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Hello Cousins and fellow Westers.
Here is the information I have on the Wester Family. Please let me know is you have any information that collaborates or refutes this information.
The name William Westeray (also spelled Vester, Westry, and Westrey) occurs in the very early records of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. He was married to Elizabeth Marshall (no dates).
William signed a document in 1647 for the purchase of fifteen acres of land for the transportation of fifteen people to the colony. The first settlers came to Virginia in 1606, but the earliest date that a private citizen could own land was 1619. By 1650 the population of Virginia was 20,000.
William's will was dated and proven 19 August 1664.
William and Elizabeth Westeray had two sons, John and William (no birth dates). John's name is found as witness to the will of Richard Warrell on 12 March 1715, and to the will of John Fulgam on 16 December 1728. This name Fulgam (also spelled Fulgum and Fulghum) is of interest because it was used as a given name for boys in later generations. This John had sons William and John, Jr. (no birth dates).
John Westray, Jr.'s will was dated 23 December 1755, and proven in 1756. The will mentions a wife, Ann, and children John, Edmund, Benjamin, Martha, Mary, and Ann ( m. to "Pierce"). I have no information on the brother William.
Edmund Westray lived all his life in Isle of Wight County, Virginia and witnessed many documents of record but died without a will. Two of his children were provided with guardians by the courts in 1765. These children were Mary and Fulgam (spelled "Fulgrum" in his son Samuel's Bible record). I don't have any information on Mary but I do on Fulgam.
Fulgam Wester (note the change in spelling) was born in Isle of Wight County, Virginia between 1755 and 1757. He moved to Nash County, North Carolina where he bought land 19 January 1778. This transaction was witnessed by Arthur Wester, also form Isle of Wight County. Other members of the Wester family of Virginia were settling in North Carolina about this time. He sold this property and bought land in Edgecombe County, North Carolina on 2 August 1786, and sold it 29 September 1795. He bought land in Washington County, Tennessee, in 1797, and sold it in 1803. He died in 1814, in Christian County, Kentucky. His will was dated 7 December 1811, and proven 2 May 1814. I have a transcript of the will.
Fulgam served in the Revolutionary War under Colonel Thomas Hunter in North Carolina units. His claim for pay was granted 8 February 1788, voucher number 8424(?).
Fulgam was married twice. His first wife was Edith Nolly (probably daughter of Needham Nolly, of Isle of Wight Co., VA). Edith was born around 1750 and died in Washington County, TN, in 1801. Edith and Fulgam's children were John, Elias, Daniel, Samuel, Angelina, Elizabeth, and William. After Edith died Fulgam married Elisabeth Skinner. She died in 1845 at 77 years of age.
John Wester was born in North Carolina about 1782 and died in 1846. He lived in Jefferson County, TN, in 1803, and served as Constable in December, 1828. He was still living in Jefferson County when the census was taken in 1830. He married Rhoda (no last name), who was a member of the Old Bent Creek Baptist Church in 1811. Their children were William, Elias, John Fulgam, Pleasant, Amos, and two daughters.
Elias was born in 1784 and died in 1814 in Christian Co., Kentucky.
Danial Wester was born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, December 23, 1786, and died in Roane County, Tennessee, 2 August 1857. He moved to Washington County, Tennessee, with his father in 1797. He volunteered for the Militia in Shelby County, Tennessee, to fight the Spanish and Indians at Natchez, Mississippi. He served as a sergeant in the War of 1812 under Col. Uriah Allison. Later was Major of Militia in Roane County, Tennessee. He was a Methodist preacher in later life. He was married 1 May 1804, to Elizabeth Loyd, daughter of John Loyd and Rachel Van De Vere. She was born 5 December 1789 and died 7 November 1845. Their children were: John Wesley, William Marshall, Christopher Columbus, James A., and Elizabeth Jane. After the death of Elizabeth, Daniel Wester married a second time. He married Mary A. Breedlove on 2 February 1851. They had three children: Margaret Louise, Francis Asbury, and Charles William.
I do not have any information on Fulgam's children Samuel (he may have died as an infant because in a letter about the family, my great-grandfather, James Madison Fulgam Wester, mentions the other brothers of his father but not Samuel) , Angelina, or Elizabeth.
Fulgam's youngest son, William Wester, was born in Washington County, Tennessee, on 1 February 1801 and died at Wills Point, Texas, 18 August 1880. He married Lucinda (Lucy) Simms (daughter of James and Jane Simms) on 27 March 1826. She was born 3 January 1809, and died 30 September 1889 at Wills Point, Texas. William is mentioned in his father's will. He was a farmer all his life, a member of the Christian Church and a Democrat. While he was raising his family he lived on the state line between Kentucky and Tennessee, partly in Graves County, Kentucky and partly in Weakley County, Tennessee, near Fulton Kentucky. About 1879 he and his wife moved from here to Texas and lived with his son Sam Houston Wester at Wills Point. William and Lucy had seven children: Melvinia Amanda, Pauline Jane, Sarah Ann, James Madison Fulgam, Mary Jennina, and Samuel (Sam) Houston Wester.
I have information on Melvina Amanda, Pauline Jane, Sarah Ann, Mary Jennina, and Samuel Houston if anyone is interested in it.
James Madison Fulgam Wester was my great-grandfather. He was born in Graves County, Kentucky, 18 November 1837, and died at Sulphur Springs, Texas, 2 January 1917. He married Martha Louise Bostick (daughter of Armsted Bostick and Elizabeth Beadles) 18 November 1858. In 1862 they moved to Texas and settled in Sulphur Springs, Texas, in Hopkins County. After he got his family moved and settled he went off to the Civil War. After he got back he was a piano dealer in Sulphur Springs for 28 years. James M.F. Wester and Martha Bostick had ten childred as follows: William Yancy Wester, born 6/20/1861 and died 4/6/1940 (married Dollie Yates); James Armstead Wester, born 4/3/1864, died 4/12/1866; Theophilus Wester, born 7/6/1866, died 1/7/1937 (married Nell Ward); Edna Earl Wester, born 3/26/1868, died 3/26/1936; Louis Barrett Wester, born 5/15/1871, died 7/17/1951 (married Mamie McGlathery, 1/11/1899); Cora Lennie Wester, born 10/20/1873, died 5/16/1964 (married A. C. Reynerson of Hope, Arkansas); Lucy Maud Wester, born 6/2/1876, died 6/30/1895; Elizabeth Mary Wester, born 6/4/1879, died 3/24/1961 (never married); Sam Houston Wester, born 2/12/1883, died 4/20/1975 (married Emma Lee Farrow 4/21/1910; Frank Bostick Wester, born 6/16/1886, died 8/13/1962.
Frank Bostick Wester was my grandfather. He married Carrie Conner in 1910. They lived in Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County, Texas all their lives. Their oldest of their five children to survive infant hood was my father, Francis Bostick Wester.
Frank Michael Wester 9/20/98
fmwester@aol.com
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