all their children had been born in Burke County, while Letta was born in Rutherford County. In 1860 Thomas, age 55, and Letty, age 48, were enumerated in Cowee Township, Macon County, NC, with five children. They owned real estate valued at $1,200, and personal property valued at $1,686 (which may have been slaves).

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Thomas, age 65 and a farmer, and Letty, age 58, were enumerated in Cowee, Macon County, with no real estate or personal property. They had three children and one daughter-in-law in the home. In 1880 Thomas, age 75, and Lettitia, age 67, were living in the home of their married son, Matthew James and Elizabeth Wilson Mashburn. Thomas and Letta were the parents of eight known children: Olive Lucinda, William Powell, Matthew James, Margaret Ann, John Gilbert, Thomas W., James Alfred (aka Alfred James) and Lettie Carlene "Callie" Mashburn. Thomas Mashburn died on 10 July 1880, just after the 1880 census was taken. He is buried in the Union Hill Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery at Fairview, Macon County, NC, with his wife Letta. She has been attributed as a Powell, probably based on the middle name of their firstborn son, but that is almost certainly incorrect.

Generation 3: William Powell Mashburn was born in 1834 Burke County, NC, and married Jane Verlinda Corbin in 1759 in Macon County, NC. On 8 July 1862 William P. Mashburn enlisted as a farrier in Company C of the North Carolina 7^th Cavalry Battalion of the Confederate Army. He was transferred to another Company on 3 August 1863. In 1870 W. P. Mashburn, age 35, and wife Jane V., age 30, were farming in Ellijay Township, Macon County, and were the parents of five children. They owned property valued at $400, and personal property valued at $100. In 1880 Powell Mashburn, age 46, and wife Jane, age 40, were still farming in Ellijay, Macon County. They were the parents of nine children.

By 1900 William P. Mashburn, age 66, and wife Jane B., age 60, had moved to Upper Young Cane District in Union County, GA. She had been the mother of ten children, with nine living. Three of their children were living in the home. In 1910 Powell Mashburn, age 75, and wife Jane, age 60, were still living in Upper Young Cane District, in Union County, TA. They had been married for 51 years, and Jane had been the mother of ten children with six living. Also in their home was their son, Melvin, age 39. William P. Mashburn died at age 74, on 9 August 1918 in Union County, GA.

Although not the focus of this study, Participant 664954 is an autosomal DNA match with three Mashburn descendants who lived in Barry County, MO. These matches are with:

1. A descendant of Margaret Mashburn and Moses Pendergraft through their son Wesley Powell Pendergraft (1828-1893) and his second wife Susan N. McDaniel. (55 shared centiMorgans with the longest block being 28 cM).

2. A descendant of Margaret Mashburn and Moses Pendergraft through their son Wesley Powell Pendergraft (1828-1893) and his first wife Ellen Rose. (41 shared cM with the longest block being 16 cM).

3. A descendant of Lois Mashburn (1839-1928) and her husband John P. Hall through their daughter Delpha Arminda Hall and her husband Harvey J. Laughlin (32 shared cM, with the longest block being 9 cM).

Before mitochondrial DNA testing was available a diligent search was undertaken for possible parents of Margaret Mashburn, born 1797. Since she should have been enumerated with her family on the 1800 census in Burke County, NC, an examination of that census was indicated. There were five Mashburn men who had the following number of daughters under the age of ten: Matthew (3), David (4), William (1), Drury (2), and Levi (1).

William Mashburn's daughter born in this age bracket was proven to be Lucinda, who md. John Wiggins, later of Madison County, AR. Drury Mashburn's estate was in litigation in 1838 in Burke County, with proceedings which listed 11 children, and Margaret was not among them. This easily eliminated two of the five men. Mashburn researchers believe that Levi was in Monroe County, TN, by 1810, and if so, he can also be eliminated as a prospective father of Margaret.

In the 1810 census, Matthew Mashburn had one daughter in the correct age bracket, and David Mashburn had two such daughters. No records have been located which list the names of the ten children born to David Mashburn by 1810, and I cannot account for his two daughters in the correct age bracket. After mitochondrial DNA became available, the placement of Margaret as the sister of Lois Mashburn (who was mentioned in the Will of Matthew Mashburn), was subsequently affirmed by testing of maternal descendants of Margaret and Lois.

Moses and Margaret Mashburn Pendergrass were enumerated twice on the 1820 census. In one enumeration they lived between Mary Morrison and Willis Wiggins, and not far from William Mashburn. In the other enumeration, they lived between Rueben Kelly and Moses’ brother, Jesse Pendergrass, not far from David Mashburn.

An obvious connection has not been found between the any Mashburn families of North Carolina to those who later lived near Margaret Pendergrass and Lois Hall in Barry County, MO, and Benton County, AR. However, a summary of these lineages may be helpful to future researchers:
- - - - - - - -
There were two Mashburn men who lived near Margaret Mashburn Pendergraft and Lois Mashburn Hall in or near Barry County, MO. The first is James Mashburn and wife, enumerated on the 1840 Barry County census (both age 20-30, and childless). They were listed between Martha Parker and William Howard. Living four households away was the Abram Hamilton family. By 1850, James Mashburn was no longer enumerated in Missouri or Arkansas. The reason Abram Hamilton’s history is mentioned is that on the 1850 Barry County, MO, census, Abraham Hamilton lived only two households from Lois and John P. Hall and only six households from Margaret and Moses Pendergraft. This suggests that young James Mashburn and wife lived in exactly the same small community as did Lois and Margaret Mashburn. (By 1860, Abraham Hamilton and family had moved to Yuma County, CA. The California death certificate for his youngest son, Enoch Carl Hamilton, said that his mother’s maiden name was Ellen Wilson).
- - - - - - - -
The other Mashburn man who lived near sisters Margaret and Lois Mashburn was Alfred Mashburn who married Nancy Jane Rose on 10 October 1861, allegedly in McDonald County, MO. Alfred enlisted in 1861 in the 15th Regiment of NW Arkansas Infantry of the Confederate Army, and was killed in 1862. Nancy Jane Rose was born 6 June 1846, and was a niece of Ellen Rose who married Wesley Powell Pendergraft. This Alfred Mashburn is probably the same person who was enumerated in the household of John and Rachel Mashburn on the 1850 census in Cherokee County, NC, as Alfred Mashburn, age 11 ( b. ca. 1839).

John and Rachel Mashburn were enumerated (without Alfred or their other older children) on the 1860 Benton County, AR, census (surname indexed by Ancestory.com as MOSHLMER). A man listed as Alfred MESHBERN was enumerated as a laborer, age 20 b. NC, (thus b. 1840) on the 1860 Throckmorton County, TX, census, in the household of William B. and Mary E. Self. This Alfred’s age and birthplace match Alfred, son of John and Rachel. John and Rachel were enumerated again in 1870 in Benton County, AR (as WASHBURN).

Alfred’s widow, Nancy Jane Rose Mashburn, married 2^nd James N. Ethridge on 22 January 1868 in McDonald County, MO, and they were enumerated on the 1870 Benton County, AR, census (indexed as ELLRIDGE), in the same small community in Benton County, AR, as John and Rachel Mashburn. On the 1880 Benton County, AR, census, the widowed Rachel Mashburn, age 64, lived with her son and daughter-in-law, John Ervan and Mary Ellen Mashburn, while Daniel Cox lived on one side of them and Joseph C. Cox lived on the other side.

John and Rachel Mashburn are both are buried in the Roller Cemetery in Benton County, AR. John and Rachel’s youngest daughter, Rachel Malinda Mashburn, married William Thomas Tuck. Rachel Malinda Tuck died in Oklahoma in 1944 at age 88, and it would be beneficial to order a death certificate to learn the maiden name of her mother, Rachel, wife of John Mashburn. This Mashburn family is surely closely related to Margaret and Lois Mashburn.
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Another person of interest is Vashti Cox, allegedly born 10 April 1810 in Onslow County, NC, and allegedly the daughter of Eli A. Cox (1786-1860), and his wife Sarah Brown (1773-1832), as posted on Ancestry by betty3739. Vashti married Moses James Mashburn in 1828 in Hardeman County, TN. After his death she married Lewis Mashburn in 1839 Hardeman County, TN. Moses James Mashburn and Vashti Cox allegedly named their firstborn son "Alfred Mashburn," born 1829 and died in 1870 in Hardeman County, TN. Vashti allegedly died March 1875 in Barry County, MO, as reported on an Ancestry.com Tree by Randal Mashburn. *Note the mention of Daniel Cox and Joseph C. Cox immediately above. And yet another man named Albert Mashburn!
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Matthew A. Mashburn (born October 1843 in TN) son of Matthew Mashburn (born 1804 NC) and Ellen (or Hulda) born ca. 1820 NC, applied for a Civil War pension on 8 May 1878 from Indian Territory. He had served in the 8^th Ind. Cavalry, and the 39^th Ind.* Infantry. This couple was enumerated in 1900 in Township 1, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. On 11 December 1902 his widow, Rebecca (Hemphill) Mashburn applied for a widow’s pension. (See Ancestry Pension Index).
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Deepest appreciation is extended to the many cousins and family historians who have contributed to the ongoing research of our family history. These include Steve Mashburn, Greg Mashburn, Charles R. "Buddy" Mashburn, Ian J. Hilder, Mrs. Guilford (Sarah "Edna" Grant) Simpson, Robert Wilson Bishop, Ardath Tolson Stedman, John Stedman, Joel Hall, Harley Rush, Harley Rose, Sandra Rowley, Larry Sanders, Eva Jane Hall, Burton "Wayne" Moore, Harold Mahan, Lynne Fletcher, Deanna Reynolds, Vera Weston Draper, Mary Pendergraft Southards, Rose Pendergraft, Lloyd Pendergraft, Jana Bishop Forbes, Curtis Pendergraft, Ralph Pendergraft, Mary Topping Odell, Marty Grant, Laura B. Pierson, Charmaine Reel Ernst, Diana Gale Matthiesen, Fern Pendergraft Vanpool, James Hopper, Virgie Viola Pendergraft, Joyce Weber, Barbara Bowers, Morris Lawson, Connie Mashburn, Tom Canfield, Yvonne Mashburn Schmidt, Georgia C. Gallagher, Joe Mashburn, and Dr. Charles T. Ingram, Jr., MD.