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The name Nathaniel Francis has been
thoroughly researched. The name appeared on Halifax County Tax Lists from 1782 until 1801. In 1787 the name
Nathaniel Francis appeared on the Buckingham County, Tax List. According to descendants of the Buckingham
County Nathaniel Francis, he left Buckingham County in 1787 for Hancock County, Georgia where he drew blanks in
the 1805 land lottery. The name appeared on the Buckingham County, Virginia Tax List from 1811 until 1818 when
he moved to Franklin County, Tennessee. I have the names of six of the children of Nathaniel Francis. They were John
B. Francis, Joseph A. Francis, William A. Francis, Byrd Francis, Miles Francis, and Lawson Francis. William A.
Francis, according to later Census information, was born in Virginia (1797). Byrd, born in 1801, listed the place of his
birth in Census records as Georgia. Miles Francis, born 1811, listed the place of his birth in Census records as Virginia.
This information, alongside the Tax List information mentioned earlier, allows us to establish fairly closely, the
movement of Nathaniel Francis. He died in Franklin County, Tennessee prior to 1830.
Byrd Francis went to Bollinger County, Missouri. In 1860 he was living in the household with his son, William A. Francis, who was born in Tennessee in 1826. William was married, at the time to Narcissus Crites. This was his second marriage. The name of his first wife was Caroline Jones. Of the first union at least three children were born. Their names were Michael Francis, Peter Francis, and William Francis. Of the second union two sons and a daughter were born. Their names were John Francis, Arminta Francis, and Henry Francis.
In 1981 I corresponded with a lady from Ellington, Missouri. She was descended from a John Francis who was born in North Carolina in 1805. He married Ruth Reed who was born in Kentucky in 1830. This lady stated in one of her letters that the family of William A. Francis of Bollinger County, Missouri tied in with her family. But she didn't know exactly how. Nathaniel Francis had several children who were born between 1801 and 1811. It is believed by some that Nathaniel Francis settled briefly in North Carolina after leaving Georgia to return to Virginia. John Francis who married Ruth Reed was born in North Carolina in 1805. He may well have been a son of Nathaniel Francis. If he was then Nathaniel had two sons named John Francis. Admittedly this didn't happen often. But on occasion a father would name more than one son by the same name, especially if his first wife died, and the second son by the same name was born to a second wife. I can not say for certain. But the lady from Ellington, Missouri stated that the William A. Francis family in Bollinger County, Missouri was related to her John Francis.