Re: William Southern, Sr. of Mecklenburg, Co. Va
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In reply to:
Re: William Southern
9/04/01
Dear Burley Ray,
I’m sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to you on my William Southern, Sr. information, but I wanted to be sure of what I thought I had found and that could only be done by rechecking my sources.
I’m sure that I have found that William Southern, Sr. of Mecklenburg County, Virginia is the father of my Robert Southern and your Jesse Southern.
While at Richmond I found a couple of references to my Robert that seemed to point to Mecklenburg County so I checked the Personal Tax record and was very pleased to see that they listed the head of the house and also the sons of the head of the house when they reached 16 years the age for being taxed. (The names of the slaves owned are also listed however William, Sr did not own slaves at that time. This Tax record runs from 1782 thru 1825 as I remember. I will give you the important information from these lists and not the number of horses and other property. William, Sr. is first listed as William Southern with one Poll in 1782. The same is true for the years through and to 1785. In 1785 William is listed along with his son John Southern. Since this is the first year John is listed it would put his birth year as 1769. In 1786 no Southern families are listed, but in 1787 William is listed with two Polls one for himself and " John his son abt. 16 and under 21. From 1787 until 1791 William is listed with one poll, John evidently living and working in another household. In 1791 William is listed with two polls one for himself and one for "Robert, his son age 16." From the date of the list this means that Robert was born between the years of 9 Aril to 9 Apr. 1775. In 1792 William Southern is listed with two Polls one for himself, and one for “William Southern, his son age 16” This would mean that William was born 1776. In 1793 William, Sr. is listed by himself. In 1794 He is listed with two polls one for himself and one for “his son William”. In 1795 William is listed with three Polls, one for himself and one for "William Southern, his son"; "Buckner Southern his son"; And Robert Southern. In 1796 William Southern, Sr. is listed with three Polls, one for himself; one for Buckner Southern, and one for Jesse Southern his son. John Southern is now over 21 and listed by himself with one Poll. In 1797 John Southern and William Southern are both listed, William, Sr has one additional Poll, “ his son Jesse age 16". William is listed by himself the following year. The next year William, Sr. is listed as all being 21 or over so they are listed with one poll each. John, William, Sr, Buckner Southern, and William Southern, Jr. In 1800 the family is listed as William Southern, Sr, John Southern, Buckner Southern, William Southern, Jr. and Robert Southern.
This is the last year that Robert shows up, Keep in mind that this is actually a tax for the past year 1799 which fits with his going to Tennessee, and being married in 1800 to Nancy Neal.
As for the Neal/Neil family—There are many Neals listed in the County along and near the Southerns. In fact William Southern and William Neal appear near each other in the 1782 tax list. I had hoped to find Peter Neal, father of Nancy listed in these Lists but did not find him or any trace of a Peter Neal. From the looks of the Tax Lists I believe that William Sr. and Jr. may have left the county at the same time, I also believe that John left the county in 1802, and William, Jr. left about 1814. Buckner never shows up after 1796. And Jesse must have moved at the same time that William, Sr. moved.
If you have it would you mind giving me the e-mail or address of Toni Richard Turk I would like to ask a question concerning the deed information in the sources.
Please let me know if you see any error of have a different opinion as to this record.
As I now have the family of William Southern, Senior is as follows:
John Southern b.1771
Robert Southern b.1775
William Southern, Jr. b. 1778
Buckner Southern b. 1779
Jesse Southern b. 1781
From the age spacing of the children I’m sure that there are more children but at this time I do not know who they are. I did look for Marriage Records for these men and for any Southern Woman but did not find any. I thought that this family might have started in Lunenburg County, Virginia but did not find even one record of them there.
Jack Barron-Topeka, KS
More Replies:
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Re: William Southern, Sr. of Mecklenburg, Co. Va
Janet Wallace 10/20/02