RABURN > STROUD > MASHBURN > PENDERGRAFT >
LAUGHLIN (K2b1a1a) |
RABURN > STOUD > MASHBURN > HALL > LAUGHLIN
(K2b1a1a) |
||||
Kit # 1966. Rebecca Raburn b. 1743 + Peter Stroud >
Susannah Stroud b. 1766 NC + Matthew Mashburn > Margaret Mashburn b. 1793
Burke Co, NC + Moses Pendergrass to Macon Co, NC, to Barry Co, MO, d 1870
McDonald Co, MO > Angeline Pendergraft b. 1839, d.1859 + Harvey Jasper
Laughlin 1855. |
HVR1
Haplogroup |
K2b1a1a |
Kit # 1971. Rebecca Raburn b. 1743 + Peter Stroud >
Susannah Stroud b. 1766 NC + Matthew Mashburn > Lois Mashburn b. 1808
Burke County, NC + John Paten Hall, Sr., to Macon Co, NC, to Barry Co, MO
> Delpha Arminda Hall
b. 1839 + widower Harvey Jasper Laughlin 1860. |
HVR1
Haplogroup |
K2b1a1a |
HVR1 Mutations |
16086C |
HVR1 Mutations |
16086C |
||
16222T |
16222T |
||||
16224C |
16224C |
||||
16270T |
16270T |
||||
16311C |
16311C |
||||
16519C |
16519C |
||||
HVR2
Mutations |
73G |
HVR2
Mutations |
73G |
||
146C |
146C |
||||
263G |
263G |
||||
315.1C |
315.1C |
RABURN
> STROUD > MASHBURN > PENDERGRAFT > LAUGHLIN
&
RABURN > STROUD > MASHBURN > HALL > LAUGHLIN
Copyright © December 2003, Revised 2007,
August 2017
Mary Fern Souder
Generation 1: Kesiah, parents unknown,
was born ca. 1726. She married Thomas
Rayburn and although the couple has been extensively researched, there is no
proof of the identity of Kesiah’s parents. However, there is abundant
information about the life her husband, Thomas Raburn who was baptized on 16
September 1726 in Prince George County, VA, the son of John and Rebecca
Rayborn. (This surname has been spelled many different ways for the same person).
In 1728, Thomas’ father, John Raybourn of Prince George County, VA, was granted 340 acres
in Brunswick County, VA. In 1728 John Stroud of Prince George County,
VA, was granted 392 acres adjoining "Raybourns’s
land in Brunswick County, VA." The Raburn name has been spelled
multiple ways.
Thomas and Kesiah
Raburn were married by 1743, and between 1753 and 1756 Thomas acquired tracts
of land in Bladen County, NC, totaling 1,430 acres. At least one of these
tracts was later sold while he was a resident of Orange County, NC.
Between 1756 and 1761, deeds were re-recorded
due a fire that burned every record in Bladen County. Among the reconstructed
records was a deed of sale for 200 acres on Brown Marsh which Thomas Rabon had sold to Samuel Etheridge, and which Samuel and
Ann Etheridge were now selling to Iver McMillan.
By February 1765 Thomas and Rebecca Raborn were living in Orange County, NC, where Thomas was a
party in the case of Hugh Smith vs. Thomas Raborn.
Thomas was assessed damages for failure to appear in Court. In that year he was
also assessed damages for failure to appear in Court in the case of Henry
Morris vs. William Fly.
In March 1770 in St. Matthew’s Parish, Orange
County, NC, Thomas Raiburn gave 75 acres to his
daughter Mary Hailey (wife of Richard Hailey).
In February 1771 Thomas Raiborn
and sold 212 acres on Phil’s Creek to Robert Sellers. Thomas
(his R mark) Raiborn, (Kesiah
(her X mark) Raiborn.
In May 1771 John Raiborn
(son of Thomas and Kesiah Raiborn)
was on the Payroll of Capt. James Thraxton’s Company
in the North Carolina Militia in Orange County, NC.
In October 1771 Thomas Raiburn, planter, sold 150 acres on Morgan’s Creek on the
waters of New Hope, to Robert Sellers. Thomas (his R mark) Raiburn,
Kesiah (her X mark) Raiburn.
In August 1777 in Orange County, NC, the
following men served on a jury to lay out a road for the nearest way to meet a
road coming from the Chatham County courthouse at Hillsboro: John King, Thomas
Lloyd, Sr., John Hogan, Henry Morris, William Stroud, Thomas
Connelly, Jesse Nevil, John Morgan, William Patton, William McCalley,
William Hightower and Thomas Raiburn. Italics
are for surnames that were previously or subsequently associated with the
extended Raburn family. In November 1777 John Morgan, Thomas Connelly and Thomas
Raibourn were each fined 40 shillings for failing
to report for duty as jurors to lay out the road.
In February 1778 Thomas Raibourn, Thomas Raibourn, Jr.,
Benjamin Howell, Bird Hagwood (actually Hogwood),
Austin Hightour, George Hightour,
Jesse Nevil, William Worley, Jesse Hagwood (Hogwood)
John Prince, William Stroud, Peter Stroud, and Wm. Douglas were
authorized to open the Road from Hillsborough to James Williams Mill, with Mr.
Hightower as Overseer.
In the Fall of 1779,
John Raiburn (son of Thomas and Kesiah
Raburn), was killed while serving as a Patriot in the Revolutionary War. In
1832 William Morris, age 82, of Burke County, NC, and husband of Sarah
"Sally" Stroud, applied for a Revolutionary War pension based on his
own service. His application stated that he was in the same skirmish in South
Carolina at which his brother-in-law John Raiburn
was killed.
Due to the largess of the British Crown, is
not surprising that in 1782 in Burke County, NC, Thomas Rayborn was suspected
of loyalty to the Torries, and was "refused by
Colo. McDowell upon his request to be a Substitute in the Patriot army."
In September 1783 Thomas Reaborn
of Burke County sold 631½ acres in St. Thomas District to William Forsyth of
Orange County, NC.
In November 1783 William Green bought
100 acres on the right hand fork of Montfords Cove
Creek of the Broad River, beginning at Thomas Raburns
. . .
In October 1785 Thomas Rayburn sold
300 acres to Hodge Rayburn* in Burke County, NC, lying on both sides of
Humphries Creek. Proved by Ben Adams. *Hodge Rayburn
will come to play a significant role in the Estate of Peter Stroud, Sr.,
because Hodge Raburn was listed as the brother-in-law of Peter
Stroud, Sr., in the Estate papers.
August 1787 Thomas Reybourn,
Sr., sold 125 acres to William Green, proved by William Morris.
In March 1788 Stephen Loyd
entered 200 acres in Orange County on the waters of New Hope Creek including
improvements he purchased of Peter Smith, adjoining "another land of
Thomas Rayborn."
In July 1788 Thomas Rayburn made a
deed of gift of a negro boy named Sawney
to his daughter Sarah (wife of William Morris. Proved by Hodge Raburn.
In October 1788 the date of the last
transaction found for Thomas Rayburn who sold 75 acres to John Greer (or
Green) in Burke County, NC
In July 1799 Thomas B. Raibourne
(Jr.), born ca. 1750 and son of Thomas and Kesiah,
died in Montgomery County, TN. The witness to his will was Keziah Green.
The identity of this Keziah Green is unknown, but Thomas did have a niece named
Keziah Stroud Green, born 1762 and the wife of William Green. However,
it is not known if William and Keziah Stroud Green ever travelled to Tennessee.
In looking to find a woman named Kesiah who was the correct age and location to have been
the wife of Thomas Rayborn, the surname of Hodge was given attention.
There was a woman named Kesiah Curlin
Hodges* who was mentioned in the 1758 Will of her father, James
Hodges in Pasquotank County, NC. *Perhaps Kesiah’s middle name was
misspelled (or mis-transcribed) and was actually
Carlin or Caroline.
This James Hodges appears to have been the
owner or operator of a bridge, at Norfolk, VA, in partnership with his brother
Joseph Hodges who still lived there. James Hodges mentioned that he had
"not been in Virginia since December last." The Will directed James’
brothers, Joseph Hodges and Stephen Hodges to come to Pasquotank County and to
"collect all my Debts on the Great Bridge Books, and to Pay
all my Just Debts that I owe in Norfolk & theire Lawfull Commissions." He also directed his brother
Joseph to settle accounts at Sproules, Newtons & Atchison, keep one-half of the profit for
himself, and give the other one-half to his widow to be applied to the
education of his four minor children.
Among other bequests, he gave to his son
James Hodges (Jr.) "my lot of Land & Marsh on the west Side of the
road going to the Great Bridg(e)."
In addition to the above two brothers listed
in the Will of James Hodges, he mentioned his wife Miriam, and ten children:
Josiah, James*, Willis, Samuel, Portlock, Lamb, Kesiah Curlin, Molly, Frances,
and Miriam Hodges. Others mentioned were his father, Joseph Hodges, and his
son-in-law, Joseph Stokley.
*One James Hodge died in 1722 in
Chowan County, NC, the same county where Edward Mashburn, known as Edward the
Schoolmaster, lived. Although this James Hodge died in 1722, could he
have been related to the above James Hodges who left his will in 1753?
Could one of these branches have changed the spelling of their surname from
Hodges to Hodge (or vice versa)?
A copy of the Will of James Hodges, Sr., may
be found at one of these two sites:
http://ncgenweb.us/nc/pasquotank/james-hodges-1758-will/
http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/pasquotank/wills/hodges1537wl.txt
The known children of Thomas and Kesiah Raburn were:
Mary, born 1745, md. Richard Hailey
Thomas B., born c.a 1850, md.
Rebecca Adams
John, born ca. 1754, died 1779 in Revolutionary War
Hodge A., born ca. 1859, md. Amanda
Watkins, Arminta Martin, and perhaps others
Sarah "Sally," born 1757, md.
William "Buck" Morris
Nancy Adams, born ca. md. Howell Adams
It may be assumed that "Kizzi" Rayborn who was enumerated on the 1790 census
in the 4th Company in Burke County, NC, was the widow of Thomas
Rayborn. Those living near her, in this order, were:
Kizzi Raybon
Harrison Conizo?
Wm. Green (husband of Kesiah Stroud, dau. of Peter Stroud and Rebecca Raburn)
Elijah Green
Wilm Morris (husband of Sarah "Sally"
Raburn, d. o. Thomas and Kesiah Raburn)
Rd. Haily (husband of Mary Raburn, d.o. Thomas and Kesiah Raburn)
Thom Williams
Hodge Raybon (son of Thomas and Kesiah
Raburn)
In the same Company, but farther away was:
Robt Hodge, Sr. – allegedly born 1735 in
Pennsylvania, died 1808 Burke County, NC
In the 5th Company in Burke
County, NC, was:
Robert Hodge, Jr.
In the 6th Company in Burke
County, NC were, in this order, were:
Frank Hodge
George Hodge
Jno. Hall, Jr.
Joshua Hall, husband of Sarah Sellers, parents of John Paten Hall, (Sr.) who
would marry Lois Mashburn in 1829.
Although the 1790 census images are not
available online for Orange County, NC, the following Hodge households lived in
Orange County:
Joseph Hodge – Can he related the James Hodge who died in 1722 in
Chowan County, NC?
Margaret Hodge
Robert Hodge William Hodge
In the 1810 census in Burke County, in this
order, were:
David Mashburn
Robert Hodge–Same person who was in Orange County in 1790?
William Hodge-Same person who was on Orange County in 1790?
Elijah Green
If Kesiah,
wife of Thomas Raburn was indeed a Hodge, it is extremely likely that she was
related to the Hodge families in Orange and Burke Counties, NC, and linking her
as the daughter of James Hodges who died in 1758 in Pasquotank County,
NC, is tenuous.
An attempt to learn more about the origins of
the several Hodge families of Orange, Burke and Haywood Counties, NC, was not
immediately productive.
Generation 2: Rebecca Raburn was born by 1743 and married Peter
Stroud, Sr., by 1759. Although her full name had been handed down for decades,
there was no documentary evidence of her first name until Peter and Rebecca
Stroud sold land in 1789 in Burke County, NC. There was no documentary evidence
for her maiden name until an 1827 affidavit by Hodge Raburn (one of the
administrators of Peter Stroud’s Will) stated that Peter Stroud was his brother-in-law.
The Strouds were
among the first families to settle in Orange County, NC, where six adult Stroud
men (who had previously lived in Brunswick County, VA) were named on the 1755
Orange County Tax List. Peter Stroud was not among those listed, so family
historians assume he was probably born ca. 1735, and thus still a minor and
without property in 1755. However, Peter Stroud was an adult in 1761 when he
was the chain carrier in a survey for John King who had 640 acres surveyed.
(See "Orange County Records, Vol. I, Granville Proprietary Land Office:
Abstracts of Loose Papers", page 45, found by cousin Marty Grant. Marty
found later land records showing that Peter Stroud, Sr., lived on the border of
the Orange/Chatham county line near Terrell’s Mountain). The 1755 Census
of Orange County,NC, shows
the following men in this order:
Robt. Pindergrass
John Hogood & son James
Thomas Loyd & 2 Negroes
John Stroud & son Joshua
Sometime in the mid-1780’s Peter and
Rebecca moved from Orange County to Burke County, NC. On 11 December 1789 Peter
Stroud signed, and his wife Rebecca made her mark, on the abovementioned
deed of sale when they sold 800 acres in Burke County, NC, to Peter Willis of
Brunswick County, VA. (Information courtesy of Marty Grant).
In 1789 Rebecca Stroud also witnessed the Oath of Payment in the case of James
Wood vs. James Williams in Burke County.
Peter Stroud, Sr., continued to have children
for at least 42 years. His oldest child was Jesse R. Stroud, born 1759-60, and
his youngest known child was Nancy Stroud, born 1 June 1802, who married Thomas
S. Hardin. Peter Stroud’s last proven wife was named Elizabeth,
who appears to have been the mother of at least the youngest four of his 16
children.
Some Stroud researchers believed that Peter
Stroud, Sr., had a wife before Rebecca named Naomi Raburn, with
whom he had his first four children before her early death. However, this
theory lacks support in the names chosen by Peter’s first four children for
their own children (see below), and it is assumed that the name Naomi might
have been confused with Naoma Kelsey
who was married to Peter Stroud’s oldest son, Jesse R. Stroud, born ca.
1759-60.
The oldest four children of Peter Stroud,
Sr., were:
Jesse R. Stroud, born ca. 1759-60, married Naoma Kelsey, and they were the parents of Echols, Isaac,
Jesse (Jr.), John, Thomas, Nancy Jane, Rebecca, Polly, Sarah "Sally,
William, and Peter Stroud, (III).
Keziah Patton Stroud (surely named for her
maternal grandmother) was born in 1762 and married William Green, (Sr.).
Although Kesiah and William had nine children, only
seven were living in 1837 when Thomas made his Will: Thomas S., John Daniel,
William Mercer/Musser, Silas Manning, Sarah "Sally," Martha Peck, and
Elizabeth Green. (Another reputed daughter was Susannah). A copy of the 1837
Will of William Green, Sr., may be found here: William Green's Will
Peter Stroud, Jr., born ca. 1764, married
Margaret Curtis, and they had Sarah, Rebecca, Jane/Jean, William Austin, James
A., Mary "Polly," Susannah, Peter Grayson, John, and Robert Stroud.
Susannah Stroud was born in 1766 and married
Matthew Mashburn. Census records indicate that they had four sons and seven
daughters, but the Will of Matthew Mashburn mentioned only four children:
James, Thomas, Raburn and Lois Mashburn. However, two additional daughters were
later found to be Margaret who married Job Pendergrass, and Elizabeth who
married first John Davis and married second Abel Harris.*
*It should be mentioned that Abel Harris
was the bondsman for the marriage of David Mashburn who married Mary
"Polly" Woody on 19 January 1824 in Burke County, NC. At the time of
their wedding Mary Woody was age 30, and 5 ½ years older than David Mashburn.
Their known children were James B., Manoah "Noah," Thomas M., Allen,
Rebecca Mullinax and Sarah Mary Mashburn. Abel Harris
died in 1863 in Buncombe County, NC, and afterwards Elizabeth Mashburn Davis
Harris moved to Fannin County, GA.
It should be further mentioned that the
father of Mary "Polly" Woody was Robert Raburn Woody, born 1774 in
Rutherford County, NC, who allegedly married Nancy Rebecca Hardin. Robert
Raburn Woody died on 16 March 1852 in Fannin County, GA, and has a tombstone on
which the first names of his eleven children are engraved, the oldest of whom
was "Mary P."
It was long believed that the Will of Peter
Stroud, Sr., had been lost or burned in a courthouse fire. However, an
(undated) Bill of Complaint was filed in the Court of Equity in Haywood County,
NC, and among the items presented was the Will of Peter Stroud, Sr. There were also several affidavits both in support of and in
opposition to the Claimants’ charge of fraud.
The Complainants in the lawsuit were Peter’s
daughter, Peggy Stroud Harris Simmons and her husband Thomas Simmons. Peggy and
her husband alleged that her brother, William Stroud (now deceased), and Hodge
Raburn, one of the administrators of her father’s Will, had worked together and
defrauded her of her inheritance, "without her knowledge and while she was
living a distance away."
In 1827 Peggy Stroud’s brother, Peter Stroud,
Jr. (administrator for the Estate of their late brother, William Stroud)
testified that he "was present when William Stroud, deceased, and Hodge
Raburn had destroyed the Bill of Sale to the property Peggy was to
inherit" (which was a negro man named Charles). However, a lengthy
and detailed affidavit provided by Hodge Raburn, "brother-in-law of
Peter Stroud, Sr.," denied all these allegations and claimed that the
charges were completely fabricated.
Peter Stroud, Sr., had made two Wills: one in
1812, and another in 1821. His first Will immediately gave all of his
property to three sons and one son-in-law: Jesse Stroud, Peter Stroud,
Jr., William Stroud, and Matthew Mashburn. The condition was that Peter
Stroud, Sr., would get to enjoy all the benefits of living on his land until
his death, at which time these four individuals would then divide their
one-fourth of his estate with three of their siblings, with each of the 16 ultimately
receiving equal portions.
In 1821 Peter Stroud, Sr., revised his Will.
In this one he named 15 children* (plus his wife Elizabeth), and the
inheritance of each was specifically described. All 15 of his children were
mentioned by name, as were the husbands of some of his married daughters.
Affidavits in the Bill of Complaint (see link below) included testimony from
individuals living in Haywood County, NC, Burke County, NC, and Dickson County,
TN. *(Based on the number of children mentioned in Peter’s 1812 Will, it
appears that one of his children had died between 1812 and 1821.
Deep gratitude is extended to professional genealogist Candance Bungard who in 2017 alerted me to the existence of the Will of Peter Stroud, Sr., which helped to unravel this complicated family. The petitions and rebuttals filed in this case in Haywood County, NC, have been photocopied by Ancestry.com. (There was no document in this section of the photocopied papers that indicated how this case was settled). A transcription of the images related to the Estate of Peter Stroud, Sr., can found at: Peter Stroud Estate.
Marty Grant found the Court record where the
Will of Peter Stroud was proved in July 1827 in Burke County, by Thomas
Raburn and wife Naomi. At the time Marty found this information he did
not have access to the 1821 Will of Peter Stroud, Sr., which named his wife as
Elizabeth. assumed that Naomi must have been the widow
of Peter Stroud because Marty did not have access to Peter Stroud’s Will in
order to learn that at the time Peter Stroud, Sr., made his Will in 1821 his
wife was named Elizabeth. So, unless Elizabeth died shortly after Peter wrote
his Will in 1821, and Peter quickly remarried before his own death in 1823,
Naomi must have been the wife of this Thomas Raburn. The two
administrators of the Will of Peter Stroud, Sr., wrote in 1821 were Peter
Stroud, Jr. (who died in 1823), and Hodge Raburn. It is assumed that this
Thomas Raburn was the son of Hodge Raburn (the only surviving
administrator), and that for some reason Hodge himself was not available to do
it. This Thomas Raburn had two wives (Mary Stroud and Amanda Watkins) and about
16 or 17 children. Perhaps this Thomas Raburn had an intervening marriage to a
woman named Naomi.
Might the legend that Peter Stroud had a wife
named Naomi have sprung from this misattribution?
Generation 3: Susannah Stroud, daughter of Peter Stroud, Sr., and
his wife, Rebecca Raburn, was born in 1764 in Orange County, NC. Susannah was
still living in Orange County in 1781 when she was present at the marriage of
her sister Keziah Patton Stroud to William Green. It is assumed that Susannah's
future husband, Matthew Mashburn, was related to the Mashburns
who were enumerated in Orange County, NC.
It appears that Susannah and Matthew Mashburn
moved to Burke County, NC, with her parents shortly before 1789 because they
were enumerated there in 1790 with one young son. Among records found for the
family were:
The Burke (County) Journal, February 1995, page 8, contains the following
information:
"May the 17 Day 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
atwaters [?] (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
Marty Grant located the following document:
"January 1810, Burke County, NC: Ordered by the Court that the following
persons be a Jury to View and alter the road if expindent
(sic) from the corner of Peter Stroud, Jr. Field to the upper end of Peter
Stroud, Sr. Plantation on the road from Rutherford to the mouth of Buck
creak to wit, Thomas Green, William Green, William Green, Jr., John
Mitchell, John Keller, Peter Stroud, Jr., Peter Stroud, Sr., James
Patton, Joseph Richy, Mathew Mashburn, William
Carson, Robert Woody, James Armstrong, Joseph Wilson, Thomas Morrison, James Hix, William Mashburn and report thereof." On 14 April
the jury reported that it had "met and found a road past Peter Stroud’s
field." (The property is now in McDowell County, NC. –
Marty Grant).
Matthew Mashburn, husband of Susannah Stroud,
made his Will in 1826 and died shortly thereafter. He mentioned only four of
his children, James, Thomas, Raburn and Lois Mashburn, giving property to his
three minor children (Thomas, Raburn and Lois) in order to make them equal to
what the others had received. He then directed that the remainder be divided
equally between them and the "other children." (Susannah Stroud
Mashburn survived Matthew 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 to each of them so demanding as much
as the other children have 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 Mashburn (his X mark) seal
James Hicks
a true copy Test
J. Erwin Clerk
*"one negro boy named Arthur" was the slave given in the 1821 Will of
Peter Stroud, Sr., to his daughter and son-in-law Susannah and Matthew
Mashburn. – M. F. Souder
As mentioned above, daughters not listed in
the will of Matthew Mashburn were Margaret Mashburn who married Moses
Pendergraft, Elizabeth Mashburn who married John Davis and Abel Harris, and
probably Rebecca Mashburn who married James Gibbs. Some attribute Susannah and
Matthew’s fourth son as Matthew Mashburn, Jr., born ca. 1800, perhaps the same
Matthew Mashburn who married Catherine Raburn, daughter of Hodge Rayburn. If
these are correct, it would leave two unidentified daughters of Matthew and
Susannah Mashburn.
It was not until 2016 that information
provided by cousin Charmaine Reel Ernst and genealogist Candace Bundgard directed me to the 1832 Revolutionary War pension
application made by William Green of Haywood County, NC, his divorce
petition made the same year (after and 51 years of marriage to Keziah Patton
Stroud Green), and the Widow’s pension application made by Kessiah
Green in 1846 in Carroll County, GA.
William Green’s divorce application said that
he had "intermarried with Keziah Stroud" on 8 March 1781, and
they had raised nine children together. Keziah Stroud Green mounted a defense
and contested the divorce. She received broad support from her community, with
testimony from prominent citizens Thomas Lemmings and Ninian
Edmonston, whose testimony has been lost. It is not
known if the divorce was ever granted, although Kesiah
was not mentioned in the 1837 Will of William Green.
It has been theorized that the sequence of
William Green’s suit for application for a Revolutionary War pension, and his
application for a divorce only nine days later was intended to keep Keziah from
sharing in the benefit of his veteran’s pension. William Green died in 1837 in
Haywood County, NC, and left a Will naming six children.
When she was a very old woman Susannah Stroud
Mashburn gave two depositions in support of the date her sister, Keziah Stroud,
had married William Green, (Sr.), in Orange County, NC. According to
genealogist Candace Bundgard, both of Susannah Mashburn’s affidavits can be found in Fold3 on Ancestry.com,
among the Revolutionary War pension applications of William Green and Keziah
Stroud Green, and William Green’s divorce application:
Deposition # 1
"State of North Carolina
Buncombe County
Susannah (her X mark) Mashburn
attest Jno Burgin, JP"
*(Deceased)
It was not uncommon for applications sent to
Washington, DC, to languish with inactivity, causing the applicants to believe
that their information had never been received. The petitioners often sent
another application which eventually resulted in two almost identical petitions
being filed. This is what happened to Susannah Stroud Mashburn's
application, with her submitting essentially the same information three years
later. The second application does corroborate the details presented in the
first one:
Deposition # 2
"State of North Carolina
Buncombe County
Personally appeared
Before me John Burgin one of the sitting Justices of the peace in and for Said
County
Susannah Mashburn, who being Duly Sworn Deposeth and
Sayeth that She was well acquainted with Keziah Green that She was present when
She Keziah was married to William Green which Tok
place in the Year one thousand Seven hundred and Eighty one I think the ninth
day of January of that year. That Keziah Green was my Sister and was four years
older than my Self at that time or the time of her mariage
I was about fifteen Years old. I also Recollect that
the day My Sister and William Green was married there was Snow on the Ground. I
also Recollect that my Sisters oldest Son Thomas Green was Born on the twenty
fourth Day of October of that year which I distinctly Recollect. I am very
certain that was the year from the fact that I Know, at the time of the Mariage of My Sister I was about fifteen years old & at
this time I am about Eighty one years old. Sworn to and Subscribed this the
27th day of October 1847.
Susannah (her X mark) Mashburn
Jn a Burgin JP
Generation 4: Previous traditional research suggested that Margaret
Mashburn and Lois Mashburn (the only daughter mentioned in the Will of Matthew
Mashburn) were sisters. A perfect Full Mitochondrial DNA match between
maternal descendants of both women confirmed the hypothesis.
A brief summary of the lives of Margaret
Mashburn and Lois Mashburn follows:
Margaret Mashburn was born on 27 December
1793 in Burke County, NC, and married Moses Pendergrass* by 1815. Their
firstborn son was Alfred Burton Pendergraft, born 1816 in Burke County.
Margaret and Moses left North Carolina and moved to Barry County, MO, between
1835 and 1838. Her living grandchildren and great grandchildren living in and
around Barry and McDonald Counties, MO, provided her maiden name for a family
history and submitted it to Allen Pendergraft, who wrote the classic
"Pendergrass of Virginia and the Carolinas," 1976, privately
published. *(Many branches of the Pendergrass family gradually changed the
spelling of their surname to Pendergraft. By the time Moses Pendergrass died in
1859, he and all of his brothers had settled on the Pendergraft spelling).
A careful study of Margaret’s community in
Barry County, MO, revealed that a close neighbor, Lois Hall, was the same woman
as Lois Mashburn mentioned in the Will of her father, Matthew Mashburn. Lois
had married John Paten Hall on 11 October 1829 in Burke County, NC. The
marriage bond spelled her name as Loyes Mashburn.
The following report gives a summary of the
information gathered about the two girls, and leaves opportunities for further
research into the identity of their one unidentified brother and three unidentified
sisters who were enumerated in early Burke County, NC, census records, but not
mentioned by name in their father’s Will.
Although not mentioned in Matthew Mashburn’s Will, Elizabeth has also been identified as a
daughter of Susannah Mashburn because in 1850 Susannah Mashburn, age 86, was
living with her married daughter, Elizabeth Mashburn Davis Harris, in Buncombe
County, NC.
An error was introduced into this family’s
pedigree in the late-1990’s, when a Pendergraft who was not descended from Margaret
and Moses simply appropriated Burton as the maiden name of Margaret in
order to fill in the spaces of her pedigree chart. This flawed information was
presumably entered because Margaret Mashburn named her firstborn son Alfred
Burton Pendergraft. This database has been widely distributed on the Internet,
and the error incorporated into many databases. Moses Pendergraft died in 1859,
and Margaret was a widow for eleven years. She died in 1870, and both are
buried in the Roller Cemetery in McDonald County, MO.
Fortunately, the young Lois Mashburn
mentioned in the will of Matthew Mashburn left a paper trail. Although Lois was
14 1/2 years younger than Margaret, after her 1829 marriage to John P. Hall in
Burke County, NC, she and John seemed to be "following" Margaret and
Moses Pendergraft in their treks. A few years after Margaret and Moses had left
for Macon County, NC, Lois and John moved there. Margaret and Moses stayed in
Macon County for about a decade and then moved to Barry County, MO, arriving there
between 1835-1838. Lois and John stayed in Macon
County, NC, for about a decade, and then moved to Barry County, MO, between 1843-1845. By 1850, the Pendergrass and Hall homes
were only five households apart in Barry County, MO. The lives of Margaret and
Lois were then closely intertwined until their deaths. Lois’ husband, John
Paten Hall, was slain during the Civil War, on 19 February 1863 in the
mountains near Washburn, Barry County, MO. He is buried in the Old Dent
Cemetery in McDonald County, MO. On 29 July 1868 Lois married David Coughenour in Barry County, MO. Some accounts state that
after David Coughenour's death, Lois married M. E.
Easley. Her burial place is not known.
Margaret and Moses named their firstborn son,
born 1816, Alfred Burton Pendergraft. Lois and John Hall named their firstborn
son, born 1830, Alfred Milton Hall. A far better question than why did Margaret
and Moses choose Burton as the middle name of their first son is why did both Margaret Mashburn and Lois Mashburn name their firstborn
sons "Alfred?"
Research efforts have focused on attempting
to answer this question, but a satisfactory explanation has not been found. No
early records have been found for a beloved man named Alfred Raburn, Alfred
Stroud or Alfred Mashburn who was old enough to have been the ancestor or
neighbor of these Mashburn girls.
An analysis of the names chosen by the six
children of Matthew Mashburn and Susannah Stroud might be helpful:
James Mashburn, b. 1788, who married his
first cousin Rebecca Stroud, daughter of Peter Stroud, Jr. and Margaret Curtis,
chose: Sarah, Rebecca, Jane, William Austin, James A., Mary "Polly,"
Susannah, Peter Grayson , John and Robert Mashburn.
Margaret Mashburn, b. 27 November 1793, and
Moses Pendergraft chose: Alfred Burton , Obedience "Biddy,"
Thomas, Ann "Nancy," James V., Wesley Powell, William Morris,
Susannah, Martha Matilda, and Angeline Pendergraft.
Elizabeth Mashburn, b. 1795, and John Davis
chose: Matthew and William M. Davis. Elizabeth and Abel Harris chose
Emma Mildred, Margaret Elizabeth, John, James Wesley, Susan Selina, Ann
Elizabeth, Abel Franklin, Thomas Lenora, Meritt N.,
and Margaret Ann Harris.
Matthew Mashburn, Jr., b. ca. 1800,
(circumstantial) married his cousin, Catherine Raburn (daughter of Hodge), and named
their known children Alberter, Thomas W., Nira, and Caroline M. S. Mashburn
Thomas Mashburn, b. 1806, and wife Letitia
chose: Olive L., William Powell, Matthew J., Margaret A., John Gilbert, Thomas
W., James Alfred/Alfred J., and Letty Carline "Lettie"
Mashburn.
Rebecca (circumstantial) Mashburn, born 19
January 1804, married James Gibbs and they chose Matthew M., Sarah A., James
Wesley, Thomas Rubin (can this be Raburn), Rebecca Susannah, Lois
Elmira, William Fullwood, Nancy Elizabeth, Bernice
Elvira Clara, Martha Josephine, Joseph Manuela, and Harvey Jasper Gibbs.
Raburn Mashburn, b. 1810, and Mary Elvira
Gibbs chose: Rebecca J., Hannah M., Sophia E., Elizabeth M., Matthew W., and
Thomas B. Mashburn.
Lois Mashburn, born 1806, and John P. Hall
chose: Alfred Milton , Elizabeth Ann "Betsy," Elbert Fonzy, John Paten, Jr., Delpha Arminda, Jane Elmira, Lucas Jarrett, Margaret Marinda, George Marriott, Merit Clingman,
Sarah Louisa, and Lucretia Elizabeth "Eliza" Hall.
Note that four of the above children chose Alfred;
four chose Thomas; four chose Matthew; three chose Peter.None of these children chose Naomi.
It should be mentioned that the youngest
daughter of Peter Stroud, Sr., Nancy Stroud who married Thomas S. Hardin, named
her second born son Alfred Stroud Hardin, born 1828.
After noticing the similarity of naming
between the firstborn sons of Margaret and Lois Mashburn, as well as very
frequent use of Alfred among their extended kin, documents were found in
the courthouse in Morganton, Burke County, NC, regarding one Alfred M. Burton,
born 1785 and a prominent attorney in Granville County, NC. He married
Elizabeth Fullenweider and was the son of Col. Robert
Burton and wife Agatha Keeling Williams.
Alfred M. Burton has been well researched and
if there was a family relationship to the Mashburns,
it was not a close one. Sometimes people named their children for prominent
persons or much-admired folk heroes in their communities, and it is possible
that Alfred M. Burton handled a successful lawsuit for the Strouds
or Mashburns. (He was born in 1785,
Margaret Mashburn was born in 1793, and Lois/Louisa Mashburn was born in 1808).
This Alfred M. Burton was a prominent attorney in a case that lasted more
than 15 years:
"Burke Co, NC, Civil Actions about Land
(1779-1891)," pp. 40-42.
J MD Carson – Attorney for complainant / plaintiff
Alfred M. Burton– Attorney for defendant
1832–Rutherford County, NC - John Den (complainant / plaintiff) leased 560 A on
both side of the main Broad River near the Rutherford-Burke County line
1832–Richard Fen (defendant) "ejected by
force" John Den from the land & continues to hold possession
1833– John Den complained that Richard Fen
"in custody" (of land?) be prosecuted
1833-1846 – Affidavits and Counter-affidavits
were filed; several legal maneuverings ensued, including a petition from
Richard Fen that the case be dismissed
1837 – John Den’s attorney asked for the case
to be moved to another county because "strong prejudice existed in the
county against his client"
1837 Court case removed to Burke County, NC,
at plaintiff’s cost
Spring 1845 – "Burke County–now
McDowell County," NC, John Den complains of Richard Fen "in
custody." "Fen continues to occupy the land" . . .
This case continued and was not followed to
conclusion. It seems likely that Albert and Burton were popular names, and once
started rapidly spread among the extended Mashburn family.
Additional research concerning several early Mashburn families (including a younger Albert Mashburn born 1839) can be found the Mashburn Y-chromosome DNA Study here: Mashburn DNA Study.
A worldwide study of the Mashburn Y-chromosome is being managed by Greg Mashburn and Steve Mashburn, and can be found here: Mashburn Y-DNA Study.
Late breaking news!! As of May 2017, and 15 years after testing the
descendants of Margaret Mashburn Pendergraft and Lois Mashburn Hall, they had
one other recent and perfect Full Mitochondrial DNA match. Since this
report was going to be published, academic ethics required that this woman be
contacted in order to learn the identity of her earliest known maternal
ancestor. The woman immediately wrote back stating that her earliest known mtDNA ancestor was Rebecca Mashbourn,
born 19 January 1804 in Burke County, NC, who became the second wife of James
Gibbs on 14 April 1823 in Burke County, NC.
After intensive research all evidence
indicates that Rebecca Mashburn Gibbs was another daughter of Matthew Mashburn
and Susannah Stroud, and for comparison purposes she has been included as such
in the above commentary. Rebecca Mashbourn Gibbs died
at age 89 in Blount County, AL.
Deep appreciation for the tireless research
of genealogist Candace Bundgard, and cousins Harley
Rush, Burton "Wayne" Moore, Harold Mahan, Lynne Fletcher, Marty
Grant, Laura B. Pierson, Charmaine Reel Ernst, Joel Hall, Diana Gale Matthiesen, Joyce Weber, Barbara Bowers, Connie Mashburn,
Tom Canfield, Yvonne Mashburn Schmidt, Georgia C. Gallagher, Edna Grant
Simpson, Joe Mashburn, Dr. Charles T. Ingram, Jr., MD, Steve Mashburn, Greg
Mashburn, and Dorothy Elizabeth Moore Bernay, who
published "Rabon, Rabone,
Raybourn, Rayburn, Raburn Family in America,"
2015. A copy of her book may be obtained at Amazon or Barnes and Noble
websites.
The female Raburn descendants have a rare mtDNA signature. None like theirs had been seen in 2002
when the first sample was sent to the University of Arizona for analysis. The
sample was then sent to the University of Pennsylvania for further testing,
where the initial results were corroborated. The DNA results, the rarity of
their mtDNA signature, and the significant amount of
circumstantial evidence for the three women all support their sisterhood.
The only women to date whose results reflect
this rare mtDNA signature are descendants of
Susannah, Lois and Rebecca Mashburn who lived in Burke County, NC. Other than
these three women, there are the following Full mtDNA
matches:
HVR1 = 7
HVR2 = 3
Full mtDNA = 0
Last Updated on 5 August 2017
By Wallace W. Souder