Life History

Other facts

Notes

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  Gregorys and Fews in Migration Patterns from the 1700s
  By Orville Boyd Jenkins
  Posted on Ancestry.com 16 October 2017
  
  One factor in reconstructing a family lineage are patterns of movement and migration.  These migration paths are helpful in finding and evaluating records in our Gregory and related Few line.  We see Gregory records in a generational pattern along the migration streams along the tidewater area or valleys southwards and westward.
  
  Westward
  Records are being discovered in the westward line from Philadelphia through Frederick and Hagerstown, Maryland, through what is now West Virginia, still part of Virginia in the era we are looking at, and on to Ohio and Indiana.  Brothers John, Richard and Benjamin Gregory, thought to be sons of Isaac Gregory of Pennsylvania, are mentioned several times in lists of residents of old Frederick County, Virginia, a large area at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley, also on a common east-west migration route.
  
  Records for a younger Richard Gregory are found in Culpeper County and Fauquier County, Virginia, on this westward path south of the Pennsylvania border.  These two counties were established in 1749, cut out of Orange County, the original huge area from which Frederick County was originally established in 1743.  These counties bordered Frederick County on the east.
  
  Dates and locations of various records match a line of movement from the residence of Richard's likely grandfather Benjamin Gregory of Pennsylvania, into Frederick County, and later back to eastern Virginia in Prince William County, across the Potomac from Washington, DC.  This westward line of migration connects with the great Shenandoah Valley running southwestward along the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains in what is now West Virginia.
  
  Records for a Lewis Gregory, who appears to be a son of Benjamin, son of Isaac, are found along this Shenadoah Valley route then across into the part of Virginia that later became Kentucky, one of the areas where Fews and Gregorys come into contact.  This matches the pattern of residence and Gregory-Few marriages in some of these areas along this southward line of migration.  Details are found in individual notes for the Fews and Gregorys.  Gregorys from this lineage moved westward a bit to the part of Virginia that is now northern Kentucky.
  
  Southward
  Gregorys are found along the Shenandoah Valley which runs southwestward from Hagerstown to Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee, on the border, on through Jefferson and Cocke County, which were all one area of North Carolina, then East Tennessee (current I-81 to I-40 to Knoxville) in the 1700s and early 1800s and on toward Cherokee and contiguous counties in Alabama.
  
  We find Gregorys that appear to be from two different lineages who followed the Shenandoah or similar route from Philadelphia-Baltimore through Virginia into Tennessee, our line through the easterly route of the named east Tennessee counties, the other a bit more westerly, with members of both lines in Kentucky.
  
  These two lines seem to be connected to the same line from Pennsylvania and northern Virginia.  But there are indication of one or two separate migration streams in the same areas.  Early sources are not clear on these lines, and similar names in what may be different lineages seem to have been confused in some genealogies.
  
  I have been through all these areas and explored these lines of migration so have these in mind as I read through records and watch for connections and clues.
  
  Westward Ho
  Gregorys in the line of James Henry Gregory and Rachel Lewis are found in those counties of Tennessee from Jefferson-Cocke on to Knox, McMinn (where we find both these Gregorys, with apparently no crossover), Franklin, etc, in the westward migration route.  Gregorys of our lineage also seem to have moved northwestward through the mountain passes toward Louisville.
  
  Fews and Gregorys are connected in the states of Virginia, Kentucky (which was originally part of Virginia colony), North Carolina and Tennessee (which was originally part of North Carolina Colony) in several generations.  The Fews in North Carolina apparently followed the westerly route over the Smokies into Tennessee into Jefferson County, Tennessee, and surrounding counties where they connected again with the Gregory lineage.  We find them in the family of Francis Marion Few from North Carolina Jefferson County, Tennessee, where his daughter Letha married Andrew Jackson Gregory, my great great grandfather's brother.
  
  Crossflow
  Traffic went both ways along those Midwestern routes over a period of two centuries.  Fews moved into the Louisville, Kentucky, area from Indiana (across the Ohio River.  Gregorys and Fews also moved from eastern Tennessee into Kentucky.
  
  Great migrations northward occurred in the 1920s and later because of extensive floods along the Mississippi, destroying much of the Delta South.  The depression added to this exodus northward.  Midwestern droughts accelerated movement to California.  Further industrialization in the next two decades and after WWII accelerated this migration northward and westward.
  
  The geographical indicators are not only contiguous counties, but similarly in the counties along these common natural migration routes, which also reveal patterns of the same family decade to decade and generation to generation.  These patterns match the same kinds of patterns we find in ethnic investigations all over the world.
  ----------------------
  
  A family genealogy by Carolyn Cooper with sparse details appears to be reporting family memory information, and includes and outline of a family that matches James Henry Gregory's birth in 1826.  The oldest son Phillip, born in 1824, is the only one for whom full birth and death information are provided.  The child James would match our James Henry Gregory, born in 1826.  But we have reason to doubt some of these names, especially lacking any details at all.
  
  Richard Gregory, No vital details
  Parents:
  George Washington Gregory 1790- [may be death date instead of birth date; or the birth date for son George below]
  Mary Hawkins
  Marriage 25 Aug 1817 Fauquier County, Va to Dorcas Fishback (1781-)
  Birth of Son Phillip Gregory 09-09-1818 Virginia
  Other Children, no dates or details:
  Miranda Gregory
  James Gregory
  George Gregory
  William Gregory
  Death of Son Phillip Gregory October 1895 Bell County, Texas
  --  Carolyn Cooper, Ancestry, http://person.ancestry.com/tree/82712569/person/48465427962/facts?ftm=1
  
  There is some indication that this Richard may be the same Richard Gregory, also reported to have been born about 1780 in Virginia, as the son of another Richard Gregory in King William County, Virginia, whose line may not be connected to the Pennsylvania-Northern Virginia line.
  
  Carolyn does not comment in the genealogy on how she concluded these are all siblings.  Responding to an enquiry from Steve Squier, another Gregory research, Carolyn said of her source:
  "I have a genealogy page that my My Great Great Grand Mother and her daughter took from family Bible.  I do not know if it is right.  I received it from my Dads cousin Thomas Husband who died about 10 years ago and that was the only contact I had."
  --  Carolyn Cooper, email to Steve Squier, cited by Steve Squier, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 23 August 2017
  
  Steve suggests that perhaps children from another generation have been confused as children of Richard.
  
  "Phillip did have children named Miranda, James, George, and William, so perhaps someone just mistakenly attributed them as his siblings."
  --  Steve Squier, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 23 August 2017
  
  "We know there is a Richard Gregory who married a Dorcas Fishback in Fauquier Co., VA, which would explain why the name Dorcas keeps popping up [in later generations].  But based on the dates of birth for some of those proposed children above, I began to suspect that Richard might have been married previously and had children by his previous wife. I even predicted that the first wife might have been named Lucretia, which would explain why that name keeps appearing in connection with Dorcas in these families.  I therefore found it gratifying to discover another marriage record for a Richard Gregory in Fauquier Co., VA, to a Lucretia Jones, just early enough to account for the eldest proposed child."
  --  Steve Squier, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 23 August 2017
  
  Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1740-1850
  Richard Gregory
  Lucretia Jones
  Marriage 14 May 1806 Fauquier County, Virginia
  
  Marrying in 1806 would mean he was born around 1780-1785.  This is consistent with the 1810 census report for Richard Gregory in Fauquier County, Virginia, when both Richard and his wife were reported as between 26 and 44 years old.  Steve Squier has done an excellent job of analyzing early censuses along with family groupings reported in later censuses to reconstruct a likely family configuration for Richard Gregory and his children.
  
  --------------------
  As it turns out, all of my above hypotheses are supported by the censuses of 1810, 1830, and 1840 for Richard's household (the 1820 census of Tennessee being lost). Here is how I propose to account for the tally-marks in each of those years:
  
  1810 Fauquier Co., VA
  male 26-44 = Richard Gregory
  female 26-44 = Lucretia Jones
  female <10 = Sarah Ann Gregory (b. ~1807 VA)
  male <10 = an unidentified son (b. 1801-1810) [appears to be William, based on later discoveries by Steve]
  female <45 = an elderly relative
  female <45 = an elderly relative
  
  1830 Jefferson Co., TN
  male 40-49 = Richard Gregory
  female 40-49 = Dorcas Fishback
  [note that Sarah Ann is out of the household, having been married the previous February]
  male 20-29 = unidentified son (b. 1801-1810) [William]
  male 15-19 = Few H. Gregory (b. ~1813 VA)
  male 10-14 = Phillip Gregory (b. ~1817 VA)
  female 10-14 = Lucretia Gregory (b. ~1819 TN)
  female 5-9 = Mary Jane Gregory (b. ~1820 TN)
  female 5-9 = Susan Gregory (b. ~1821 TN)
  male 5-9 = James Henry Gregory (b. Apr 1826 TN)
  male 60-69 = an elderly relative
  female 60-69 = an elderly relative
  
  1840 Jefferson Co., TN
  male 50-59 = Richard Gregory
  female 50-59 = Dorcas Fishback
  [the unidentified son and Few are now out of the household, Few having been married in 1834]
  male 20-29 = Phillip Gregory (b. ~1817 VA)
  female 20-29 = Lucretia Gregory (b. ~1819 TN)
  female 20-29 = Mary Jane Gregory (b. ~1820 TN)
  female 15-19 = Susan Gregory (b. ~1821 TN)
  male 15-19 = James Henry Gregory (b. Apr 1826 TN)
  female 5-9 = Cynthia Gregory (b. ~1831/32 TN)
  --  Steve Squier, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 23 August 2017
  --------------------
  
  After the death of Lucretia Jones, Richard married Dorcas Fishback, which is the only wife most genealogies have.
  
  Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1740-1850
  Darcus Fishback
  Spouse Name Richard Megrigory [McGrigory ?]
  Marriage 25 Aug 1817 Fauquier County, Virginia
  (no image available to confirm)
  
  Various compilations of the same old records seem to reflect this same couple, with Richard's name variations of McGregory.  This is consistent with the claims by Gregory lineage researcher Nathan Gregory that his line of Gregorys go back through Northern Ireland to the McGregor clan centuries before.
  
  U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
  Darcus Fishback
  Spouse Name Richard Megrig [McGrig ?] Mcgrigory [McGrigory]
  Marriage 1817 VA
  
  The following 1930 census record for another Richard Gregory.  This would likely be Richard's son by his first wife Lucretia Jones.  But a child named Richard has not been firmly documented for Richard and Lucretia.  Even if they had a son named Richard, he should be younger than the age range reported for the one male reported here in Richard Gregory's household in 1830.  This may be a cousin of Richard's, but he has not been identified.
  
  The Gregory family lived in Jefferson County and neighboring Cocke County, Tennessee.  This record reports only one male in the household of Richard Gregory, age between 30 and 39.
  
  1830 Federal Census, Cocke County, Tennessee
  Richard Gregory
  1 Free White Male - 30 thru 39
  3 Free White Females - Under 5
  1 Free White Females - 30 thru 39:      1
  4 Free White Under 20
  2 Free White 20 thru 49
  Total Free White 6
  6 Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored
  
  In the 1840 census, Few Gregory, in his own household in Jefferson County, was reported as 20-30 years old.  Steve Squier estimates above that Few was born in 1813, which would fit there.  Since Richard and Dorcas married in August 1817, Few would have been the son of Lucretia Jones.  This would be a third child for Lucretia after the male under age 10 reported in the 1810 census above.  Phillip most likely was the son of Dorcas after her marriage to Richard in 1817, making him born some time in 1818.
  
  If the birth state report for Phillip is correct, the interval between the birth of Phillip and James would allow time for a move from north central Virginia (Fauquier County, locale of Phillip's father Richard) to Jefferson County, Tennessee, where James [matching the James Henry in our family tradition and marriage records] was born in 1826.
  
  In the 1850 census, there is a Philip Gregory with his family in Cherokee County, the same county where Henry Gregory is living.  The recent research and analysis by Steve Squier makes a good case for both Phillip and Henry being sons of Richard and Dorcas.  His reconstruction on the 1830 census above shows that the configuration of Richard and Dorcas' household would accommodate that relationship.
  
  Carolyn Cooper reports a credible configuration for Richard Gregory's parents and siblings.  But again she has few details.  She does report that Richard's father, George Washington Gregory, came from England.  But G W had a son named George, who matches the older George in the 1840 census above.  George Washington was the nephew of Mildred Warner Washington, who married Roger Gregory.
  
  They, in fact were the original owners of Mt Vernon, which they deeded over to Mildred's brother.  That is how the plantation came into the Washington family to be inherited by George Washington, who became President of the United States.  Mildred's first husband had been John Lewis.
  
  In 1837, Richard's son William, born about 1809, died.  Richard was appointed his administrator.  But Richard died before the estate was finally settled, and by 1853 probate was still open on William's estate.  We are not sure exactly when Richard died.  His daughter Susan Gregory had married Isaac Rinehart, and Isaac was appointed the new administrator of William's estate.  It is not clear what year Isaac was appointed.
  
  -------------------------------
  1853
  Theodore I. Bradford & William Evans v. A. S. Mason, et al.
  
  Jefferson County, Tennessee
  
  Estate Dispute/Settlement
  
  William Gregory [son of Richard Gregory and Lucretia Jones of Virginia], died intestate, his estate settled [?]. Richard Gregory [father of William] was made admr of the estate, then he died.
  
  Isaac Rhinehart [husband of Susan Gregory, William's sister] was then made executor of the Gregory estate, which was insolvent.
  Bradford & Evans were security on the estate, sued to settle the estate.
  
  Mentioned: Sarah Gregory [Sarah Ann Gregory, daughter of Richard and his first wife Lucretia Jones], Isaac Rhinehart [husband of Susan Gregory], D. A. Gregory [Darthula A Gregory, daughter of William Gregory and Mary Ann (Bragg)], M. I. Gregory [probably MJ, for Mary Jane, daughter of Richard], Susan Gregory Rhinehart [daughter of Richard Gregory and Dorcas Fishback of Jefferson County, Tennessee], Philip Gregory [son of Richard Gregory], James Webb [husband of Lucretia Gregory], Lucretia [Gregory, Richard's daughter] Webb, James Gregory [James Henry Gregory of Jefferson County, Tennessee, brother of William and son of Richard].
  
  East Range 5, Section A, Shelf 3, Box Number 8a, p 117
  
  --  Tennessee Supreme Court Cases, Tennessee State Library and Archives, https://supreme-court-cases.tennsos.org/search?search=1&search_fields%5B%5D=case_name%2Ccause%2Cnotes&search_fields%5B%5D=case_name&search_fields%5B%5D=cause&search_fields%5B%5D=notes&county=Jefferson&start_year=&end_year=&search_keywords=Gregory
  -------------------------------
  
  By 1859, William's estate was involved in another lawsuit.  It is not quite clear from the summary records we have seen, but it appears the probate case was still open.  William was Richard Gregory's son by his first wife, Lucretia Jones, who apparently died in Virginia.  Richard was appointed administrator of William's estate, but never assigned the proper proportion of the estate, in the form of dower land, to William's widow, Mary Ann, who subsequently married Andrew Mason along the way.  Richard died during the probate process, and this may be the reason he did not get to the dower land assignment.
  
  -------------------------------
  1859
  
  Andrew L. & Mary Ann Mason v. B. J.& Dorthula A. Ward
  Jefferson County, Tennessee
  
  Fraud
  
  Defendant's name is Benjamin F Ward.  William Gregory died owning land on south side of French Broad River, leaving plaintiff Mary Ann (who later married Andrew) as his widow.  Richard Gregory, deceased, administered William's estate but never assigned dower to Mary Ann, so Plaintiffs now claims dower out of that land.  William & Mary Ann had 1 child, Defendant Dorthula.  At time of suit, both parties lived on the land at issue. Plaintiffs claim Defendants are trying to cheat & defraud them out of Mary Ann's dower.
  
  East Range 7, Section G, Shelf 1, Box Number 680, page 126
  
  --  Tennessee Supreme Court Cases, Tennessee State Library and Archives, https://supreme-court-cases.tennsos.org/search?search=1&search_fields%5B%5D=case_name%2Ccause%2Cnotes&search_fields%5B%5D=case_name&search_fields%5B%5D=cause&search_fields%5B%5D=notes&county=Jefferson&start_year=&end_year=&search_keywords=Gregory
  -------------------------------
  
  -------------------------------
  I found this regarding Tenn laws.
  Dower:
  The English common law system of “dower rights” for widows was brought to America by our early colonists. These dower rights entitled a widow to a lifetime one-third interest of her husband’s estate upon his death. The husband could die intestate yet the widow’s one-third share would still be recognized. Because of the dower rights of a married woman and her legal interest in any land being sold or purchased, most early deeds will include the wife. In 1945, a U.S. federal law abolished dower.
  --  Erin M L, Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 15 June 2019
  -------------------------------
  
  George Washington Gregory
  BIRTH 14 Dec 1790 England
  DEATH Unknown
  Spouse Mary Hawkins
  BIRTH England, DEATH Unknown
  Richard Gregory BIRTH 20 Aug 1795, DEATH Unknown
  Few Hall Gregory
  Susannah H Gregory
  George Gregory
  --  Carolyn Cooper, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/82712569/person/48465534249/facts
  
  This Cooper family configuration is of interest to this genealogy because James Henry Gregory later married Rachel Lewis.  Lewises also lived in the Virginia counties where the Gregorys lived and the two lineages had intermarried in earlier generations.  These facts strengthen the reconstruction here.  James Henry and Rachel had a grandson named George.

Sources

• 1. 1880 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • District 5, page 515B
• 2. 1810 Federal Census, Fauquier County, Virginia
• 3. Ancestry Trees
• 4. Tennessee State Archives
• 5. Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1740-1850
• 6. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• 7. 1830 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
• 8. 1840 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
• 9. 1850 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 25 October, District 13, page 143-144, Hse #992, Fam #1034
• 10. 1870 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 23 July, District 3, P O Dandrige, page 2 (scan 337), Hse/56#1034
• 11. 1880 Federal Census, Bell County, Texas
  • 14 June, Justice Precinct 5, District 5, page 24, Hse/Fam #207
• 12. 1870 Federal Census, Washington County, Arkansas
  • [no date] September, Cave Hill Township, PO Boonesboro, page 9 (scan 85), Hse #48, Fam #49
• 13. 1880 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 16 June, Civil District 5, Enumeration District 177, 34B, Hse #279, Fam #283
• 14. 1860 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 6 September, P O Not Reported, page 328, Hse #2325, Fam #2368
• 15. 1900 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 20 June, 5th Civil District, Enumeration District 45, page 10A, Hse #162, Fam #169
• 16. 1850 Federal Census, Cherokee County, Alabama
  • 7 February 1851 [sic], 26th District, Page 61A , Hse #821
• 17. 1880 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 16 June, Civil District 5, Enumeration District 177, p 34B, Hse #280, Fam #284
• 18. Mary Ellen Parker Genealogy Research
  • Email of 4 May 2000 to Alfred and Pam Gregory
• 19. 1860 Federal Census, Cherokee County, Alabama
  • 11 June, District 3, PO Ringgold, page 7, Hse/Fam #37
• 20. 1850 Federal Census, Cherokee County, Alabama
  • 26 (?) October, District 26, Hse/Fam #531
• 21. 1860 Federal Census, Independence County, Arkansas
  • 12 September, Greenbriar Township, PO Alderbrook, pages 313 (scan 307), Hse/Fam #2122
• 22. Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957
• 23. 1870 Federal Census, Indpendence County, Arkansas
  • 25 June, Greenbriar Township, PO Batesville, page 15 (scan 98), Hse #102, Fam #142
• 24. Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008
• 25. 1840 Federal Census, Jefferson County, Tennessee
  • 1 June 1840, no number on this page, p 344
• 26. 1850 Federal Census, Washington County, Arkansas
  • 25 September, Cane Hill, p 10, Hse/Fam #60
• 27. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 28. 1860 Federal Census, Washington County, Arkansas
  • 12 June, Mountain Township, PO Ada, page 41-42 (scan 519), Hse #281, Fam #70 [sic]
• 29. 1870 Federal Census, Washington County, Arkansas
  • [no date] August, Mountain Township, PO Billingsly, page 179B, Hse #149, Fam #153
• 30. 1880 Federal Washington County, Arkansas
  • 3 June, District 210, page 3 (scan 604C), Hse/Fam #24