Re: Steele Family Bible
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In reply to:
Steele Family Bible
Doris Strickland Blythe 2/03/09
I think I figured out how you ended up with this bible. The explanation is a little long, but bear with me here, cause if my theory is right, the bible had to change hand at least four times and following the chain is a little complicated.
I started looking into your posting of this bible on another page because my GG Grandmother Margaret Lodesky Steele married into my Ferrell family and I was having little luck tracking her line. I was hoping there was a connection between this bible and my GG Grandmother since my Ferrell line lived in Mecklenburg Co. and married many of the family names you mentioned.I did discover there is a connection, but it is not directly linked. But once I got started, it became a like a puzzle I had to solve. So here is my theory on how you ended up with this bible.
It appears that there were at least two brothers Martin Steele and James Steele and possibly a third brother Robert.I am a descendant of the brother James Steel who was born before 1775 and died in the 1830s and Elizabeth Woodside, born about 1780 and died in the 1830s.They were married in 1802. They had a son Archibald Woodside Steele who is the father of Margeret Lodesky mentioned above.
Your bible would belong to the brother Martin Steele who was born somewhere around 1765 and died about 1817 who was married to Sarah Hunter in 1789.He would be the father of the first 11 birth entries in your bible (from 1790-1808) and their marriages listed below.His will states his children were John, James, Rebecca, Moses, David, Josiah, Jimmy(I am thinking this might be Janey), Martin, William, and Nancy Steel. There is also a Robert showing up in early deeds and marriages.This may be the additional child since only ten are listed in the will.
Unfortunately it appears that on top of him having a younger brother James and a son James, Martin may have also had a younger brother Robert and a son Robert making it difficult to keep them all straight in supporting documents.
It then looks like the bible then went to Martin's son James Steele. He was most likely born in the early 1790s and died abt 1833. According to your bible, it appears he had two marriages.His second marriage was to a woman named Elizabeth (not to be confused with Martin's brother James mentioned above who married Elizabeth Woodside).His children would be the final four births listed in your bible.
This is where it gets more confusing.Per court records in 1833 ad 1834, land was alotted to Jane, Sarah, Prudence, Robert R. and Elizabeth (who was the wife of an unknown son) as "lands of their father James Steel decd." So we know the names listed above are children of James.So the unknown name born in 1818 could either be Prudence or the unknown son, but that does not explain why one is not mentioned or who Rachel A is. I am assuming the bible changed hands before Jane b 1826 was entered into the bible.
OK and from here I am making some leaps and educated guesses. The hardest part was trying to determine where the bible went next and who the Elizabeth Steele with a date of 1846 in your bible could be related to. Since the bible tends to go to the eldest child and Robert did not marry until 1850, I assume the eldest child was the unknown son mentioned in court records who married Elizabeth and he received the bible next.Since I could find no more information on him or his children, I am thinking the mention of "Elizabeth Steel her Book May the 10, 1846" is the unknown son's wife and the date would be her death date.
That would mean when Elizabeth Steele passed, the bible then went to James' second born child, his daughter Prudence Steel.I am assuming this, because Prudence married David Winslow Barnett, born about 1815, so that could explain the connection to your Barnett family.Not knowing in what generation you received the bible or the age of your Grandmother, I stopped at the first Barnett Surname connection I found.I looked at census records for David Winslow Barnett. He was married to Prudence Steele and Mary Thomason.Hopefully you will recognize at least one of his children as an ancestor of your grandmother.
Here are the children of David Winslow Barnett by both wives:
(The ages are approximations based on census records)
Prudence Steele 1819 – 1856 married 1835
Children were:John W Barnette c1838, David M Barnette c1847, James T (or F) Barnette c1845 or 1843, Sarah Barnette c1846, Rachel c1849, Martha Prudence Barnette c1851, Robert Barnette c1852, and Isaac Barnette c1856 (name listed as SA in 1880 census).
Mary Thomason1830 - 1923 married 1859
Children were:Margaret C. Barnett c1861, F. Aphonzo Barnett c1863, E. Lee Barnett c1865, Mary L. Barnett c1867, and Lettie Barnett c1875.
Doris, since it did become a puzzle I had to solve, please let me know if my theory makes any sense to you.I also hope this can open up a larger discussion of the Steele family of Mecklenburg County to sort out all the different family members.All the documents can be quite confusing since the family seemed to use the same names over and over.
Amy K
More Replies:
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Re: Steele Family Bible
Doris Strickland Blythe 12/10/10
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Re: Steele Family Bible
Amy Kennedy 12/11/10
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Re: Steele Family Bible