~1789 - 1856
North Carolina - Kentucky - Illinois - Kentucky
We are probably descended from both David and his sister Elizabeth. Elizabeth married John Deweese - they were parents of Henry, father of Absalom, father of Mary Polly who married Michael Stanton. Absalom also married an Elizabeth Sams, and the best guess we have for who her father is is David. So.
David was born in about 1789, when his parents were probably already in North Carolina (it would have been Burke County at that point - became Buncombe County in 1791). I haven't found William Sams (David's father) on the 1790 census. They may have been still in Virginia (and the Virginia census for that year did not survive); they are not in the index for the North Carolina census for that year. It is vaguely possible that they might have been in Tennessee (no census for that state that year either.) Tax lists are available, and I will check them when I get back to the library.
William and Martha remained in North Carolina for the 1800 census, and David was
probably with them then:
1800 census - Buncombe County, North Carolina
Sams, William 1 2 2 - 1 - 1 - 1
1 male under 10 b. 1790-1800 Wiley 1797
2m, 1f 10-16 b. 1784-1790 Thomas 1787 - David 1789 - Elizabeth 1784
2m 16-26 b. 1774-1784 Rice 1781 - William 1780
1m, 1f 45+ b. before 1755 William 1755 - Martha 17631800 census -
(Elizabeth Sams had already married John Deweese by this point - in about 1793 in fact -
so the female is an unknown - unless she is Lavina, supposed by some to have been born in
Tennessee in 1786. Crawford Sams says she wasn't born until ~1810, but he is wrong
more often than right once it gets to this generation, so.)
His parents moved to Muhlenberg County, Kentucky in ~1805, when he was ~16 - and he
probably moved there with them. His family next moved to Illinois (probably before?
1810, certainly by 1811. Two of his brothers, William and Thomas served in Captain
Edwards's Mounted Illinois Militia in 1812. (I haven't checked it out yet, but I suspect
Captain Edwards might be a cousin.) However, David was in Kentucky in 1814, possibly
visiting his sister Elizabeth Sams Deweese. It was there, in Butler County, that he married
Nancy Smith:
- Sep 7, 1814 David Sams - Nancy Smith -11 Sep 1814 R. Morrison
consent male guardian Cader Arundell.
Butler County, Kentucky marriages, 1810-1865 / Hopkins County
Genealogical Society, p. 5
One curious thing about this wedding is the guardian of Nancy, Cader Arundell. Lavinah Deweese, David's niece (Elizabeth's oldest daughter) was married to Reuben Arundell in 1819.
David and Nancy had 9, possibly 10 children, but only the names of (most of) the males are known. I am pretty sure that one of the unnamed girls was the Elizabeth who married Absalom Deweese.
Children: unknown girl b. 1815-18 Elizabeth b. 1816 m. Absalom Deweese1837???
unknown girl b. 1815-18
unknown boy b. 1815-20
Eli S (probably Smith) 1821-1869
m cousin Mary Polly Deweese daughter of John & Elizabeth
Sams Deweese
unknown girl b. 1820-25
Alison Fleenor 1825-1879 went to Texas
m Abigail Jane Unknown
Uriah 1826-
Wiley 1828-
Garrett 1830-
M or N (probably N) (male) 1835-
one of the girls was possibly Lurana, but I have no more information on her. I have wondered if another of the girls might not have been Louisa Sams b. 1831, who married Absalom's brother Isaac in 1849??? The dates are wrong for her though.
Although David married in Kentucky, he went back to Illinois where his parents and
several of his brothers were settled. He is there for the first Territorial census in 1818.
1818 - Illinois becomes a state - David recorded in census Union Co
Union Co Territory Census 1818
Sams David 1 (fwm over 21) 3 others
David, Nancy - 2 children probably 2 girls b. 1815-18
David and his brother Thomas were 2 of the 10 original members of the Clear Creek Baptist Church, but I do not know the date it was organized.
David remained in Illinois for the 1820 censuses (both federal and territorial) . . .
1820 Union Co, IL Territory census
Sames David - 1 m over 21, 4 others
David, Nancy - 3 children 2 girls & a boy
1820 Illinois, Union, No Twp 153 Sames, David 100010 20100 01
1m, 2f under 10 b. 1814-20 girls b. 1815-18
1f 16-26 b. 1794-1804 Nancy
1m 26-45 b. 1775-1794 David 1789 - age 31
. . . but in 1820 or so, he, with his father and brothers Thomas and William obtained a grant of 160 acres along Mayfield Creek. Crawford Sams says he in on the 1820 Hickman County, Kentucky census, but I have not found him there and I have found him in Illinois for that year, so.
He did eventually leave Illinois and settle on Mayfield Creek. He first appears on the tax
rolls in Hickman County in 1829:
1829 - Hickman Co tax list (first time listed)
Sams, David - 1wm over 16, 6 horses & mares, no blacks
And he is on the 1830 Hickman County census.
1830 Hickman Co, Ky Heads of Households
12-18] Sams, David - 9
1830 Kentucky, Hickman - Sams, David 21100001//012001
m under 5 Wiley 1828
m under 5 Uriah 1826
m 5-10 Alison Fleenor 1825
f 5-10 b. 1820-25 girl A
m 10-15 b. 1815-20 Eli S 1821
f 10-15 1815-18 girl B
f 10-15 1815-18 girl C Elizabeth b. 1816?
f 30-40 Nancy Smith (26-36)
m 40-50 David 41
In 1837, his probable daughter Elizabeth married his (David's) great-nephew, Absalom
Deweese. (I have no documentation for it, but was given the date by Jack Vaughan.) And
in 1838, his son Eli S (I have always thought the S must stand for Smith) married his (Eli's)
cousin, David's niece, Mary Polly Deweese.
Polly Deweese - Eli Sams - 10 Nov 1838.
Marriage Bonds - 1822-1846 - Hickman Co, Ky (pamhlet)
David, Eli and (probable) son-in-law Absalom are all in Hickman County for the 1840 census:
1840 Kentucky Hickman 351/2 David 0121001 (40/50) 0101001
1m, 1f 5-10 b. 1830-35 Garrett 1830 girl D
2m 10-15 b. 1825-30 Wiley 1828, Uriah 1825
1m, 1f 15-20 b. 1820-25 Alison Fleenor 1826, girl A
1m, 1f 40-50 b. 1790-1800 David 51, Nancy (36-46)
1840 Kentucky Hichman 351/2 ES Sams 00001 100100 Eli, Mary Polly, Savara
1840 Kentucky Hickman 344 Absalom - 1m, 1f 20-30 - Absalom & Elizabeth
David, Eli, Alison Fleenor, Wiley, Garrett and (probable) son-in-law Absalom are all in
Ballard County (part of Hickman became Ballard County in 1842) for the 1850 census:
1850 Kentucky Ballard Co
211-211
D. Sams 61 M Farmer Nc 1789
N 40 F Ky
J 22 M Ill (Uriah?? 1824=26)
N.15 M Farmer Ky
210-210
E. Sams 29m farmer IL / M 28f KY Eli?
S 10f KY / M 6f KY / W 3m KY / A 10/12 Ky
E. Deweese 20m farmer Ky / M Deweese 12f Ky
212-212 W. Sams 22m farmer Il / M 20f Ky Wiley?
JM 3m Ky
329-329 G. Sams 20m farmer Ky / Mary 16f Ky Garrett?
343-343 A. F. Sams 25m farmer Il / Jane 31f Ky Alison Fleenor
Napoleon 3m Ky / Leander 1m Ky
Virgil Davis 9m Ky / Sally 8f Mo
Mary Gunn 59f NC
John Cooper 22m laborer Ala
Wm. Deweese 22m laborer Ky
Nancy Hunter 15f Ky
Garete Deweese 18m laborer Ky
669-669 Absalom Deweese 33 m Farmer Ky / Elizabeth 34f Ky
Nancy 9f Ky / William 5m Ky / Ann 2f Ky / Tolbert 14m Ky / Nancy 15 f
Ky
David died of consumption in 1852:
1852 Aug 10 - David Sams - 60 - male white b. NC - consumption
Smith, Barbara Ramsey. Ballard County, Ky. births & deaths, 1852-1910. (
Melber, KY : Simmons Historical Publications, 1998.)
Nancy Smith Sams probably died about 1853.
And that is all I know about them.
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contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com
page last updated 7 September 2004