I will try and go through the information on the previous page and point out the inconsistencies and errors where I have factual proof. I will refer to Mountain Kinsman Ride by Henry P. Scalf as “MKR” and Henry P. Scalf as “HPS”, Frederick Allen James’ stories as “FAJ”, and June Johnson’s Article for the Appalachian Express as “AE”
Question: When was Samuel James born and where did they live before moving to North Carolina?
Was is Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, or Virginia?
In MKR it states “Their grandfather Samuel was born in 1774 in Massachusetts, and was thus a year-old babe when the “embattled farmers” at Lexington opened the Revolutionary War. …. When Samuel James was very young, he went south, either in the company of his parents or other relatives.”
From AE “He had been born in Massachusetts in 1774, but when he was a year old, the “embittered farmers” at Lexington opened the Revolutionary War. His family decided to pack up and leave his mother’s beloved state and go to North Carolina. Members of his family had been soldiers in that war.”
From FAJ we learn that
“Samuel’s Father William died in 1805 in Virginia leaving his wife to raise the children. Samuel had already married Sarah Charles in 1798 and had moved to North Carolina.”
and “The seed was planted in 1711 when John and Elizabeth James and family arrived from the parish of Riddellyn, Pembrokeshire, South Wales, to Bucks County, PA. They settled in what was then Montgomery Twp. (now Montgomery County), Philadelphia County, PA.
The James family remained there until Samuel James born 1767, four generations later, in 1785, one year after the Revolutionary War, started the migration west. At 18 years old and with a new bride, he left for North Carolina.”
I suspect the Frederick James version comes from the genealogist who found a William, Samuel, and Isaac James living in Buck’s County, Pennsylvania about this time. This a prime example of starting with a conclusion and trying to make the facts fit.
So was Samuel James born in Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Massachusetts; was he born in 1774 or 1767; and did his family move to North Carolina from Virginia or Massachusetts?
Answer: Where was he born?
Prior to 2003 I hadn’t given a lot of thought to where Samuel was born and kind of took Frederick James’ version of Samuel being born in Pennsylvania and that he was Jesse James’ great uncle at face value. I really didn’t give it much thought. Then one day in 2003 Polly Schwickrath (a John James descendant) emailed me with a very basic question, “did I know that Abner James stated in the 1880 census that his father was born in Massachusetts?” That got me thinking. 1880 was the first year the census asked where someone’s parents were born. Since then I have created a document in an Excel spreadsheet that lists all Samuel James heirs – their ages, marriages, children, location, and where their Father was born. It is an ever evolving work in progress as I find out more information about the children.
In the 1880 and 1900 census records from Samuel’s children, none of them say Samuel was born in Virginia which is where William James and Mary Hines were married and lived. The two most popular choices from Samuel’s children were Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
In the 1880 Census the children I can find list the following as Samuel’s birth state:
Abner – Massachusetts
Sarah James McCoy – blank
Malinda James Roop – Pennsylvania
Tamsey James Russell – Pennsylvania
David – Massachusetts
Mahala James Priest – North Carolina
Samuel Jr. – North Carolina
Pernina James Smith – Massachusetts
I think what is most telling is that Pernina who is living with her Mother in 1880 puts her Father’s birth State as Massachusetts. So both Abner (the oldest living child) and Pernina/Peninah put his birth state as Massachusetts. I am most persuaded by the fact that Peninah his wife and Abner, who probably knew his Father the best of all these children, wrote Massachusetts.
There is no 1890 Census. Then in 1900 the only child that is still alive Malinda James Roop changes her mind and lists what looks like Ma with New England in parenthesis. I discount Mahala and Samuel Jr., saying “North Carolina” because Samuel died when they were so little and Abner, who was born in North Carolina, was their legal guardian. So, I am inclined to believe the Henry “Bud” Scalf version in Mountain Kinsmen Ride that Samuel was born in Massachusetts in 1774 (and subsequently the June Johnson Newspaper Article.)
When was he born?
In the 1810 Census Samuel is a widower. He doesn’t marry Pernina Dean until a year later. He shows 3 males under the age of 10 which would be Daniel 4, Abner 6, and Isaac 9 or 10. Samuel is listed as 26 to 44. That would put his birth between 1766 and 1784. Where is John his oldest son who should be about 12 years old? He shows 2 females under the age of 10 which would be Celia 2 and Mary Elizabeth 5. I am not assuming that the female over 45 is his Mother. There is no proof his mother came with him. It could have been an older woman living with them to take care of his children. (I am also assuming Mary Elizabeth was born in 1805, not 1795 as stated in the FAJ versions.)
In the 1820 Census Samuel and Pernina are married. In this census he lists 2 males between 10 and 16 which would be Daniel 14 and Abner 16. One male between 18 and 26 which would be Isaac 21. John married Milly Vaughan in 1817 and is living in the area that will become Lawrence County. Samuel is listed as over 45 so that doesn’t help us with his age. For females he lists 3 under the age of 10. That would be Maranda 9, Hannah 5, and Sarah 3. One female 10 to 16 or Celia who would be 12. One female 16 to 26 which would be Mary Elizabeth probably about 18 and one female 26 to 45 who would be Pernina 26.
The 1830 census shows one male under 5 who would be David born in 1827, one between 15 and 20 who would be Daniel born in 1806. Samuel is listed at between 50 and 60. This would put his birth between 1770 and 1780.
A slight digression for the mysteries of genealogy. John doesn’t show up in the 1810 census and Mary Elizabeth does. I also have a copy of her marriage license where her Father Samuel James gives his permission. On the other hand, John shows up in the Court document in 1816 when Samuel’s two older children John and Isaac choose him as their guardian and he is appointed guardian for his three children under the age of 14: Abner, David and Celia. Where’s Mary Elizabeth in 1816? She doesn’t marry James Justice until 1822. This is what makes genealogy interesting.
Back to Samuel. Based on the 1830 census, Samuel was born between 1770 and 1775 so he could have been born in 1774 as reported by Henry Scalf and June Johnson.
Comments
If I believe that Samuel was born in Massachusetts in 1774 then I have to question the whole version where “Samuel’s Father William died in 1805 in Virginia leaving his wife to raise the children. Samuel had already married Sarah Charles in 1798 and had moved to North Carolina.” I believe Samuel’s family moved to North Carolina when he was small and he “Samuel remained there in the Yadkin Valley [Haw River Valley] for 25 years. He then moved on to the sweet waters of John’s Creek in Floyd County, Kentucky in 1810. [via Ashe County] He came there as builder and always tried to make it a better place in which to live.” This is from one of FAJ versions. I also believe Samuel was a builder based on the houses at the top of the page. However, I think the surveyor came from the fact he was “commissioned to lay out the first road from the mouth of Brushy Creek to the Ball Alley curve in Prestonsburg.” Reading the old Court documents, many people were commissioned to lay out a road, you didn’t need to be a surveyor. In the 1810 Floyd County Court Records we find County Court Book #1 May 29th, 1810. “On the motion of John Dean, ordered that Reuben Giddins, Benjamin Pierce, John Jones and Samuel James mark road from the mouth of Brushy Fork of Johns Creek to James Hensley’s Mill.” Almost everyone in the County it seems was commissioned to lay out a road at some point in time.
Was Elizabeth Cornell Samuel James’ first Wife?
In the FAJ version of the James Family Genealogy Samuel “Married 1785 to Elizabeth Cornell. They had three children: Elizabeth, born 1795, married James Justice March 24, 1822; John, born 1798, married Mille Vaughan Jan. 16, 1817; Isaac, born 1799, married Margaret Giddens Aug. 10, 1820.”
According to Pennsylvania marriage records in 1785 there was an Elizabeth Cornell who married a Samuel James in Bucks, New Britain Township, Pennsylvania. She supposedly was born in 1767 and died after 1822. He was born in 1760 and died in 1848. They married in 1785. They had seven sons. His parents were Isaac James and Sarah Thomas. We know from census records that the Floyd County Samuel James was born between 1770 and 1775. If the Floyd County Samuel was born in 1775 he would have been 10 years old in 1785 when he supposedly married Elizabeth Connell. Plus Elizabeth Cornell didn’t die until after 1822. Where was she when he was married to Sarah Charles and Peninah Dean and they were raising her children? The dates and the story just doesn’t make sense. This all ties into the bad genealogical research done by the FAJ researcher. I have done a more in-depth analysis of Samuel and Elizabeth Cornell’s relationship. Also look at theBucks County, Pennsylvania history. In addition I now have a copy of the 1828 settlement papers for Sarah Charles’ heirs when her Father Michael Charles died in Orange County, North Carolina in 1813. It clearly states that Sarah Charles was Samuel James’ wife and that she had six children: Elizabeth, James, Isaac, Abner and Celia.
So if Samuel James didn’t marry Elizabeth Cornell, he must have had only two wives: Sarah Charles and Peninah Dean.
Was Sarah Charles a Quaker?
This part of the family history gets started with Henry Scalf and MKR, “While living in North Carolina, Samuel James went on a hunting trip into Tennessee, met Sarah, orphan daughter of William Charles, a Quaker. This family had come down from Rhode Island to (sic) Perquimens county, N.C., lived there awhile and later removed to Guilford County. William who was a large landowner and cabinet-maker on the Deep River, near Jamestown, N.D., died in 1796. It may be that Sarah and her widowed mother Leah Charles, who lived until 1813, were visiting relatives in Tennessee when Samuel James appeared. He ask’d Sarah’s hand from the mother and the church, the peculiar sect granting permission in its peculiar way for the marriage of one of its daughters outside the church. Sarah, born Feb. 14, 1779, was thus 22 years old when married in 1801. Samuel was 27, both marrying at a later age than was usual on the backwoods edge of the frontier states.”
It then gets embellished in the AE version. “When he was a man, living in North Carolina, Samuel had gone on a hunting trip to Tennessee. There he met the proper young Quaker girl, Sarah (born Feb. 14, 1779) and her mother, Leah Charles. Sarah was the daughter of William Charles I, who had recently died. That Quaker man had learned the trade of cabinet maker as he grew up with family and neighbors in Rhode Island.
A thriving community existed back in Rhode Island with schools and stores. What caused Sarah’s father and family to leave the comfortable area, Samuel did not know. He knew that he had come down to Perquimans County, N.C. He and his family lived there awhile before moving on to Guilford County.
William I became a large landowner. He organized a flourishing business with his craftsmanship on the Deep River near Jamestown, N.C. It was a great loss to the family when he died in 1796.
Sarah and her mother were visiting relatives in Tennessee when Samuel came to visit. Sarah was 22 years of when Samuel was allowed to marry her in 1801. Samuel was 27.”
In the MKR version “But for Pernina Dean, grandmother of Mrs. McCoy and Mrs. Honaker, we would have no knowledge of the events of that terrible journey. (Pernina married Samuel James as his second wife.) Sarah Charles James became ill on the road, and died in a few days. Samuel, his brother, and brother-in law William Charles, assisted by the dead woman’s teenage sons, dug a grave and buried Sarah along the way, the place now unknown.” Sarah’s children were under 10 when she died.
Sarah would only be a Quaker if her Father was William Charles.
Who is Sarah Charles’ Father?
According to the Charles’ researchers Sarah’s Father was not William Charles but was Hans Michael Charles who had immigrated from Germany. According to Polly Schwickrath, Hans Michael Charles was naturalized in Rowan County, NC on 22 Sep 1763. His will was probated in 1813 in Orange County, NC and lists children including Sarah Charles who married Samuel James as his heirs. In addition I now have a copy of the 1828 settlement papers from the North Carolina Archives for Sarah Charles’ heirs when her Father Michael Charles died in Orange County, North Carolina in 1813. It clearly states that Sarah Charles was Samuel James’ wife and that she had six children: Elizabeth, James, Isaac, Abner and Celia.
Michael Charles probate papers regarding his daughter Sarah Charles James’ heirs.
Transcription: Page 1, Page 2 lists Sarah Charles’ heirs, Page 3, Page 4
Scan of Documents: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11, Page 12
“Sarah Charles married Samuel James, in North Carolina. She died before 1810 in Virginia, probably in Russell County at, or near, the home of her brother George Charles, as she and her family were on their way to Kentucky. It is possible she died in childbirth, or of complications resulting from childbirth. It appears that an infant child of Sarah and Samuel James might have been left behind with some of her family. Samuel James arrived in Floyd County Kentucky several years before George Charles and his family.” Source: Ron Charles.
Finally, if Sarah was born in 1779 she would have to have been 16 when she had Mary Elizabeth who in the FAJ versions was born in 1795. This is in contradiction to the other FAJ version that says Sarah got married in to Samuel in 1798, and the MKR and AE versions that say she got married at 22 in 1801.
While the Quaker story is much more romantic, the Hans Michael Charles story is true.
Was Samuel’s Mother Mary Hines?
In the Frederick James version of the James’ Family History, Samuel’s Mother was Mary Hines who was married to William James 15 Jul 1774 in Hanover, Goochland Co., Va.
“Samuel’s Father William died in 1805 in Virginia leaving his wife to raise the children. Samuel had already married Sarah Charles in 1798 and had moved to North Carolina.
“At this time Samuel’s brother John, was already preaching the word of God, and wanted to go to the wilderness lands of Kentucky where he thought he was needed. However, he felt his mother needed him to stay in Virginia with her. In 1807 he met and married Mary “Polly” Poor, and by 1809 they had their first child. In North Carolina Samuel and his wife Sarah had added 2 more children to their family.
Mary could see that her son John, still desired to go to Kentucky and preach. Mary agreed that she would go with them. As soon as John and his wife were able, they took his mother and their little daughter and went to North Carolina to see Samuel and his family. Upon their arrival they found that Samuel and his wife now had 6 children.
They were desirous for Samuel & his family to relocate with them in Kentucky. It was late in 1809 and winter was coming on. They decided to spend the winter in North Carolina with Samuel and his family and would leave for Kentucky in the spring.
When the spring of 1810 finally arrived the James families left for Kentucky and were traveling along with other families that were going the same way. It was slow and hard traveling through the North Carolina and Virginia mountains. Samuel’s wife, Sarah, became ill and this made traveling slower and more difficult. As a result of the arduous conditions she could go no further. She died and was buried along the way. Her husband and teenage sons had the difficult task of digging a grave for their beloved wife & mother and leaving her along the way. No one ever got to go back to the site again. She was one of many that never survived the trip and dotted the trail with lonesome graves.
The wagon train finally reached the Kentucky territory late in the fall of 1810. Samuel knew as soon as he saw the Johns Creek land that he had found where he wanted to stay. He laid off land where the Brushy Fork met Johns Creek and started building his home.
Samuel’s brother, John, was not satisfied with Johns Creek. He did spend the winter there with Samuel and left in the spring of 1811 going to western Kentucky. His mother said that she was too old to travel any more, and she stayed on with Samuel and his motherless family. She lived several years there with her son Samuel. Today the lovely lady from England (Mary Hines James) is buried next to a mountain road where the cool water flows and the spring flowers come and grow and the summer breeze stirs the trees that give the golden leaves that cover the graves in the fall. This, another grave, that was made along the way to make this land of our, America. This is why we try to save the past and build the future!
” Information from Frederick James (descendant).”
The viability of William James and Mary Hines being Samuel’s parents theory put forth by Frederick James in one of his articles is contradicted in another FAJ article’s where it states that Samuel was born in 1767. This can’t be possible because William and Mary were not even married until 1774. In another FAJ article it also states that prior to 1810 when Samuel moved to Floyd County he had lived in the Yadkin Valley, North Carolina for 25 years. This would have put Samuel in North Carolina in 1885. In 1885 William and Mary Hines were living in Pennsylvania. They never lived in North Carolina. The FAJ articles also put Samuel in the Buck’s County, Pennsylvania family.
Finally, nowhere in any of the official family trees on the Jesse James family do they show William and Mary Hines James having a son Samuel. Go to Genealogy.com or any of Jesse’s websites. I think the researcher Frederick James hired conveniently inserted Samuel into his family to make the family stories that they were related to Jesse James work. The William James and Mary Hines that is to the left is from the Kentucky Historical Society. You may disagree with the researcher, but the early family tree is basically the same no matter where you go. There is no Samuel James. It is bad case of trying to make the facts fit the story. They started with a conclusion and found some people to fit what they thought it should be.
Below are the documented children of William James and Mary Hines. John the oldest is born about a year after William and Mary are married on July 15, 1774. We know that Samuel was probably born before that and there are no records of them having a son named Samuel.
1. John M. JAMES, b. 1775, Hanover Co., VA
2. Nancy Ann JAMES, b. 24 Feb 1777, Hanover Co., VA
3. Mary JAMES, b. bef. 1780; m. 22 Dec 1796, Edward LEE
4. William JAMES, b. 27 Apr 1782, d 1807
5. Thomas JAMES, b. 14 Dec 1783
6. Martin JAMES, b. 1789, d. 1867
7. Richard JAMES, b. bef. 1795; m. 8 Dec 1813, Goochland Co., VA, Mary G. POOR
So, who are Samuel James’ Parents?
I spent a lot of time back in North Carolina in 2004 looking through Rowan, Surry, Stokes, Wilkes or Ashe Counties for Samuel James and his parents based on the information from Frederick James that Samuel was from Rowan or Surry Counties. I did an in-depth analysis about the James in the mentioned counties. You can link to the analysis.
It appears from all the records the Jameses who lived on the Yadkin River were the John James Family. This is also where Samuel James appears in the legal records about 1800. I was all set to say that this was our Samuel James and John James was his Father. There are two facts that have made me procrastinate about posting this information. It just didn’t feel right.
In 1806 Samuel James was appointed Road Surveyor in Surry County. In 1806 our Samuel James was living in Ashe County on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There is no convenient way to get from Ashe to Surry County. Are there two Samuel Jameses? Does one belong to the Surry County Jameses that is not my Samuel James?
In addition Boyce Bryan who is a descendant of our Isaac James (hurrah, I am so happy Boyce connected. I now know what happened to Isaac) contacted me after I did a posting about Samuel James in Surry County and asked if I had considered I was looking in the wrong county and that maybe Samuel lived in Orange County with Michael Charles.
I went back to North Carolina in November 2006 and spent a week at the North Carolina archives. The earliest Jameses in Orange County to get land grants were a John James as early as 1756 and a Thomas James in the early 1760’s. Although I don’t know if they were any direct relation to Samuel James, this could be the reason why Samuel moved his family to Orange County, North Carolina. Samuel James was the bondsman for a Thomas James in 1787, however, I don’t know if this is a relation to the Thomas James who lived closer to Durham or a son of Samuel James.
In 1778 a Samuel James got two land grants on Traverse Creek and in 1779 Solomon James also got a land grant on Dry Creek which was adjacent to Traverse Creek. I believe this Samuel James was my Samuel James’ Father and that Samuel and Solomon were brothers rather than Father and son. For Solomon to have a land grant he would have had to been over 21. The fact that my Samuel James was born in 1774 just 5 years earlier doesn’t make sense that Solomon was Samuel’s son. See the next page for more information.
Land Grant Records of North Carolina Volume I Orange County 1752 – 1885.
Page 23
1030 James Samuel, Grant #134 Entry# 268 Entry Date 14 Aug 1778 Issue Date 3 Sept 1779 Book 40 page 377 Acres 240 Traverses Creek
1030 James Samuel, Grant #104 Entry# 390 Entry Date 10 Oct 1778 Issue Date 3 Sept 1779 Book 40 page 347 Acres 75 W side Traverses Creek
1575 James Solomon, Grant #712 Entry # 679 Entry Date 3 Feb 1779 Issue Date 9 Nov 1784 Book 57 page 111 200 Acres waters Dry Creek of Haw River
Orange Co, NC Land Entries 1778-1795
268. May 19, 1778 Saml James enters 240 [written over 200] ac on S side of Haw River; border: on N by Mordecai Gwin and on both sides of Travers’s Cr; includes his improvement; warrant issued Aug. 14. 1778.
and
390. Jul 4, 1778 Saml James enters 100 ac in Orange Co on W side of Travers Cr of Haw R; border: the claims of Tho Sharp, John Gooduer, John Cable, & Tho White; warrant issued Oct. 10, 1778.
and
679. Sept, 26, 1778 Solomon James enters 200 ac in Orange Co on waters of Haw R and Little Alamance Cr; border: on W by John Hutson; includes the improvement where Solomon James lives; warrant issued Feb. 3, 1778
The correct spelling of the creek they settled on in Orange>Alamance County was Travis Creek a tributary of the Haw River. The next page has maps and as much of the legal documentation I can find for Samuel James Sr. and Jr., all the other Jameses living in Orange>Alamance Counties between 1756 and 1801; and Michael and George Charles’ documents.
I think it is important to note that Samuel James’ Land entry on May 19, 1778 included Samuel’s improvement. Consequently he had to have been living there for over a year to file a claim. This would put his coming to Orange County in 1776 or 1777. This corresponds with the story that Samuel James’ parents left Massachusetts around 1775 or 1776. This would have given them time to travel to Orange County, find property, build a structure to live in and live there long enough to homestead the property. I don’t think they would have been able to spend time in Pennsylvania or Virginia on the way.
The fact that Solomon James entered a land grant with an improvement reinforces that fact he came to Orange County the same time as Samuel James. In addition Nov. 5, 1789 John Strader entered 200 ac in Orange Co on waters of Alamance Cr; border: Saml James, Solomon James, Hardin Perkins, & Robt McColly; warrant issued Nov 20, 1789. Samuel and Solomon lived next door to each other.
As I said I believe based on the documentation that Solomon James was Samuel James’ brother. They came together from Massachusetts to North Carolina and settled next to each other the Travers [Travis] Creek a tributary of the Haw River in Orange County. Solomon got married in 1785 in Orange County. However, we don’t know to whom. A marriage in 1785 more sense if Solomon was Samuel’s brother rather than Samuel’s Father. So based on the documentation I believe that Samuel James was my Samuel James’ Father. I still do not know who Samuel’s Mother was.
So, are we related to Jesse James?
No. Unfortunately for all my close and distant relatives who want to be related to Jesse James, I think that is a family story that sounds good, is fun, and is perpetuated through stories like Mountain Kinsman Ride and the June Johnson article. However, I don’t think at this point the facts prove out that we are related. Sorry.
Hopefully we can put some major myths to rest with the facts: Elizabeth Cornell was not Samuel James’ wife. Samuel James was born in Massachusetts, not Virginia or Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Sarah Charles is not a Quaker from Tennessee, but rather Michael Charles’ daughter from North Carolina. Samuel James’ Father was Samuel James, and finally, we are not related to Jesse James.