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The Messenger Page 36 April, 1995
REVEREND JOSHUA PALMER
Joshua Palmer was a native of England, and served on an English ship at sea, for three years, and then came to the United States when a very young man. He located in South Carolina, married and entered on his career as a Baptist minister. He had two sons, Joshua and William, and a daughter Mary. (1)There is evidence that he settled near the town of Camden as early as 1762. In that year he was granted 100 acres on the Wateree River in Fredericksburg Township, Craven County.(2) (Fredericksburg Township became the town of Camden.) In 1767 he received a grant for 50 acres of land on both sides of Saunders Creek, on the north side of the Wateree River.(3) (This land was sold by Joshua Palmer, Baptist Preacher in 1785.)(4) In 1768 Joshua Palmer received a grant for 333 acres in Craven County. The land was sold to Isaac and Thomas Vaughan in 1769 by Joshua Palmer and wife Jane.(5)
By 1781, Joshua had become an itinerant Baptist minister. Records of Camden District show that from 1781 to 1785 he read announcements of probate to various congregations around the district.(6) He moved east to the Lynches Creek region about 1785. Revd. Joshua Palmer was granted 150 acres in Cheraw District near Lynches Creek in that year.(7) (Cheraw District consisted of present-day Chestertield, Darlington, and Marlboro counties.) In 1789, the Lower Fork of Lynches Creek Baptist Church united with Charleston Association under the care of Joshua Palmer. Accounts differ on whether the church was located in Chestertield or Darlington county.(8)
(1)Leah Townsend, South Carolina Baptists, 1670 to 1805 (Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1974), 227 (note 125).
(2)South Carolina Land Plats, 7:267, 14 May 1762. LDS Family History Library film #22604.
(3)South Carolina Land Plats, 19:40, 13 May 1767. LDS Family History Library film #22609.
(4)Brent H. Holcomb. Lancaster County, South Carolina Deed Abstracts, 1787-1811. (Easley, S.C.; Southern Historical Press, 1981), 95.
(5)lbid., 7-8.
(6)Brent H. Holcomb and Elmer 0. Parker. Camden District, S.C. Wills and Administrations 1781-1787 (1770-1796). Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1978), 8, 13, 35, 36, 45, 49, 56, 60.
(7)South Carolina Land Plats, 7Q:91, 8 January 1785. LDS Family History Library film #22619.
(8) 101 and 101 (note 131). Townsend states that Lower Fork of Lynches Creek Church "is said to have been located in Chesterfield District about sixteen or seventeen miles below Upper Fork of Lynches Creek [Church]." Yet a map in her book places the church in Darlington County.
The Messenger Page 37 April. 1995
The 1790 census lists Joshua Palmer in Cheraw District with one male over 16, two males under 16, and 4 females(9) A 1790 directory of Baptists shows Joshua Palmer as minister of Lower Fork of Lynches Creek Church. (10) About 1793, Joshua left the Lynches Creek region to become minister of Upper Duncans Creek Baptist Church in Laurens County. A 1794 edition of the Baptist directory shows the minister's job at Lower Fork of Lynches Creek Church is vacant; Joshua Palmer is listed as minister of Upper Duncans Creek Church in Laurens County.(11)Joshua's name appears in several records of Laurens County. On 19 Aug 1793, Joshua Palmer, minister of the Gospel, purchased 46 acres in Laurens County from Thomas and Ruth Adkins.(12) On 27 May 1794, the Upper Baptist Church of Dunkans Creek under the care of Joshua Palmer petitioned the South Carolina legislature for permission to incorporate. (13) On 23 Nov 1794, Matthew Gaston of Greene County, Georgia sold 150 acres on Duncans Creek in Laurens County, South Carolina to Joshua Palmer, clergyman. (14) The 1800 Census of South Carolina lists Rev. Joshua Palmer in Laurens County with I male 16-26, 1 male over 45, and l female over 45(15) In 1806, Joshua Palmer and son-in-law William Sparks were witnesses of the will of Aaron Harlan of Laurens County, South Carolina. (Two of Joshua's grandchildren, John and Mary Sparks, would later marry two of Aaron Harlan's grandchildren, Stephen and Elizabeth Harlan, in Indiana). (16)
About 1808, Rev. Palmer and his family decided to move north to Indiana Territory. At Crab Orchard, Kentucky, his wife became ill and died. (17) The family continued on to Indiana where Joshua Palmer Sr. patented land in the SE 1/4 Section 11, Township 11 North, Range 3 West (today Union County). (18) In 1809, the names Joshua Palmer and William Palmer appear on a list of voters at an election held for territorial representative in
the sixth election district of Dearborn County. This district comprised the eastern part of
(9)U.S. Bureau of the Census. Heads of Families at the First Census of the UnitedStates, South Carolina. Reprint of 1908 ed. (Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1978), 45.
(10)John Asplund. The Annual Register of the Baptist Denomination in North America to the First ofNovember 1790. (Southampton Co., VA: J. Asplund, 1791), 39
(11)John Asplund. The Universal Register of the Baptist Denomination in North American for the Years 1790, 1792, 1793, and Part of 1794. (Boston: J. Asplund, 1794), 42-43.
(12)Laurens County, South Carolina Deeds, E:255, 19 August 1793.
(13)"Upper Baptist Church of Dunkins Creek Petition to Incorporate," UpperSouth Carolina Genealogy & History 5:4 (Oct.1987): 95-96.
(14)Laurens County, South Carolina Deeds, E:454, 23 November 1794.
(15)U.S. Bureau of the Census. Second Census of the UnitedStates, 1800, South Carolina,
22.
(16)Alpheus H. Harlan. Histoiy and Genealogy of the Harlan Family. (Baltimore: Lord Baltimore Press, 1914), 93-94, 524, 526.
(17)Hiram Sparks." Biographical and Genealogical Histoiy of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. (Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1899), 897 (l8)Margaret R. Waters. indiana Land Entries. (Indianapolis: M.R. Waters, 1948), 1:65.The Messenger Page 38 Apri1 1995
present Union County and the north-eastern part of Franklin County.(19) The first taxlist of Franklin County, Indiana includes the names Joshua Palmer Sr., Joshua Palmer Jr., William Palmer, and William Sparks (husband of Joshua's daughter Mary).(20) Joshua Palmer was pastor of New Hope Church in Indiana in 1812(21) and nearly all of the rest of his life was spent in Union County.(22) His death date is unknown, but he probably died before 1820.Rev. Joshua Palmer had three known children: William, Mary, and Joshua, who were all born in South Carolina. William was born about 1774 and died in 1840; he married Jane Gill.(23) Mary was born in 1779 and died in 1848; she married William Sparks.(24) Joshua was born in 1784; he married Fanny Stiles.(25) All three children married in South Carolina and moved to Indiana with their father. William's family later moved to Illinois and Iowa. Mary Sparks and her family stayed in Indiana. Joshua Jr. probably died in Bartholomew County, Indiana between 1840 and 1850; some of his descendants went to Sullivan County, Missouri.
A second Joshua Palmer resided in South Carolina in the latter half of the 18th Century and has been confused in some writings with Rev. Joshua Palmer. This second Joshua was born in Amelia County, Virginia in 1750, but lived in Union District, South Carolina at the time of the Revolution. He served in Brandon's Regiment, which was raised in Union District. In his 1832 petition for a veteran's pension, he stated "I lived in Union District when I entered the Service and have lived here ever since." (26) He was probably the Joshua Palmer who was granted 120 and 380 acres on the waters of the Broad River in the 1780's.(27) In the 1790 census of South Carolina, he is listed in Union District, with 2
(19)Indiana Source Book: Genealogical Material from the Hoosier Genealogist, 19611966. (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1977), 1:184
(20)Ruth S. Peterson. "Franklin County, Indiana's First Taxlist-181 1," I)authors of the American Revolution Magazine 87 (1953), 667-670.
(21)David Benedict. A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America, and Other Parts of the World. (Boston: Lincoln & Edmands, 1813), 2:547.
(22)" Hiram Sparks." Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne,Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties; Indiana, 897.
(23)"M.T.Palmer." History of Poua~vatIainie County, Iowa. (Chicago: O.L. Baskin,1883), 71-72.
(24)"Hiram Sparks." Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties; Indiana. (Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1899), 896-898.
(25)Family group sheet provided by his descendant, Billie Hart, 2411 Sanders Ln., Austin,TX 78748.
(26)"Pension Application of Joshua Palmer." U.S. National Archives and Records Service.
Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files; 1800-1900.
Record Group M804, Roll 1865.
(27)Alma Spires Smith and Jean Smith Owens. Patent Land Survey: (Index of Land Acquisitions) 1770-1820 Located in Greenville Couiity, Laurens County, Newberry County, Spartanburg County, Union County (Parts of the Old Ninety-Six District).The Messenger Page 39 Apri1 1995
males over 16, 2 males under 16, 5 females, and 1 other.(28) In the 1800 census of Union District, he is listed with 3 males under 10, 2 males 16-26, 1 male over 45, 3 females 10-16, 1 female 16-26, and I female over 45-29
This Joshua's will was proved in Union County in 1835. It mentions his wife, Rhoda, and the following children: sons William, Vardy, Purr (Permenius or Parmenus), Joshua, Richard, and Thomas, daughters Lutetia McDaniel, Ann Davis, and Martha Cudd, and grandson Robert Smith (presumably the son of a deceased daughter).(30) This Joshua Palmer died 5 December 1835 at the age of 86 and is buried in Scull Shoals cemetery, which is across the Union County line in Cherokee County.(31)
Some of this Joshua Palmer's descendants apparently settled in Daviess County, Indiana in the early 1800's. A Richard Palmer settled there in the early 1800's; he may be the son Richard listed in the will.(32) The name Permenas is carried down in this family. It is not carried down in the families of the three children of Rev. Joshua Palmer.
Donna Meszaros
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(Greenville, SC: A Press, 1978), 30.
(28)U.S. Bureau of the Census. Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States,South Carolina. Reprint of 1908 ed. (Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1978), 91.
(29)U.S. Bureau of the Census. Second Census of the United States, 1800, South Carolina,223.
(30)the Will of Joshua Palmer Sen of Union County, South Carolina, 1 May 1835" in Kenneth Edgar Sparks. The History of a Sparks Family. (N.p.: K.E. Sparks, 1974), 66-68.
(31)Union County Cemeteries: Epitaphs of 18th and 19th Century Settlers in Union County, South Carolina and Their Descendants. (Greenville, SC: A Press, 1976), 242.
(32)"Josiah C. Palmer." History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana. (Chicago:Goodspeed, 1886), 792-793.
72. Edward Hatcher
1. CD V714-01, Vol. 14, World Family Tree, @1996, Broderbund Software,Inc., Pedigree Files #2592.
2. GENDEX - http://paulw.ne.mediaone.net/html/fam00261.htm - April 28,1998.
3. CD192, Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy, 1750-1930, Encyclopedia ofQuaker Genealogy, Vol VI, Bedford County Marriage Bonds, The LearningCompany, Inc.
73. Sarah Hail
1. CD V714-01, Vol. 14, World Family Tree, @1996, Broderbund Software,Inc., Pedigree Files #2592.
2. GENDEX - http://paulw.ne.mediaone.net/html/fam00261.htm - April 28,1998.
74. William Crowson
1. GENDEX - http://paulw.ne.mediaone.net/html/fam00261.htm- April 28,1998.
2. CD V708-01, Vol.08, World Family Tree, @1997, Broderbund Software,Inc., Pedigree Files #0488.
3. "The Crowson Family" by Leone Amott Rose, 1956.
75. Mary Thomas
1. GENDEX - http://paulw.ne.mediaone.net/html/fam00261.htm - April 28,1998.
2. "The Crowson Family" by Leone Amott Rose, 1956.
84. John Keller
[Elijah Keller [email protected] 7-29-00.FTW]
DEATH: PLAC Bartholomew County, IN
90. Jonathan Woten
SOURCE: Information from Edna Hammontree and IGI.Also information fromAlan And Ann Stokes.
NOTE: Jonathan was bound out to Capt. James Hinton to learn Coopering.
NOTE: Jonathan and Bell became wards of the orphans court in Rockingham,Virginia after the death of their father.
91. Catherine Waggy
SOURCE: Information from Edna Hammontree and IGI
116. Johann Christoph Warnecke
OCCUPATION: Wheelwright
124. Frerich Jeldon Duis
OCCUPATION: Sailor