1769 - 1843
Pennsylvania (or Virginia) - North Carolina - Kentucky
Our story so far:
Hendrick Dewees, 1570 Holland - nothing known, but he is presumably the father of
Adriaen Hendricksz, 1595-1674 Holland - the bookstore owner, wife Hilegond Govertsdr
Hendrick Adriaensz, 1615-1661 Holland - New Amsterdam - captured in a raid, died in captivity
Gerrit Hendricksz, 1640-1770 Holland-Pennsylvania - farmer? - wife Zytian Lieuwes
Cornelius, 1678-1734 Holland - Pennsylvania - farmer - wife Margaret Kuster
Garrett, 1710-1769 Pennsylvania - occupation unknown - wife Mary Unknown
Henry, 1746-after 1830 Pennsylvania-Virginia-North Carolina-Kentucky-Tennessee-North Carolina
- occupation unknown - wife Elizabeth Hughes
John Deweese, oldest son of Henry D. and Elizabeth Hughes, was born in about 1769, but we don't know exactly where. His parents were married in 1768 in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, but they moved almost immediately to Botetourt County, Virginia - all the rest of their children were born there, but we aren't sure about John.
The occupation of both John and his father is unknown, but I assume they were farmers and hunters. They do seem to have been fairly well-off.
Sometime between 1780 and 1790, John's family moved to Burke County, North Carolina (part of which became Buncombe County in 1791) and John is probably with his father on the 1790 census:
1790 - Burke Co, NC - 12th Company, p. 104 - Henry Dweis 2 5 3 0
Henry Dweis 2m over 16, 5 m under 16, 3 females, 0 slaves
2m over 16: Henry 44, John 21
5m under 16: Garret 16, James 15, Morgan 12, William 9, Henry 1
3 f: Elizabeth Hughes, unknown female 9, Nancy 6
John married Elizabeth Sams in about 1793 in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Elizabeth was the daughter of William Sams and Martha Edwards, and was born in Henry County, VA ~1784 - which of course makes her 9 years old when she was married, so someone has made a mistake somewhere! (Another person has her born ~1780, which makes just slightly - but not a lot - more sense.) (Still another has made the guess of 1778 - which would make her 15 when married - phew!)
The well-known book about the Sams family - Crawford F. Sams, The Sams Family of Virginia, (S.l.:1981) - says she married him "before 1828" in Hickman County, Kentucky, but if so, John was married to another woman earlier: his first child was born 1794. The Sams book is pretty undependable when it gets to the Samses of Kentucky, so I am privileging the information gotten from Deweese researchers.
There are several Samses in the Buncombe Co. land sales records, including a William
William Sams
1799 May 3 22 a from John Strother
1801 Aug 8 22 a to Jonathan Hunt
1805 Jan 21 (Wm sr) 80 a on Little Ivy to Thomas Love
other Sams: Reuben 1806 - Little Ivy; Edmond 1796 Big Ivy; Hackley 1806 Little Ivy; James 1794-6 Little Ivy; John 1806 Ivy; Lot 1802 Ivy; Warren 1818 Little Ivy. Burdit 1807; Benoni 1810; David 1844; Edmond jr 1837; Greenlee 1811; Larkin; Nancy 1832; Rachal 1819; Sarah 1815.
Elizabeth's brothers were William, David, Thomas, Rice (Urias), and Wiley, so most of these men were probably cousins. She also had a sister Lavinah. At any rate, this nest of Samses lived in the neighborhood of Henry. They came to North Carolina at about the same time the Deweeses did.
Together, John and Elizabeth had 15 children, the first, a little girl (name unknown), born about 1794. Our next ancestor, another Henry, was born in about 1796.
The children:
unknown little girl, born 1794
Henry, born ~1796 - married Amelia Hudson - 12 children
Lavinah, born 1798, Logan Co, Ky - married Reuben Arundell
Martha (Patsy), born 1800 - married John Masters
William, born 1802, Logan Co, Ky - married Rachel Kuth or Keith - 7 children
John, born 1805, Logan Co, Ky - married Mary Polly Harper - 9 children
Elizabeth, born 1808, Logan Co, Ky - married Elijah Masters
Garrett, born 1810, Butler Co, Ky - married Elizabeth Polk
Nancy, born 1812, Butler Co, Ky - married John Henry Garner
Cornelius, born 1814, Butler Co, Ky - married 1. Elizabeth Browne, 2. Francis Elizabeth Broome
Morgan, born 1816, Butler Co, Ky - married Elisa G Harper - 4 children
Charlotte T, born 1818, Butler Co, Ky - married Richard Russell
James, born 1820 - married Ann Oliphant - 1 child (known)
Mary Polly, born 1823 - married (cousin) Eli Sams - 8 children
Sarah (Sally), born 1824, Butler Co, Ky - married William Harper - 5 children
In the late 1790s, several of the Deweeses moved to (or at least purchased land in) Logan County, Kentucky. John is on the tax rolls there for 1799, along with his
father Henry and his brothers Morgon and Garrett (Garrett may have been his uncle).
Logan County Taxpayers 1799 -
Dewees, Garrad
Dewwees, Henry John Margon
(David and Jesse Hughes first appear in Logan Co in 1794. The first Edwards there was William in 1797.)
Logan Co, Ky Taxpayers 1792 - 1799 (no more bib info, sorry)
John Deweese is also on the tax list for 1800:
Logan Co tx 1800 Garret Henry James John Mason
1800 Logan - Deweese, John - Muddy River - 1-0-0-0-3-0
1m over 21 = John, 3 horses, 200 acres 3rd class land
In 1810, part of Logan County was formed into Butler County, and that is where John is for the 1810 census, possibly with his parents living with him:
1810 Butler County KY (total population 2181)194
John 11011-03011
1m under 10 John 5
1 m, 3 f 10-16 Henry 14, Lavinah 12, Patsy 10, unknown f
1m, 1 f 25-45 John 41, Elizabeth 30
1m, 1f 45+ ??? father Henry 64, mother Elizabeth Hughes?
(not here William 8; Elizabeth 2 - unless one of them is unknown f)
His brothers and sisters were scattered by this time, several of them going to Tennessee, one (Garrett) living back in Buncombe County, North Carolina, and his
youngest brother Henry possibly moving further west to Caldwell County, Kentucky.
In 1812, he stood surety for a bond for the county:
C15 1812 - John Deweese - surety for bond
Sheriff William Shroad came into Court and executed Bond for the Collection of the Revenue Tax in the penalty of $10,000.00. He then executed Bond for the collection of the County Levy for the year of 1812 in the penalty of $1832.00. Sureties for both Bonds were Andrew Lovelace, John Dewease, Francis and Oliver C. Porter.
DeWeese, Raymond Paul.The early days of Butler County, Kentucky, taken from the County Court Order Book "A" and Circuit Court Order Books "A" and "B". [Butler County, Ky.] : R.P. DeWeese, [c1992]
I have no idea what this means, but I would guess that it at least meant that John was fairly well-to-do.
John stayed in Butler County for a while, and his three oldest children got married there in the next ten years . . . :
1816 Feb 12 Henry Deweese - Amelia Hudson JP Taylor
1817 Feb 11 Patsy Deweese - John Masters
1819 May 13 Levina Deweese - Reuben Arundell ret. 25 May 1819
Elizabeth's brother David also got married during those years - he is possibly the father of the Elizabeth Sams who married Elizabeth's grandson Absalom. And it is interesting that the guardian of David's wife has the same last name as that of Levina's husband.
1814 Sep 7 David Sams - Nancy Smith 11 Sep 1814 R. Morrison
consent male guardian Cader Arundell]
Butler County, Kentucky marriages, 1810-1865. (Hopkins County Genealogical Society. Madisonville, Ky. : The Society, 1974.)
. . . and he (John) is still there for the 1820 census:
1820 Kentucky, Butler
John Deweise 2 m, 1f under 10; 1m, 2 f 10-15; 1 m 16-18; 1m, 1f 16-25; 1m, 1f 26-44
Morgan 4, Cornelius 6, Charlotte 2 (James 0)
Garrett 10, Elizabeth 12, unknown f (prob. Nancy 8)
John 15
William 18, unknown female 16-25 (Patsy 20 married, Lavina 22 married)
John 51, Elizabeth 40
Son William Deweese got married in Butler County in 1823 . . . :
1823 June 13 William Deweese Rachel Kuth no ret CMF
pr Ed E McConnel CFG pr SEMcBee
Same source as above. unfortunately I did not note what all those abbreviations mean. They seem so obvious when you have the book before you, but back home, they lose it.
. . . but sometime between 1823 and 1827, they all moved on (further west) to Hickman County, which had been formed in 1821 out of Livingston and Caldwell
counties. Remember that John's brother Henry was probably in Caldwell in 1810 - and Elizabeth's brother William was in the same area at quite an early date.
(William Sams was married in 1814 in Christian County, Ky. Christian County became Livingston County became Caldwell County became Hickman County.)
There are Samses on the Hickman County tax lists from 1825, and Deweeses from 1826. The Samses might have been there earlier, but the pamphlet I looked at
only started in 1825.
The numbers refer to: white males 16+, black males 16+, total blacks, horses and mares. The Deweeses didn't have slaves, but William Sams did. I had
been told at one time that he left one slave to each of his brothers and sisters, including Elizabeth Sams Deweese, but I have since found a copy of his
will and while he remembers all his siblings, he leaves his slaves to his wife and stepson. His estate sale was held in 1829, and at it John Deweese bought
one calf.
| 1825 | 1826 | 1827 | 1828 | 1829 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sams, Wiley | 1002 | 1002 | 1002 | 1002 | 1002 | 160 Mayfield Creek |
| William | 1263 | 1165 | 1296 | |||
| Sarah | 0244 | |||||
| David | 1006 | |||||
| Deweese, William | 1000 | 1001 | 1001 | 1001 | ||
| Henry | 1001 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | ||
| John | 1003 | 1005 | 1006 | |||
| Masters, Elijah | 1001 | 1001 | 1002 | |||
| John? | 1001 | |||||
| Martin, Elijah | 1001 | |||||
| Harper, James | 1001 |
Don Simmons, Hickman County, Ky. tax lists 1825-26-27-28-29. (Melber, Ky. : Simmons Historical Publications, 1988.)
In 1827 in Hickman County, John and Elizabeth's daughter Nancy married John Garner.
1 Feb 1828 Deweese, Nancy - Garner John -1 Feb 1828 - marriage 10 Oct 1827 - 14 Jan 1828
[There are often two dates, one for the license, one for the marriage - and sometimes another date for the "return" - when the preacher recorded the marriage with the County Clerk.]
Hickman County Kentucky county clerk's records, marriage bonds, 1822-1846. (Paducah, Ky. : Lucile (Hicks) Kirksey : Ruth Hope Lessley, c1993.)
John and Elizabeth and many of their children are in Hickman County for the 1830 census.
1830 Kentucky - Hickman 013 - John Deweese - 1111 - - - 1 - 111 - - 1
1 m 5-10 James 10
1m 10-15 Morgan 14
1 m 15-20 Cornelius 16
1m 20-30 Garret 20
1m 60-70 John 61
1 f 5-10 Sally 6, Mary Polly 7
1 f 10-15 Charlotte T 12
1 f 15-20 Elizabeth 22 (other girls married; Eliz married 1831)
1 f 40-50 Elizabeth Sams 37
Sons Henry and William, daughters Patsy Masters and Nancy Garner were in Hickman County; son John was possibly back in Butler; Lavinah Arundell was
possibly in Morgan County, Ky - but I am not sure.
Most of the rest of the children got married between 1830 and 1840 . . ..
1831 Jan 6 Elizabeth - Elijah Masters
1834 June 29 Cornelius - Elizabeth Brown Wm Brown consents
Frances Elizabeth Broome?
1835 Dec 30 Garrett - Elizabeth Polk Richard Russell consents
1835 Dec 30 Charlotte F - Richard Russell Garrett consenter
1838 July 18 Sally - William Harper John consenter also John D Harper, John P. Broach
1838 Nov 10 Polly - Eli Sams
and Morgan got married in 1840:
2 Dec 1840 Morgan - EB Harper
Hickman County Kentucky county clerk's records, marriage bonds, 1822-1846. (Paducah, Ky. : Lucile (Hicks) Kirksey : Ruth Hope Lessley,
c1993.)
It's interesting that Garrett and Charlotte got married on the same day, and that Garret and Charlotte's husband were consenters for the the females. Garrett was
25, but Charlotte was only 17. I wonder if they all ran away together. I wonder if Elizabeth Polk was Elizabeth Russell Polk and had been married before. But I
will probably never find out.
The Eli Sams that (Mary) Polly married was her first cousin, son of Elizabeth's brother David. He was 17 and she was 15 when they married. They are important
to our branch of the family, because they took in many of her brother Henry (our next ancestor)'s children when he and his wife both died. And Henry's son
Absalom married Eli's probable sister Elizabeth.
John is on the Hickman County census for 1840, but with some extra people.
1840 Kentucky Hickman 344 John 0001200001 010110001
1m 15-20 James 20
2m 20-30 Morgan 24(married Dec 1840), ?Cornelius 26 (married June 1834)
1m 70-80 John 71
1f 5-10
1f 15-20
1f 20-30
1f 60-70 Elizabeth
Neither Cornelius nor Garrett is found elsewhere in the 1840 census, but they married in 1834 and 1836, so the spare children seem too old. All the girls of the
proper age are accounted for, except for Sally who should be about 16. The unknown male could be her husband - but the extra children again seem too old.
In 1833, there is a record of John and Elizabeth deeding some property to their son John, so it might be that this particular household was John jr's, with his parents and a couple of brothers living with him. Unfortunately, there is another John Deweese on the same census, who fits the profile of John, jr. Sigh.
That property transfer, by the way:
1833 - Hickman Co deed - John D. sr to John D. jr - 27 Apr 1833 - On waters of Mayfield Creek, part of NW section 18 T5 R2W containing 60 acres. - signed John & Elizabeth Duweese
Deed Book B, p. 244
I'm not sure, but I think this info came from: Hickman County, Ky., deeds [compiled by Don Simmons] (Melber, Ky. : Simmons Historical Publications, 1995-)
John died in 1843 and is buried at McGee Springs in what is now Ballard County, Kentucky. (Ballard was formed in 1842 from Hickman and McCracken Counties.)
Elizabeth lived until at least 1850, and is recorded in that census living with her son James and his wife Ann. (James and Ann Oliphant married in about 1847, but
there was a court-house fire, and no record of the marriage has been found.)
1850 Kentucky Ballard
335-335 James Deweese 30 M Farmer Ky 1820
Ann 19 F Ky 1831
Abijah 1 M Ky 1849
Elizabeth 72 F Va 1778
George Russle 22 M Farmer Ky 1828
(George Russell is too old to be the son of James's sister Charlotte, but may have been related to her husband somehow.)
And that is all I know about John Deweese, our 5G-Grandfather. EXCEPT that he probably was a Baptist. Evelyn Dinsmore, another descendant, says he was a
member of the Sandy Creek Baptist Church. So he is probably the John Deweese buried in the Sloan Family Graveyard:
Deweese, John (Baptist)
wife and children - no dates
Barclay, Dick. Graveyards in Carlisle and Hickman counties, Kentucky.
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Forward to next ancestor, Henry (and Amelia)
Questions, comments, additions, corrections? Contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com
Page last updated 9 Nov 2005