Ancestors of Gerri (Stewart, Miller, Henley) Ingram
Generation No. 1
1. CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN died
1618. He married WINANUSKE NONOMA.
Child of CHIEF POWHATAN and WINANUSKE NONOMA is:
2. i. PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS,
b. Abt. 1595, VA; d. March 21, 1616/17, Gravesend, England.
Generation No. 2
2. PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS
(CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN) was
born Abt. 1595 in VA, and died March 21, 1616/17 in Gravesend, England.
She married JOHN ROLFE 1614 in Jamestown, VA.. He was born May 06, 1585
in Heachum, England, and died March 10, 1621/22 in VA.
Notes for PRINCESS MATOAKA POCAHONTAS:
Pocahontas was born about 1594 as Matoaka, in the village of Werowocomoco,
located on the north shore of the Pamunkey River (now called the York
River), some eleven miles downstream from the present city of West Point,
VA. Her father was Chief Powhatan who became chief of the 32-tribe Powatanas
in 1570. The Powatan Confederacy were a well organized, thriving agricultural
and fishing nation with a total population in the neighborhood of about
9,000 at the time Matoaka was born.
Prior to the English landing on 20 May 1607, and the establishment
of Jamestown, Powhatan's people knew of the Spanish Jesuit (1570-1571)
murdered Pamunkey River mission and they heard of the ill-fated (1580)settlement
made by the English on the Carolina banks. They had entertained a ship
that entered the Pamunkey River about two years prior to Captain Christopher
Newport's flotilla. The earlier ship, which had been received in kindness,
slew the Chief of the Powhantan's Rappahannocks tribe and took some
of his people as hostages or slaves. Therefore, there is no wonder that
Powhatan opposed the making of any settlement on his lands. Some 200
of Powhatan's people attacked Jamestown, killing one boy and wounding
seventeen men. Thereafter, Capt. Newport and two of the three ships
left for England. The great Powhatan sent word of peace and a deer as
an offering of good faith to (President ) Edward Maria Wingfield. It
may have been after this time that Matoaka visited the settlement and
was known as Pocahontas. The name Pocahontas was derived from the Algonquin
adjective meaning "playful one, sportive, frolicsome, mischievous, frisky"
and it appears that this became Matoaka's nickname. It is interesting
how the English described her in 1610 - "of a color Brown, or rather
tawny and her age was somewhere between twelve and fourteen. Round faced,
with the fore part of her grosse and thick black hair shaven close,
and the very long thicker part being tied in a pleat hanging down to
her hips." It was also reported that she liked to do cartwheels while
playing with the children, which may have made her appear virtually
naked to the prudent colonist.
The settlers were advised not to let the Indians see or know of any
sick persons and not to advertise the killing of any of their men. But,
of the 100 men and four boys left in Jamestown, when the two ships sailed
back to England, only forty were alive by December. The remainder, using
the James River for their drinking water as well as for their sewer,
were destroyed with cruel diseases described as "swellings (salt water
poisoning), Fixes (dysentery), Burning Fever (typhoid), and by warres.
Some departed suddenly, but most of them died of meere famine." Pocahontas
and her friends were credited with saving the survivors from starvation.
The myth of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas will be explained later.
However, in September of 1609, Captain Smith was returning from a trip
to the falls of the James River in an effort to expand the colony beyond
Jamestown. He was injured while sleeping when a powder-bag exploded
and tore flesh from his body and thighs, nine or ten inches square.
To quench the tormenting fire, he leaped overboard into the river near
what is now the city of Richmond, VA.
Meanwhile, Powhatan wanted to be a greater distance from the colonists.
Toward the end of January of 1609 he moved his residence to a site near
Orapaks, located on the upper reaches of the Chicahominy River, some
fifty miles from Jamestown.
In the spring of 1612 (?), Capt. Samuel Argall, who was trading for
corn along the river, learned that Pocahontas was nearby. Somehow he
talked the natives he was trading with to invite her to dinner with
him aboard his ship. Argall then took Pocahontas to Jamestown and held
her as a hostage, at first to ransom eight English men, many swords,
and other tools her father had captured. Relations between Powhatan
and the Virginians had become strained, and Argall also hoped to use
Pocahontas as a shield to prevent her father from burning Jamestown
and also to negotiate a peace.
During this time, Pocahontas met John Rolfe who fell in love and asked
permission to marry he. Governor Thomas Daile readily agreed as he felt
it would benefit Jamestown and the colony. John Rolfe was a very religious
man who agonized for many weeks over the decision to marry Pocahontas,
a "strange wife, a heathen Indian." He finally decided to marry Pocahontas
after she had been converted to Christianity, "for the good of the plantation,
the honor of our country, for the glory of God, for mine own salvation...."
Pocahontas was baptized, christened Rebecca, and then married John Rolfe
on 5 Apr 1614. John Rolfe was the first gentleman to plant tobacco in
VA and was well respected among the colonists. A general peace and a
spirit of goodwill between the English and the Indians resulted from
this marriage. Her father was also pleased with the proposal and news
of his daughter's wedding. Powhatan sent her uncle, Opachisco, to give
her away as his deputy in the church and to see the marriage blessed.
Two of Matoaka's brothers also attended the wedding. Pocahontas and
John were married in the Anglican Church in Jamestown on 5 Apr 1614.
Powhatan gave the newlyweds property on which Captain John Smith had
built a small fort, used a a military outpost in the expansion of the
colony. Today, Fort Smith is in Surry Co., VA just across the James
River and is used as a visitor center.
Pocahontas, now Rebecca Rolfe, gave birth to a son, Thomas Rolfe in
1615. Young Thomas was cared for by Pocahontas, and by her half-sister,
Matachanna and her husband Tomocomo. Early in 1616, Governor Daile,
along with John Rolfe and his family, departed for England. Matachanna
and her husband Tomocomo, along with several other young Powhatan men
and women went along. Upon their arrival in England, Pocahontas (Rebecca
Rolfe) and her husband were well received by the Royal court. They had
an audience with the king and queen who considered her as a princess
partly due to the diligent care of John Rolfe (spelled Wrolfe in England).
Pocahontas deserves her due credit, as she was well liked and in every
manner a lady of the Royal Court from VA.
Pocahontas did meet Captain John Smith in England and here is where
the myth comes in. Captain John Smith wrote his memoirs after he went
back to England and before Pocahontas was a smash with the Royal Court.
Nowhere in the original script of his memoirs is there any mention of
Pocahontas saving his live by laying across his body,or that he was
about to be killed and that she saved him. Now, he met Pocahontas again
and discovered that she was highly thought of by the English court.
Only after she died did he rewrite his story to include an account of
Pocahontas saving his life. Apparently, Captain John Smith's popularity
was in decline until he re-associated himself with Pocahontas. They
were friends in VA, and she did befriend the colonist, but the story
that history has accepted as truth is highly questionable in the mind
of the researcher, Ed Mentz (GFS Ed.)
After seven months Rolfe decided to return his family to VA and in
March of 1617 they set sail. It was soon apparent, however, that Pocahontas
would not survive the voyage home. She fell gravely ill aboard ship
and died on 21 Mar 1616. She died from pneumonia or possibly tuberculosis.
She was taken ashore, and, as she lay dying,she comforted her husband,
saying , "all must die, but 'tis enough that the child liveth." She
was buried in a churchyard in Gravesend, England. She was only 22 years
old.
Her funeral was at Saint George's Parish Church in Gravesend, England.
Services were given by the Reb. Nicholas Frankwell, and attending the
funeral were her husband, John Rolfe, Captain Argall, the Deputy Governor
of VA and Rophe Hamor. Her grave reads, as entered into the church record:
"1616 March 21, Rebecca Wrolfe, Wyffe of Thomas John Wrolfe, Gentleman,
a Virginia Lady borne was buried in ye chancell. Entered by Rev. Nicholas
Frankwell."
Young Thomas Rolfe stayed in England and lived with his uncle, Henry
Rolfe,(some sources state it was his grandparents) in London while his
father and native American aunt and uncle (Matachanna and Tomocomo)
returned to VA. The descendants of Pocahontas, come from her only son,
Thomas Rolfe. Within seven successive generations, many educators, ministers,
statesmen, and lawmakers descended from Pocahontas. Several surnames
associated with her line are: Blair, Bolling, Lewis, Jefferson, Randolph,
Halbert, Hill. The great-great-great grandson of Pocahontas, John Bolling,
married Martha Jefferson, sister of President Thomas Jefferson.
Credits for above information:
Pocahontas by Stuart E. Brown, Jr.
Pocahontas and her Descendants, published by Genealogical Publishing
Co., 1968
Ancestors and Descendants of Francis Eppes of Virginia
Research by Beverly Dorman in Virginia
Article - Pocahontas, Truth and Myth by Ed Mentz (GFS-Ed)
Some information on Princess Pocahontas came from The Association for
the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. "Pocahontas." Internet - http://www/apva.org/history/pocahont.html.
I feel without the influence of Pocahontas, we might today be an English
Colony instead of United States.
Volume IV
Chapter XII Bolling Family.
Pocahontas and Some of Her Descendants Through the Rolfe-Bollings.
In the marriage of Capt. John Rolfe and Pocahontas, we have the nearest
approach of Christian civilization and savagery on record. She must
have been a unique creation, her duplicate has never been found. She
was a savage, and until ten years of age her only teacher was untrained
nature; yet her quick discrimination and ready intuition, always choosing
the good, the best, the highest, and receiving most trustingly the pure,
the spirituelle, the beautiful, proves her to have been endowed with
the highest and most ennobling traits that have ever blessed humanity.
Volume IV
Chapter XII Bolling Family.
Pocahontas and Some of Her Descendants Through the Rolfe-Bollings.
For over a year Pocahontas was held as a hostage by Gov. Dale and
lived in his family. During these months she proved a willing and apt
scholar in many things. An old chronicle says quaintly, "When instructed
in the Christian religion she made good progress and was baptized."
While staying with Gov. Dale, she met a young Englishman, one Capt.
John Rolfe, Gent., of the old family of Beacham Hall, County Suffolk,
England. They were married at Jamestown, and, a year or so later, Capt.
Rolfe took her to England, where she became the guest of the Virginia
Company, was introduced at court and received marked attention from
the Queen and her ladies. She was also "entertained with special and
extraordinary state festival and pomp by the Lord Bishop of London."
Imagine what the contrast must have been to her, taken from the wigwam
of an Indian chief, to the palace of England's queen. Some one has said,
"It was small wonder this wild flower of the wilderness drooped and
died when transported to the hot bed of civilization."
Volume IV
Chapter XII Bolling Family.
Pocahontas and Some of Her Descendants Through the Rolfe-Bollings.
The health of Pocahontas became affected by the excitement and strain
of court life, and she pined for her baby boy. In 1617 Capt. Rolfe determined
to return to America, and took passage on a vessel belonging to the
Virginia Company, which was specially fitted up for the comfort of his
wife; but on the eve of her embarkation, she died at Gravesend, and
was buried under the chancel of St. George's Church, where the tablet
erected to her memory and record of her death and burial may still be
seen. On the tablet is inscribed, "Pocahontas Rebecca Rolfe, b. 1595;
d. 1617, wyff of John Rolfe, Gent." At "Beacham Hall," Norfolk, England,
there is a handsome portrait of her, painted in 1616, by de Passe.
Volume IV
Chapter XII Bolling Family.
Pocahontas and Some of Her Descendants Through the Rolfe-Bollings.
The name of Rolfe is Danish and first occurs in history when Rolfe
Kroke was King of Denmark. This special branch of the Rolfes are recorded
as owners of Beacham Hall, County Norfolk, where they were living as
far back as 1560. The first entry in the record is the marriage of Eustace
Rolfe to Jener (Joanna). These were the grandparents of John Rolfe.
The record further states that John Rolfe, son of John Rolfe and Dorothea
Mason, was b. May 6, 1585. John Rolfe, Jr., was one of the prominent
characters of his time, being the first Secretary of State and Recorder
General of Virginia, also a member of the Royal Council for the colony.
Thomas Rolfe, the only child of John Rolfe, Jr., and Pocahontas Rebecca,
b. 1615 in the colony, after the melancholy death of his young mother
was taken in charge by his uncle, Henry Rolfe, of London, by whom he
was reared to manhood. In 1640, when he was twenty-five years old, he
came to Virginia and took possession of his property, called "Varina,"
located some sixteen miles below Richmond. The Rev. William Stith, President
of William and Mary College, speaks of him in his "History of Virginia"
as "a man ofdistinction and fortune" in the colony. In Hening's Statutes
we find the following entry, "And be it further
enacted and granted that Left. Thomas Rolfe shall have and enjoy for
himself and his heirs forever ffort James, ole Chickahominy ffort, with
four hundred acres of land adjoining the same, with all the houses and
edifices belonging to the said ffort, provided the said Left. Rolfe
doe keepe and maintaine sixe men upon the place during the term and
tyme of three years, for which tyme he, said Left. Rolfe, for himself
and sixe men, are exempted from publique tax." That Thomas Rolfe should
have been entrusted by the government with so important a position shows
him to have been a man of high standing, possessing the confidence of
the leading men of the time.
Notes for JOHN ROLFE:
John Rolfe was a very religious man who agonized for many weeks over
the decision to marry Pocahontas, a "strange wife, a heathen Indian."
He finally decided to marry Pocahontas after she had been converted
to Christianity, "for the good of the plantation, the honor of our country,
for the glory of God, for mine own salvation...." Pocahontas was baptized,
christened Rebecca, and then married John Rolfe on 5 Apr 1614. A general
peace and a spirit of goodwill between the English and the Indians resulted
from this marriage.
Child of PRINCESS POCAHONTAS and JOHN ROLFE is:
3. i. THOMAS3 ROLFE, b. 1615, VA; d. 1663, Jamestown,
VA.
Generation No. 3
3. THOMAS3 ROLFE (PRINCESS MATOAKA2
POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN)
was born 1615 in VA, and died 1663 in Jamestown, VA. He married JANE
POYTHRESS 1645 in Charles City Co., VA. She was born Bet. 1633 - 1635
in Charles City Co., VA, and died 1655 in Jamestown, VA.
Child of THOMAS ROLFE and JANE POYTHRESS is:
4. i. JANE4 ROLFE, b. October 20, 1655, Jamestown,
VA; d. 1676, Charles City Co., VA.
Generation No. 4
4. JANE4 ROLFE (THOMAS3, PRINCESS
MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1
POWHATAN) was born October 20, 1655 in Jamestown, VA, and died 1676
in Charles City Co., VA. She married ROBERT BOLLING 1675 in Henrico
Co., VA. He was born December 26, 1646 in London, England, and died
July 17, 1709 in Charles City Co., VA.
Notes for ROBERT BOLLING:
Volume III
Chapter V Fifth Generation.
William Clarkson Meredith, D. D.
Mary Bolling, née Meredith, wife of Archibald Magill Smith,
was a lineal descendant of Captain John
Rolfe((1)) and the Indian Princess Pocahontas Rebecca, b. 1595; d.
1616. Their only son, Thomas
Rolfe((2)), b. 1615, married Jane Poythress, of Jamestown, Va. Their
only daughter, Jane Rolfe((3)),
married Col. Robert Bolling, b. 1646.
Early Immigrants to Virginia from the 1500s and 1600s
BOLLING, ROBERT, born 25 Dec. 1646 in England. Came to America in 1660.
Son of John. Mother’s name was Mary. Settled in prince George Co.
VA. House of Burgess, Sheriff, surveyor, Col. and Co. Lt. He died 17
Juy 1709. First wife was Jane Rolfe, daughter of Lt. Thomas Rolfe. (ED.
NOTE: Lt. Thomas Rolfe was the only child of John Rolfe and Princess
Pocahontas. Robert Bolling married (2) in 1681 Anne Stith, daughter
of John Stith. BOLLING
Child of JANE ROLFE and ROBERT BOLLING is:
5. i. JOHN5 BOLLING, b. January 26, 1675/76,
Charles City Co., VA; d. 1729, Charles City Co., VA.
Generation No. 5
5. JOHN5 BOLLING (JANE4
ROLFE, THOMAS3, PRINCESS MATOAKA2
POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN)
was born January 26, 1675/76 in Charles City Co., VA, and died 1729
in Charles City Co., VA. He married MARY KENNON December 29, 1697 in
Henrico Co., VA. She was born 1679 in Henrico Co., VA, and died 1711
in Charles City Co., VA.
Notes for JOHN BOLLING:
Volume III
Chapter V Fifth Generation.
William Clarkson Meredith, D. D.
Col. John Bolling((4)), of Cobbs, b. 1676. Married Mary Kennon.
Child of JOHN BOLLING and MARY KENNON is:
6. i. MARTHA6 BOLLING,
b. Henrico Co., VA; d. October 23, 1748, Prince George Co., VA.
Generation No. 6
6. MARTHA6 BOLLING
(JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN) was born in Henrico Co., VA,
and died October 23, 1748 in Prince George Co., VA. She married (1)
THOMAS ELDRIDGE son of THOMAS ELDRIDGE and JUDITH KENNON. He was born
1727 in Henrico Co., VA, and died December 04, 1754 in Prince George
Co., VA. She married (2) DRURY STITH1 1763.
Children of MARTHA BOLLING and THOMAS ELDRIDGE are:
7. i. MARTHA7 ELDRIDGE, b. Sussex Co., VA; d.
1768, Surry Co., VA.
ii. SARAH ELDRIDGE, m. GEORGE RIVES.
iii. JOHN ELDRIDGE, b. April 22, 1741.
iv. JANE ELDRIDGE.
v. MARY ELDRIDGE, b. Bet. 1742 - 1743; m. THOMAS BRANCH.
vi. JUDITH ELDRIDGE, b. Bet. 1742 - 1743; m. JAMES FERGUSON.
8. vii. ROLFE ELDRIDGE, b. December 29, 1745.
Generation No. 7
7. MARTHA7 ELDRIDGE (MARTHA6
BOLLING, JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN)2 was born in Sussex
Co., VA, and died 1768 in Surry Co., VA. She married JOHN HARRIS August
1748 in Sussex Co., VA.. He was born April 24, 1710 in New Kent Co.,
VA, and died March 19, 1771 in Surry Co., VA.
Children of MARTHA ELDRIDGE and JOHN HARRIS are:
i. KENNON8 HARRIS.
ii. MARRY HARRIS.
iii. PAMELA HARRIS,
9. iv. RICHARD HARRIS, b.Surry Co., VA; d. 1807, Cumberland
Co., VA.
v. ANN KENNON HARRIS, b. April 06, 1758.
vi. ELDRIDGE HARRIS, b. May 19, 1764.
8. ROLFE7 ELDRIDGE (MARTHA6
BOLLING, JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN) was born December 29, 1745.
He married SUSANNA EVERARD WALKER.
Child of ROLFE ELDRIDGE and SUSANNA WALKER is:
10. i. ROLFE8 ELDRIDGE.
Generation No. 8
9. RICHARD8 HARRIS (MARTHA7
ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING, JOHN5,
JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3, PRINCESS MATOAKA2
POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN)
was born December 03, 1751 in Surry Co., VA, and died 1807 in Cumberland
Co., VA. He married MARY ANN UNKNOWN 1773 in Surry Co., VA. She was
born August 23, 1758 in Surry Co., VA, and died 1790 in Cumberland Co.,
VA.
Notes for MARY ANN UNKNOWN:
Her name is listed as Mary Ann Harris.
Children of RICHARD HARRIS and MARY UNKNOWN are:
i. ELIZABETH9 HARRIS.
ii. JOHN HARRIS.
iii. RICHARD I. HARRIS.
iv. SAMUEL HARRIS.
11. v. THOMAS HARRIS, b. June 03, 1776, Cumberland Co.,
VA; d. December 1816, Baldwin Co., GA.
10. ROLFE8 ELDRIDGE (ROLFE7,
MARTHA6 BOLLING, JOHN5, JANE4
ROLFE, THOMAS3, PRINCESS MATOAKA2
POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN)
He married MARY MOSELEY.
Children of ROLFE ELDRIDGE and MARY MOSELEY are:
i. MARY9 ELDRIDGE.
ii. SUSANNA ELDRIDGE.
iii. LUCY ELDRIDGE.
iv. ELIZABETH ELDRIDGE.
Generation No. 9
11. THOMAS9 HARRIS (RICHARD8,
MARTHA7 ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING,
JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN) was born June 03, 1776 in Cumberland
Co., VA, and died December 1816 in Baldwin Co., GA. He married SARAH
GARDNER 1797 in NC, daughter of PRYOR GARDNER and DRUCILLA ROSE. She
was born 1782 in Halifax Dist., NC, and died December 1861 in Scott
Co., MS.
Child of THOMAS HARRIS and SARAH GARDNER is:
12. i. MARTHA10 HARRIS, b. March 20, 1805, Baldwin
Co., GA; d. February 15, 1879, Hohenlinden, Webster Co., MS..
Generation No. 10
12. MARTHA10 HARRIS (THOMAS9,
RICHARD8, MARTHA7 ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6
BOLLING, JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN) was born March 20, 1805 in
Baldwin Co., GA, and died February 15, 1879 in Hohenlinden, Webster
Co., MS.. She married JAMES ALSTON HUNTER January 10, 1822 in Jones
Co., GA. He was born Bet. 1792 - 1795 in Abbeville Dist., SC,, and died
May 20, 1844 in Choctaw Co., MS.
More About MARTHA HARRIS:
Burial: Mantee, Webster Co., MS. (Hunter Cemetery)
Notes for JAMES ALSTON HUNTER:
On January 6, 1879, Martha filed for a widows pension based upon James's
service in the War of 1812. Her affidavit says that James was 17 or
19 in Oct 1815 when he enlisted for a term of 3 months as a Private
in the Company commanded by Capt. Peter R. Rogers in the South Carolina
Militia Infantry, commanded by Col. Youngblood. James was described
as having been born in the Abbeville District of South Carolina and
as having dark hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion for a farmer boy.
He volunteered at Double Bridges on Long Myres and received an honorable
discharge there on January 31, 1816. The 3rd Auditor report, dated Sept
1, 1856, showed his service dates running from Dec 10, 1813, to Jan
10, 1814 and from Jan 10, to March 15, 1814. An affidavit supporting
Martha's claim was filed by Marcilus Hunter of Leake Co., MS.
In her affidavit, Martha said James lived in the Abbeville Dist., SC,
until about 1821. He married Martha in 1822 and they lived in Baldwin
Co., GA, from 1823-1826. They lived in Crawford Co. (1826-1828), then
Talbot Co. (until 1834) and Meriwether Co. (until 1836).
The graves of James and Martha are near Crossroads, MS, between Mantee
and Walthall., 9/10 mile west of Crossroads Church, 1/4 mile south of
Hohenlinden Road on land owned by TN River Pulp Co. They are the only
marked graves at that location. Kennedy reports that James led a caravan
from SC in 1820 and that it broke down in GA, where James and Martha
met. The tombstone reads:
James Hunter
Pioneer Born in NC
From Ga. to MS. 1834
Died Chickasaw Co.
1845
Children of MARTHA HARRIS and JAMES HUNTER are:
i. SYLVANUS GARDNER11 HUNTER, b. April 28,
1823.
Notes for SYLVANUS GARDNER HUNTER:
In 1834, moved with his parents to what was at that time Choctaw
Co., MS. Civil War: Company H, 31st Regiment, Mississippi Volunteer
Infantry. Enlisted March 13, 1862. Reported as hospitalized in
Castilian Springs, MS, on April 1, 1863, and transferred to a
hospital in Yazoo Springs on April 5. He was reported AWOL May
20, 1863, and on sick leave September 15, 1863. He was a Sergeant
throughout his service.
S. G. was one of the 12 founders of Mount Pleasant Church and
was the first from the congregation to be deacon. He was a dairyman,
church clerk, and Justice of the Peace. He was termed "Patriarch
of Mount Pleasant." According to Kennedy, p. 98:
Whenever the congregation needed anything important accomplished,
it called upon a Hunter. If a member was accused of a sin, and
if other church saints feared to investigate the accusation, a
Hunter could be counted upon to face the sinner and to demand
confession or expulsion.
According to a 1949 newspaper article by Sudie Hunter Chandler
Cole, "Sylvanus's health was never normal following the Civil
War. His spirits broken in the loss of his servants. An exceptional
pair of Negroes, humble and efficient." [These were George and
Sarah Hunter, who are buried in MT. Pleasant. They continued to
work for Sylvanus after the war.] "Sylvanus was a law-abiding
liberty loving citizen. He was the first to have a wood cook stove,
sewing machine, grain harvester or reaper, hay mower. Specified
in registered Jersey cattle and sheep, hogs, etc. He had his own
workshop. Instances occurred where he would take the ceiling from
the walls of our house and make caskets for neighbors, who had
lost loved ones."
S. G. overturned in his surrey, breaking his hip, and never fully
recovered before his death July 14, 1900.
ii. JAMES A. JR. HUNTER, b. 1824.
iii. JOHN HUNTER, b. Abt. 1826.
iv. LEONIDAS W. HUNTER, b. January 21, 1828.
v. MARCILUS SAMUEL HUNTER, b. January 28, 1830.
Notes for MARCILUS SAMUEL HUNTER:
Civil War: Enlisted 3rd Lt. 1st Serg. Company G, 17th LA Infantry
September 30, 1861, at Camp Moore, LA. Camp Moore was a boot camp
located in Tangipahoa Parish, on the Tangipahoa River at Beaver
Creek, about 10 miles south of the MS line (Pike Co., MS). Taken
prisoner on July 4, 1863, at Vicksburg. Present on rolls to Dec.
1861, Comdg. Co., Roll for Mar and Apr, 1862, absent, wounded.
Roll dated May 23, 1862, present. Re-elected at reorganization
of Co. May 23, 1862. Roll to June 30, 1862, present. Reduced from
Lt. to 1st Sergt. June 12. Roll July, 1862 to Oct. 1862, Present.
Re-enlisted May 23, 1862, Edwards Depot. Rolls 1862 to Feb 1863,
present. Captured and paroled at Vicksburg, MS, July 4, 1863.
On list dated Parole Camp, Enterprise, MS, Nov 8, 1863, whose
name was forwarded to Richmond for exchange Nov 10, 1863. Remarks
on Roll: Detailed Capt. Flournoy's.
vi. WHITSON HUNTER, b. Abt. 1832.
Notes for WHITSON HUNTER:
Allegedly killed between 1862-1865 during the Civil War. Pvt.,
Co. B., 15th MS Regiment.
vii. GREGORY TURNER HUNTER, b. May 05, 1834.
Notes for GREGORY TURNER HUNTER:
Sgt., 31st MS Infantry, CO. H. CSA. Civil War: Enlisted April
26, 1862, at Persimmon Spring, as a Private. Reported AWOL July
17, 1863. Appointed Sargeant from the ranks, September 1, 1863.
Discharged February 28, 1865.
From The Military History of Mississippi, p. 289:
November 30 [1864] they followed Schofield to the strong entrenchments
in front of Franklin, on the Harpeth, and suffered frightful losses
in the assault. Out of the 250 men in the Thirty-first Regiment,
45 were killed and about 100 wounded. The Thirty-first advanced
to the attack across the railroad and through an abatis, under
heavy fire, and then fixed bayonets and charged. One after another
ten color bearers had been shot down until Color Sergeant Spence
Neal carried the flag. When he was shot he gave the flag to Colonel
Stephens, who, with the few able to advance, charged up to the
trenches and was in the act of planting the flag on the works
when his thigh was shattered by a rifle ball and he fell into
a ditch. He gave the flag to Sergeant Hunter, who was shot as
he took it, but managed to obey the order to carry the colors
to the rear.
Prior to the War he was a school teacher living with his Mother,
his sister Frances Caroline, and his sister's husband, George
Womack. It is thought they were living in the same house as they
had been in in 1850, since the neighbors are the same.
Gregory was called "Doc," perhaps because he was a veterinarian.
He settled near Coffeeville, MS, in Yalobusha Co., but later in
life moved to a farm in Centerville, Arkansas.
Burial: Moore's Mill, 7 mi. from Centerville, AR
viii. FRANCES CAROLINE HUNTER, b. June 22, 1835.
Notes for FRANCES CAROLINE HUNTER:
When her Daughter, Janie, died in 1886 of typhoid fever, she
agreed to raise Janie's 4 children.
ix. HENRY SAUNDERS HUNTER, b. December 21, 1838.
Notes for HENRY SAUNDERS HUNTER:
Sgt, 15th MS Infantry, CO. B CSA. Civil War: Enlisted March 22,
1862, at Winona, MS, in Company B, 15th Regiment, Mississippi
Infantry (known as the "Winona Stars of Carroll County") as a
4th Sergeant. Another document shows him enlisted on August 18,
1861, in Knoxville, TN. He was wounded and captured, and later
paroled at Greensboro, NC.
Settled near Coffeeville, Yalobusha Co., Mississippi.
13. x. PINSON CALVIN HUNTER, b. April 09, 1841, Webster
Co., MS; d. July 10, 1910.
xi. BALDWIN HUNTER, b. Abt. 1843.
Generation No. 11
13. PINSON CALVIN11 HUNTER (MARTHA10
HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8, MARTHA7
ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING, JOHN5,
JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3, PRINCESS MATOAKA2
POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN)
was born April 09, 1841 in Webster Co., MS, and died July 10, 1910.
He married (1) MARGARET BROWN January 05, 1868 in Calhoun Co., MS, daughter
of SAMUEL BROWN and ELIZABETH LOLLAR. She was born April 09, 1840, and
died May 28, 1887 in Crawford's Infirmary, Memphis, TN.. He married
(2) DOROTHY SMITH GIBSON FEW December 31, 1890 in Yalobusha Co., MS..
She died November 20, 1903.
Children of PINSON HUNTER and MARGARET BROWN are:
i. JAMES S.12 HUNTER, b. November 27, 1869;
d. February 1871.
14. ii. FRANCIS EMILY HUNTER, b. November 22, 1874, Shiloh
Community, Yalobusha Co.; d. February 16, 1969, Memphis, Shelby
Co., TN.
iii. WALTER BROWN HUNTER, b. October 06, 1876, Yalobusha
Co., MS; d. March 04, 1964; m. ELAINE MAE BRAZEAL, November 19,
1911, Walter Valley, Yalobusha Co., MS.; b. January 19, 1892.
More About WALTER BROWN HUNTER:
Burial: Oak Hill Cemetery, Walter Valley, MS.
Generation No. 12
14. FRANCIS EMILY12 HUNTER (PINSON CALVIN11,
MARTHA10 HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8,
MARTHA7 ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING,
JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN) was born November 22, 1874
in Shiloh Community, Yalobusha Co., and died February 16, 1969 in Memphis,
Shelby Co., TN. She married GEORGE HENRY PERKINS January 11, 1898. He
was born March 25, 1876, and died August 15, 1942 in Memphis, Shelby
Co., TN.
Child of FRANCIS HUNTER and GEORGE PERKINS is:
15. i. MARGARET LUCILLE13 PERKINS, b. December
22, 1898, Coffeeville, MS; d. October 09, 1961, Memphis, Shelby
Co., TN.
Generation No. 13
15. MARGARET LUCILLE13 PERKINS (FRANCIS EMILY12
HUNTER, PINSON CALVIN11, MARTHA10
HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8, MARTHA7
ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING, JOHN5,
JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3, PRINCESS MATOAKA2
POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN)
was born December 22, 1898 in Coffeeville, MS3, and
died October 09, 1961 in Memphis, Shelby Co., TN. She married HARRY
RAY MILLER May 04, 1922 in Temple Baptist, Memphis, Shelby Co., TN3,
son of WARREN MILLER and SAMERIUS MCGUIRE. He was born September 05,
1896 in Holland Bell Co., TX3, and died March 1967
in Memphis, TN.
Children of MARGARET PERKINS and HARRY MILLER are:
16. i. FRANCES VIRGINIA14 MILLER,
17. ii. KATHERYN JANE MILLER,
Generation No. 14
16. FRANCES VIRGINIA14 MILLER (MARGARET LUCILLE13
PERKINS, FRANCIS EMILY12 HUNTER, PINSON CALVIN11,
MARTHA10 HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8,
MARTHA7 ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING,
JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN) was born March 02, 1923 in
Memphis, TN4. She married (1) EDGAR ERLE SMITH, JR.
September 24, 1944 in Bellview Baptist Church, Memphis, TN, son of EDGAR
SMITH and MARGARET JASPER. He was born December 16, 1919 in Edgemar
Plantation, Glendora, MS, and died March 24, 1956 in Glendora, MS. She
married (2) JAMES CARLISLE CARR Aft. 1957.
Children of FRANCES MILLER and EDGAR SMITH are:
18. i. LADYE MARGARET15 SMITH,
19. ii. EDGAR ERLE SMITH III,
20. iii. FRANCES ELIZABETH SMITH,
iv. JASPER FRANKLIN SMITH,
17. KATHERYN JANE14 MILLER (MARGARET LUCILLE13
PERKINS, FRANCIS EMILY12 HUNTER, PINSON CALVIN11,
MARTHA10 HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8,
MARTHA7 ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING,
JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN)5 was born January
19, 1925 in Summit St., Memphis, TN. She married ROBERT PAXTON DAY 1946
in St John's Episcopal Church, Memphis, TN. He was born February 01,
1924 in Horn Lake, MS.
Children of KATHERYN MILLER and ROBERT DAY are:
i. PATRICIA JANE15 DAY, m. ROBERT SWISHER.
ii. ROBERT PAXTON JR. DAY,
iii. HARRIET EMILY DAY,
iv. CHAROLTTE KATHRYN DAY,
v. SUSAN MILLER DAY,
Generation No. 15
18. LADYE MARGARET15 SMITH (FRANCES VIRGINIA14
MILLER, MARGARET LUCILLE13 PERKINS, FRANCIS EMILY12
HUNTER, PINSON CALVIN11, MARTHA10
HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8, MARTHA7
ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING, JOHN5,
JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3, PRINCESS MATOAKA2
POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN).
She married (1) WILLIAM LEE USRY. She married (2) PASCOL JUDSON TOWNSEND
III.
Children of LADYE SMITH and PASCOL TOWNSEND are:
i. LESLIE T.16 TOWNSEND, living m. JOE NOKES, July
20, 1996.
21. ii. DRAKE MILLER TOWNSEND, living
22. iii. TIFFANY ELISE TOWNSEND,living
19. EDGAR ERLE15 SMITH III (FRANCES VIRGINIA14
MILLER, MARGARET LUCILLE13 PERKINS, FRANCIS EMILY12
HUNTER, PINSON CALVIN11, MARTHA10
HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8, MARTHA7
ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING, JOHN5,
JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3, PRINCESS MATOAKA2
POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN)
was born June 05, 1949 in Clarksdale Coahoma Co., MS. He married (1)
MARTHA ELIZABETH BETHEA. He married (2) CHARLOTTE WILLIAMS LAND.
Children of EDGAR SMITH and MARTHA BETHEA are:
i. EDGAR EARLE16 SMITH.
ii. KATHRYN BILES SMITH.
20. FRANCES ELIZABETH15 SMITH (FRANCES VIRGINIA14
MILLER, MARGARET LUCILLE13 PERKINS, FRANCIS EMILY12
HUNTER, PINSON CALVIN11, MARTHA10
HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8, MARTHA7
ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING, JOHN5,
JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3, PRINCESS MATOAKA2
POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN INDIANS1 POWHATAN)
was born July 14, 1951 in Clarksdale Coahoma Co., MS. She married (1)
WILLIAM DELAFAYETTE HOWARD. She married (2) JAMES HANS BURNHAM.
Children of FRANCES SMITH and WILLIAM HOWARD are:
23. i. WILLIAM DELAFAYETTE16 HOWARD.
ii. EMILY FRANCES HOWARD.
iii. JAMES SIDNEY HOWARD.
Generation No. 16
21. DRAKE MILLER16 TOWNSEND (LADYE MARGARET15
SMITH, FRANCES VIRGINIA14 MILLER, MARGARET LUCILLE13
PERKINS, FRANCIS EMILY12 HUNTER, PINSON CALVIN11,
MARTHA10 HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8,
MARTHA7 ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING,
JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN). He married DEE DEE DYER in
Brandon, MS.
Child of DRAKE TOWNSEND and DEE DYER is:
i. EVAN JUDSON17 TOWNSEND, living
i. TATE MILLER TOWNSEND, living
22. TIFFANY ELISE16 TOWNSEND (LADYE MARGARET15
SMITH, FRANCES VIRGINIA14 MILLER, MARGARET LUCILLE13
PERKINS, FRANCIS EMILY12 HUNTER, PINSON CALVIN11,
MARTHA10 HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8,
MARTHA7 ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING,
JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN). She married JACK MADISON LAND,
JR. June 22, 1996 in Crossgates Methodist Church, Brandon, MS. He was
born August 12, 1968 in Ruleville, MS, and died November 21, 2000.
Child of TIFFANY TOWNSEND and JACK LAND is:
i. MADISON ELISE17 LAND living
23. WILLIAM DELAFAYETTE16 HOWARD (FRANCES ELIZABETH15
SMITH, FRANCES VIRGINIA14 MILLER, MARGARET LUCILLE13
PERKINS, FRANCIS EMILY12 HUNTER, PINSON CALVIN11,
MARTHA10 HARRIS, THOMAS9, RICHARD8,
MARTHA7 ELDRIDGE, MARTHA6 BOLLING,
JOHN5, JANE4 ROLFE, THOMAS3,
PRINCESS MATOAKA2 POCAHONTAS, CHIEF OF THE ALGONQUIAN
INDIANS1 POWHATAN) He married PAMELA KIM WALTERS.
Child of WILLIAM HOWARD and PAMELA WALTERS is:
i. ASHLEY NICHOLE17 HOWARD.
Endnotes
1. Genealogies of Virginia Families Vol II
2. Virginia Vital Records #1 1600-1800's, Page 261.
3. C.A.R. Papers, National #98040, Leslie T. Townsend.
4. History of Tennessee - Family and Personal History, Vol. III
Lewis Hist. Pub Co., Inc., N.Y. 1960., Page 365, Children of Margaret
Perkins and Harry Miller, listed.
5. History of Tennessee - Family and Personal History, Vol. III
Lewis Hist. Pub Co., Inc., N.Y. 1960., Children of Margaret Perkins
and Harry Miller.
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