Two THOMAS LEWELLENs with wife SUSANNA, father of Shadrach of Loudoun Co. VA ?
Billie Harris - Feb 17, 2011
THE LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA, LEWELLINS:
About the Potts and Bursons first. Hopefully I can tie this all together..
In going over the POTTS line - which I might add is very confusing - it appears DAVID POTTS came from Wales to the colonies when he was a teenager. He married and had two sons, JONAS and SAMUEL. I haven't searched nor found the names for Samuel's family, but the one we're interested in is Jonas' because it was his daughter, Rachel, who married Joseph Burson and they had a daughter Deborah who married Shadrach Lewellen.
Bear with me:
JONAS POTTS
Birth year unknown but married two different women with the given name of Mary, the latter of them was a Mary Thomas, daughter of Evan Thomas who died 1757 in Loudoun, and both Marys bore his children. The children were:
1. DEBORAH POTTS
2. JONAS POTTS
3. JONATHAN POTTS
4. RACHEL POTTS (born 1702) See following info.
5. ELIZABETH POTTS
6. HANNA POTTS
7. DAVID POTTS
Jonas and his family, and perhaps that of his father and brother Samuel, too, were found in Pennsylvania and then in Loudoun County, Virginia. Some of them moved to Kentucky.
In 1719 RACHEL POTTS, daughter of Jonas and Mary, born 1702 PA, married JOSEPH BURSON (son of George) in Gilbert's Manor, PA. where he was born. They were Quakers as were the Bursons and the Potts families. To this union was born DEBORAH BURSON in 1737.
DEBORAH BURSON's husband was SHARACH LEWELLIN. The exact date of their marriage isn't known but it's been estimated he was born about 1733 which is logical since she was born 1737. For the sake of guessing, they were probably married when he was around 22 and she was about 18, making it about 1755, but more on them later.
From a posting on the internet, it states the first settlement of Friends in Virginia dates about 1731/2 when Alexander Ross secured a grant of 100,000 acres of land in the Shenandoah Valley with the intention of making a Friends' settlement there. Many Friends did remove to that valley, especially from Nottingham meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania. This settlement was organized into Hopewell Monthly Meeting 1735. Many Friends from Pennsylvania also settled within the limits of the present Loudoun County, and Fairfax Monthly Meeting in Virginia was established 5 mo. 31, 1745, although meetings for worship had been held there previous to this date, under the care of Concord Monthly Meeting of Chester County, Pennsylvania. DAVID POTTS was "taken under the care of Fairfax Monthly Meeting on 10 mo. 31, 1748." At the same time his sons JONAS and JONATHAN POTTS were also received into membership.
In 1753 DAVID POTTS was conveyed 100 acres on Kittockton Run in Loudoun County when Loudoun was formed (1755). It was located between the Short Hill and the Blue Ridge Mountains in a valley kown as "Between-the-Hills." Quaker meetings were held at his house for several years and it was commonly known as "Potts' Meeting."
In 1759 DAVID POTTS sold and conveyed to JONAS POTTS, Smith, his half brother, 270 acres, one half of tract of land formerly granted by Catesby Cocke to said DAVID POTTS. In describing the boundary, mention is made of the corner of SAMUEL POTTS' land and the line of another JONAS POTTS. ( It appears from this David Potts (son of Jonas and Mary) sold to his half-brother Jonas Potts (Smith), land which joined his father (Jonas) and his uncle (Samuel.) )
In 1761 JONAS POTTS, blacksmith, and MARY, his wife, sold 122 acres, part of the original purchase, to JAMES THOMAS. He signs: "Jonas Potts, Smith." The "Smith" must have been reference to his profession as a blacksmith.
NOW WE GET TO THE LEWELLINS .....
Loudoun County was formed from Fairfax. THOMAS LEWELLIN was listed as having one tithable 1746 in Fairfax. Shadrach wasn't listed and neither was Samuel, but there was definitely a connection between the three of them as you'll see following. It wasn't until 1751 that JOSEPH BURSON moved to the area with his children, including DEBORAH who married Shadrach. Incidentally, Thomas' wife was a Quaker of Upper Parish Cameron. I haven't been able to find records for that Quaker group.
In 1759 DEBORAH LEWELLIN, formerly BURSON, produced a paper for a Friends Meeting. Deborah had married SHADRACH LEWELLIN That same year JAMES JOHN and THOMAS LEWELLIN purchased 233 acres of land from Bernard Young. In 1765 JAMES and MARY JOHN and THOMAS and SUSANNAH LEWELLIN of Loudoun sold land in Fairfax adjoining land of JONAS POTTS.
So, we have THOMAS LEWELLIN in the area from as early as 1746, no mention of SHADRACH himself until 1760 although his wife (granddaughter of JONAS POTTS) was named in 1759. And, THOMAS LEWELLIN owned land adjoining JONAS POTTS.
The first time SHADRACH is named (1760), he's sued for trespassing and battery and found innocent of the charges. Plus, SHADRACH and THOMAS were witnesses to the marriage of a BURSON the same year. Thomas and Shadrach are mentioned numerous times in subsequent years and in 1767 Thomas and Thomas JR are both in the tithable list. . Thomas Lewellin JR was probably at least 21 years old in order to be on that list. That would make him born 1746. Thomas SR would have been born at the very least before 1725. It's possible Thomas SR was a brother of Shadrach, but it's also possible he was Shadrach's father.
In 1768 THOMAS LEWELLIN witnessed the Will of DAVID POTTS. The same year JONAS POTTS died and listed his children. This Jonas must have been the son of Jonas because the children's names differ from that given above.
It appears by 1782 THOMAS LEWELLIN SR . had died. There's a document selling land that year by THOMAS LEWELLIN and Martha, his wife. Witnesses included SAMUEL LEWELLIN and JOHN LEWELLIN (one of both of them were from Monongalia County WV) February 1785, SHADRACH LEWELLIN died.
SAMUEL LEWELLIN in mentioned in the county starting 1761 when he's shown in the tithable list with Thomas. Samuel's son, DOCTOR, was born 1756 and the genealogical information on this family states Doctor was the last of the eight children Samuel had. Samuel's family later moved to Monongalia County, Virginia - later West Virginia.
We know Shadrach had more than just the children showing in the Quaker records because he also had a son Abednego who was in Davidson County, Tennessee, 1783. He probably also had a daughter Rachel who married Jonas Hatfield.
Landy Gobes - Feb 22, 2011
Billie, I know many people believe that Samuel was the father of Doctor. Does anyone have documentation or DNA proof for that?
I also thought he was, until I saw the tithing data from Loudoun Co. It is on this website, from Diane Langston, Aug 22, 2009. One can tell from the spacing on the list whether two men were tithing from the same household or not.
Tithing with Thomas Sr, from the same household, are:
1761 Thomas + Samuel
1762 T + Filip
1765 T, Sr. + Philip, Thomas, Jr.
1769 T + Francis
1770 T + Thomas, Jr., Francis
1771 T + Francis
1773 T + John
1774 T + John, Francis
1775 T + John
1776 T + Doctor
1779 T + John, Doctor
This suggests to me that Samuel, Philip, Tom Jr, Francis, John, and Doctor are sons of Thomas Lewellen, Sr. - they tithe in the household with their father and then move away.
Shadrack tithes in 1760, 1762, 1767, 1770, 1771, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, and 1783, but never from the same household as Thomas.
In 1765 there are 3 Thomas Lewellen's tithing. Two are from the same household; they are called Thomas Lewellen and Thom. Lewellen Jr. The other one is Thomas Lewellin.
The Thomas Lewellen who was married to Susanna signed his name (Susanna made her mark). The Thomas Lewellen who was married to Martha made his mark, as did his wife. Therefore I conclude they were different men. The Thomas Lewellen who was married to Susanna was witness to Quaker weddings and various documents, as he seems to have signed his name.
(This info about deeds and signatures comes from the Loudoun Co data posted here by Billie)
All this seems to support my ancestor John having been the son of Thomas; having been in the PA militia and married, having come back to Loudoun Co with his wife and 2 children in 1779, and then going west to KY and finally to Preble co, OH.\ where he died in 1827.
Landy
Landy Gobes - Feb 23, 2011
Billie, I am talking about the Thomas and Susannah who signed the deed with James John in Loudoun Co, VA in 1757 and 1765 to buy land near Jonas Potts.
Thomas Lewellen and Shadrack Lewellen were both witnesses of the marriage of Benjamin Burson and Ann Roberts in 1760.
In 1767 Shadrack and Deborah bought land in the same area, "on the drains of the Kittockton between Short Hill and the Blue Ridge Mountain.
In 1770 Thomas Lewellen bought land from Daniel Jones.
In 1772 Thomas and Susannah sold some of their land.
In 1782 Thomas and Martha sold the land that had come from Daniel Jones.
(All this is from your Loudoun Co, VA notes in the history section.)(This is also the area I took pictures of last fall, and it seems that Thomas and Shadrack both owned land here.)
I would think that Susanna had died and Thomas had married Martha, EXCEPT that the Thomas who married Martha made his mark on the deed, and the earlier Thomas signed. So I assume that Thomas the son made his mark, and that Thomas the father has died. This deed is witnessed by Samuel and John Lewellen.
Who are the earlier Thomas and Susannah? I think this Loudoun Co Thomas above must have died between 1780 when he tithed with 3 negros and 1782 when the above property is sold by Thomas and Martha.
Landy
Landy Gobes - Feb 25, 2011
Yes, Fayette Co came from Westmoreland Co as you noted in the chronology.
Fayette Co, PA is where the Duvall property is today, but while Catharine Eleanor Duvall's parents lived there it went back and forth between PA and Monongalia Co, VA.
The Duvall's lived very close to today's border between PA and WV and very close to the Cheat River and the Cheat Resevoir.
The Samuel Lewellen who married the widow Jones ran the Cheat River ferry.
John and Catharine Duvall Lewellen's first two children were born in VA, the middle batch in Nelson Co, KY, and the last one in Preble Co, OH.
I believe that most of the young men who first tithed in Loudoun Co went out to this PA/VA part of the world. Definitely Philip did and Shadrack's family did after he died in Loudoun Co.according to the Quaker records.
The John listed in Fayette in 1810 was a different one than my ancestor who died in Preble Co. This may be the other John from Loudoun Co, - younger than my guy, and probably related somehow.
Landy