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In reference to the Hamilton article about the forts and long hunters of southwest Virginia. Yes, there have been a lot of people doing research in this area, because it was so important to the history just before the Revolution and the settlement of KY. A lot has been put online. You can find Benjamin Nicholson militia records online at the Library of Virginia. One thing I’d caution people is this: One of the researchers read the old land suit that concerns John Duncan’s land at what later became the town of Dungannon, and the court records associated with this suit say that Benjamin Nicholson gave testimony from Clark Co, KY. All that is true, but then this led an author to assume that our Nicholsons moved from the Clinch River in VA to Clark Co., KY – this is not true but this has then been repeated on many websites. I have been to Clark Co KY and gone carefully through the records. Our family did have dealings in this county, but they did not live there, they lived in Jessamine Co after leaving VA.
Along these lines I have made trips to the counties of southwest VA and to the little town of Dungannon. I carefully studied all the land records and I have even trodden the lands around there in the hopes of finding the remains of an old fort or forts. I am very interested in what Hamilton proposed about the Nicholson, Duncan, Ritchie families. There is an old stone monument about the Stallard Family just down the road from the old Nicholson land. I have also gone through the Draper Manuscripts here at the WI State Archive, and old pensions, and there are a couple more references to the original forts there that Hamilton didn’t know about. Also, I have traced the Nicholson and Duncan land by going through the later land records. Hamilton didn’t realize that it was an Osborn (also spelled as Osman) who got Thomas’ land and that also bears on his argument about these old forts. I’d like to publish this info sometime. I am also interested in trying to put together a reunion of people from the KY branch who would like to meet at Dungannon in VA and then Jessamine County in KY, and possibly some other areas. This would not be for another year or so, but anyone interested, let me know.
In reference to what Chuck Perdue said about William (wife Mary). Many years ago we corresponded about the same topic and we both agreed with what you just said he said. He also agreed with me that William (wife Mary) was likely the same man as the William who was listed as a Rev War vet in Woodford Co in 1810, where his son Benjamin and wife Elizabeth (Shackleford) had also moved to.
I felt there was a lot to learn from Woodford Co and so I have made two trips to that county and also trips to the KY archives to go over all the records from this county with a fine tooth comb. We can put the family of Ben and Eliz Shackleford together. But there are others in Woodford Co including a John Nicholson who gets land there in 1810 and when he gets land in Woodford Co the deed says he is from Jessamine Co, which is where the three brothers from the Clinch River (Thomas, Benjamin, and Peter) were. (I can show that this is NOT the John (b.1790 wife Charlotte Connell) who was the son of Thomas.) This John getting land in Woodford Co in 1810 was 21 years old on the tax records of Jessamine Co by 1805, thus born c. 1784. I have following him through the Woodford and other county records. It gets complicated and there are several ways he may fit in. But this shows yet another connection between our Clinch River VA/Jessamine Co KY line and the Woodford Co Nicholsons.
In reference to the Culpeper Co Recruitment Class for the Rev War. Yes, there are two Nicholsons on the lists, John and William, each on different lists. I went through the names of the people on the lists and compared them to land records and I could see that they come from different geographic regions in the county. The John is listed with people who are (or later are) on land records over near the Hughes River. But William is on the list with people who are near where William (wife Mary) get land in 1779 on Cabin Branch. So I believe that the William in the Culpeper Classes is the William (wife Mary).
In reference to Thomas the Mariner. Many years ago I stated that I didn’t think that Thomas the Mariner remained in VA. I believed he only traveled there, and he likely never lived on his land, and the sale of the land by his widow and son was made (by letter) from England. Therefore, I wasn’t sure he was our ancestor. A lot of people believed he was our ancestor and so people got mad at me for saying this. I wanted to learn more, so I went through literally hundreds of records from England, estates, wills, Quaker records, etc. A good portion of these records were un-indexed and had to be read through line by line. This took me the better part of a year, but the records I found, together with the records that I had found in VA, showed that Thomas the Mariner did not live on his land in VA at all, but rather he only visited there, and did not have a son who stayed in VA. I did this research and shared it with others all before the DNA records of descendants were done and compared. Once these DNA results also showed that Thomas the Mariner was likely not the ancestors of the Spots/Orange/Culpeper Nicholson, then we had even more conclusive evidence.
In reference to Chuck saying that there was a George Nicholson in Frederick Co. Yes, there was and I have several records on this guy, including his estate, and his widow’s remarriage, etc. I have also tried to go through Frederick and Augusta Co records with a fine toothed comb, because of this and because the Hawksbill land was in these two counties as the boundaries changed. Along these lines: We know of the April 1763 Culpeper County minute book record that states a George Nicholson was a witness in a court case and it says he is from Frederick Co. Most interesting is that just a month later is another minute book entry that talks about a court case involving John Nicholson – could the two be the same case? At any rate, it shows a connection between Culpeper County and the George Nicohlson of Frederick County.
Also along these lines, I have found the following: During the 1770’s there was a James Nicholson in Botetourt Co back when this was a huge county, but by going over all the clues, I have found that the records show he first had land on the upper reaches of the James River and then lived a little further south in what later becomes Roanoke County – all in the 1770s. I have wondered if this could be the James Nicholson who then shows up in KY, leaving his will in 1801 in Lincoln County, as he is living next door in Botetourt County to people who end up in the same area in KY. The James Nicholson in Botetourt County, sometimes shows up as “Nicholas” but it is clearly the same man, and he is closely linked on records with a George Nicholas – so here you have the first name George, which you don’t see much in our line, so this Botetourt Nicholson might be linked with the George Nicholson of Frederick County – this would follow typical migration patterns.
You mention Jean McCord of Nebraska. Yes, we all owe a big thanks to her. She was the best researcher I have run across in my 30+ years of working on this line. I got started when I was about 14 years old, after a school project on family history. I interviewed my relatives and the following 4th of July some of them came up from down south and brought papers on our family. I caught the bug then and have never stopped. I descend from two of the Clinch River men, Thomas b.c.1745 and his brother Benjamin b.c.1750, because cousins married cousins. Just about every year for the last 15 years I have made trips to KS, IA, IN, KY, and VA to search for original records. And we owe a big thanks to you Nancy as well, you’ve done a lot on the VA side, and the work on the DNA has helped a lot.
-Julia
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