about 17601,2 - about Apr 18253,4
Life History
about 1760 |
Born in Virginia.1,2 |
14th Mar 1784 |
Married Mourning CHRISTIAN in Amherst County, Virginia.2,5 |
about 1800 |
Birth of son Drury B CHRISTIAN.4 |
about 1802 |
Birth of son Thomas C CHRISTIAN.4 |
about 1805 |
Birth of son John A CHRISTIAN.4 |
before 1807 |
Death of Mourning CHRISTIAN.2 |
6th Mar 1808 |
Birth of daughter Cenas CHRISTIAN.7,2 |
6th Mar 1808 |
Birth of daughter Pyrene CHRISTIAN.7,2 |
13th Apr 1811 |
Birth of daughter Sarah CHRISTIAN in Franklin County, Georgia.8,7,7,2 |
after 13th Apr 1811 |
Death of Elizabeth OGLESBY in Franklin County, Georgia.7 |
after 13th Apr 1811 |
Married Frances CONNALLY in Franklin County, Georgia.7 |
before 1825 |
Birth of daughter Mary CHRISTIAN |
about Apr 1825 |
Died in Franklin County, Georgia.3,4 |
Notes
- "Drury (or Drewry) Christian, whose birth date ranges between 1750 and 1793 in various trees, but the best support is for the way you have it, namely about 1760. He had three wives that we know of, Mornin (or Mourning) Christian, daughter of Charles Hunt Christian and Mary Leake; Frances Elizabeth Oglesby, whom for the moment we have no choice but to accept as mother of Cenas, Pyrene, and Sally; and Frances Connally. Only for Mornin Christian do we have actual Virginia marriage records, one each for 4 Mar 1784 and 4 Mar 1785. After the last child was born of this marriage, in 1799, there was a jump until 1808, when Cenas and Pyrene were born, followed by Sarah Frances "Sally" in 1811. Unless all the trees that list Frances Elizabeth Oglesby as their mother is wrong (I have found no actual marriage record, [Frances Oglesby is the mother of these three daughters].)"
-- James Jones, Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 11 January 2018
-----------------------
Two index records on Ancestry.com report the marriage or a Morning Christian to a Drury Christian in Amherst County, Virginia. No copy of the actual record has been found. These, however, have the date as 14 March, and the year is 1784. Being index listings, one is given in each name. These also have the advantage of specifying a county in Virginia. Amherst County matches other information about this Drury Christan.
Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1660-1800
Drury Christian
Mornin Christian
Marriage 14 Mar 1784 Amherst County, Virginia
Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1660-1800
Mornin Christian
Drury Christian
Marriage 14 Mar 1784 Amherst County, Virginia
A third record collection, matches this except the reported year in this index record is 1785 rather than 1784. This record also reports Drury's father as Robert Christian, while other reconstructions of our Drury Christian's family indicate that Drury's father was John T Christian. This may indicate that Morning/Mornin/Mourning Christan married s different, but related, Drury Christian that the one who married Elizabeth Oglesby. The exact date of the marriage one year later, however, is very suspicious.
Virginia, Select Marriages, 1785-1940
Drury Christian
Marriage 14 Mar 1785 Amherst County, Virginia
Father Robert Christian
Spouse Mornin Christian
One index record, however, does report a Drury Christian born about 1750, rather than about 1760, as we find for most sources on our Drury Christian, husband of Elizabeth Oglesby and
Frances (Fanny) Connally. (See note with transcription below.)
Some genealogies also report the father of our Drury Christian, husband of Elizabeth Oglesby and Frances Connally, as Robert Thomas Connally, matching this marriage record of Drury and Morning Christian. Other Christian descendants and researchers, such as James Jones, report that his father was Capt John B Christian (1745-1805), and that his father was Robert Thomas Christian. The birth date generally given for Capt John Christian, however, and as reported in the Jones genealogy, is 5 January 1745 in Amherst, Amherst, Virginia. The place matches the same clan of Christians, and Captain John's death is reported as Death 2 February 1805 in Franklin County, Georgia, which also fits.
A problem, though, is that the birth date of Drury Christian, while it varies from 1750 to 1793 in genealogies. Such variance in dates is no doubt due to the confused of the large number of individuals named Drury in some trees, Taking the date we have settled on for Drury as 1760, that means Captain was that John would have been only 15 years old when Drury was born. If you put Drury's birth much later, it creates multiple conflicts with records for his known children.
Some other documentation exists in the simple name Drury Christian exists, but it is difficult to relate to the other more definite records or to interpret for identification.
No further documentation has been found for this marriage or any children from their union. Likewise, no death date has been found for Mornin/Morning/Mourning Christian. No genealogy listing her has any information. James informed me on 14 January 2018 that in light of our collaborative research on her and this family over the last several days, he had decided to drop Mornin as a wife, given the almost nil documentation and uncertainty of her identity.
On possible solution is that the Drury Christian who married Mornin Christian (also a member of this same clan, so a cousin of some degree), was a cousin also of our Drury. This would require accommodation of his other two known marriages and children's births to allow a later birth date that might fit with a birth of Captain John in 1745. So much more fun yet to come i, or mystery to retain!
At this pint (22 January 2018, I see no clear way to determine which Drury is which. The quest continues.
----------------------
Drury's will (see below) mentions four daughters and three sons. It would appear from what we know that the three sons, named Drury B, Thomas C and John A, were the sons of Drury's wife Frances Elizabeth Oglesby, as were the three older daughters Pyrene, Cenas (both born in 1808) and Sarah (Sallie, born 1811). These sons are already of majority age at the time of the will, March 1825.
No birth records have been found for the three sons. A fourth daughter named Mary was named a s a minor child in Drury's will, as appears to be the daughter of Frances Connally, who survived Drury when he died in 1825.
Info and records on this family are incomplete and inconsistent. But the picture is beginning to fill out and the understanding of this family is expanding. The thing is, there are several individuals named Drury.Christian. And records are sparse or vague. Mourning Christian may fit as a related cousin (a common form of marriage in the old days in the eastern colonies and states) whom this or another Drury Christian married, but she is at this point a shadowy figure.
The following record is attached to Drury Christian, reporting his birth in 1750, even though the genealogies report the birth date as 1760.
American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI)
Drury Christian
Birth 1750 Virginia
Volume 28, Page #383
Heads of Fams. at the first U.S. census. Va
By U.S. Bureau of the Census. Washington, 1908. (189p.): 48
Drury's probate documents mention his wife several times as Frances Christian. Frances married James Ramsay about 4 years after Drury's death, in 1829.
Drury's will names his heirs and executors. No other documentation has been found on these three sons. It will be assumed that, lacking any other information, these, like the older daughters, are the children of Frances Elizabeth Oglesby.
Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Drury Christian, Will written 7 March 1825
Probate Franklin County, Georgia, appraisers appointed 30 April 1825
Heirs named:
Wife Frances Christian
Daughters Pyrene, Cenas, Sarah and Mary (described in other documents as minor child, with guardian Charles Jones)
Sons Drury B, Thomas C and John A
Wife Frances Christian appointed Executrix of the estate, and his friends Thomas Jones and George Stovall as Executors
Three witnesses presented Drury's will for recording on 7 March 1825. The witness Margaret Jones was Frances Connally Christian's sister, wife of Thomas Jones.
----------------------------
Witnesses affidavit to record will;
This is the back side of the actual paper on which Drury hand wrote his will, which we can clearly see bleeding through.
Affidavit of Jas [James] H Little, C C Christian and Margaret Jones; Presenting "Drury Christians last will & testament."
Sworn in open court, Franklin County, Georgia, 7 March 1825
Recorded in Franklin County, Georgia, Will Book M
**
Note that this is when the will was written and recorded, not when probate was opened, which is documented in other probate documents. The actual minutes of probate court sessions are not included in the packet, as it is in some states' counties. No date of death is mentioned in the probate documents and none has been found elsewhere.
**
-- Orville Boyd Jenkins, 14 January 2017
-----------------------------
Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Drury Christian, deceased
Estate of Mary Christian minor heir of Drury Christian, deceased in account with Charles Jones, Guardian
Accounts of debits paid on Mary's behalf from her estate, up to the last date of January 1831
Probate Franklin County, Georgia, USA
Death abt 1830 Georgia
(back)
Court Term 1832
Sworn 5 March 1832
Unbound Estate Records, 1786-1900, Chandler, Joseph-Cockran, Daniel H
Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Drury Christian, deceased
Estate of Mary Christian minor heir of Drury Christian, deceased in account with Charles Jones, Guardian
Accounts of debits paid on Mary's behalf from her estate, up to the last date of January 1831
Probate Franklin County, Georgia, USA
Death abt 1830 Georgia
Court Term 1833
Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992
Drury Christian, Estate
George H Stovall, Executor
Accounting of funds paid over and above funds available in the estate.
Paid to Fanny Christian, Executrix, $150 & $34
Other charges paid above the receipts to the estate
Sworn in court 2 March 1835
Probate Franklin County, Georgia
"Another name in the will jumped out at me: Joel T. Haley, related somehow to Margaret Connally Jones, married Thomas Jones's daughter Frances. Their great niece Lucy Cline wrote a stunning description (in RootsWeb entry for Russell T. Jones Sr.) of the glory that once was the Thomas Jones home, with seven large fireplaces and chimneys, near the old fort outside Madisonville, Georgia. Joel carved his 1802 birth date on top of the mantel in the front parlor. There was a Joel T. Haley Jr., then the Third. The family made it big in the grocery business in Chattanooga."
-- James Jones, Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 14 January 2018
"In the original Ancestry packet it is Image 573, "A Return of the Estate of Drury B. Christian dcd." Besides Joel T. Haley, names include Permelia [Thomasina Jones] Attaway, Thomas Jones's youngest sister; Thomas Jones, Charles Jones, Samuel Connally, William L. Connally, William L. Connally, and Mary Christian."
-- James Jones, Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 21 January 2018
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