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http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/va/augusta/court/2court24.txt
Richie vs. Painter–O. S. 271; N. S. 95–Bill, 23d May, 1810. Orator is Solomon Richey, a free man of color, who was surety for Frederick Painter of Amherst as purchaser of a tract of land in Amherst from Walter Frazer on Pedlor River, 45 acres of which Painter agreed to secure to orator. Orator formerly belonged to Andrew Edwards of Berkley County, by whom he was freed.
=====================
end of quote
Notice Richey is spelled — “Richie” vs Painter — and in the next sentence presumably the same person spells it — Solomon “Richey”.
I have a few questions.
i.] I was wondering, if a person was a Free Negro would it have called him a “free Negro” rather than a “free person of color”, in Virginia in 1810?
ii.] If it says Peson “A” was surety for person “B”, what does that mean exactly?
iii.] Also was the term “Orator” back then equivalent to “Plaintiff” or “Defendant” today?
Vance
Vance,
Thanks for the link. I can’t answer your questions, but I see a lot of surnames in my lines on this link. Edwards is one. I don’t know where the Edwards came from before they are with my people in Iowa, but since part of the line comes from Berkeley County, this is interesting.
Teachtech
http://hometown.aol.com/jpayne5744/black.htm#Robert1
website above says —
Robert BLACKBURN, (Benjamine BLACKBURN, John) was born in 1742 in Winchester, Frederick, Va, and on Jun 7, 1766 in Winchester, Frederick, Va, married Margaret Or Sarah RITCHIE who was born in 1740 in Winchester, Frederick, Va. Robert died on Feb 9, 1809 in BLOUNT COUNTY, Tn and was buried in Blount, Tennessee. Margaret Or Sarah died in BLOUNT COUNTY, Tn.
One of Robert and Margaret’s (It was Margaret, not Sarah — I’ve run into some of their descandants online who told me) children was —
Gideon BLACKBURN was born on Aug 27, 1772. Gideon BLACKBURN, (Robert BLACKBURN, Benjamine, John) was born Aug 27, 1772 in Steele’s Tavern, Augusta, Va, and on Oct 3, 1793 in Dandridge, Jefferson, Tn, married Grizelle BLACKBURN, daughter of John BLACKBURN and Janet MATTHEWS, who was born Oct 27, 1774 in Abingdon, Washington, Va. Gideon died on Aug 23, 1838 in Carlinville, Macoupin, IL and was buried in Carlinville, College, IL. Grizelle died on Jul 25, 1869.
=========================
This is the same Gideon Blackburn who was the Presbyterian Missionary to the Cherokee, and started those missions in 1804. Notice his family was in Blount County, Tn, where my Woods/Hamilton’s also were from the late 1780s. Notice Gideon was born in Augusta Co, Va. My Woods/Hamiltons were also in that area — they were married in that county in 1769 or so, in a part of the county that became Rockbridge Co. My John Woods (a few years younger than Gideon Blackburn, was given a passport to work in the Cherokee Nation 1801-1803 by JR Meigs through consent of Chief Glass.
This is probably too much to be a simple coincidence.
In 1820 (or 30?) census of Gibson Co., Indiana there is my John Richey and another “Gideon B. Richey” about the same age and I have assumed them to be brothers. One of John’s daughters was “Margaret”. I think we are related to Gideon Blackburn’s mother, Margaret Ritchie.
I spoke to some of the descendants online of these Blackburns (now surnamed Taylor — I have a great uncle who was named Oscar Taylor Richey) and they agreed, that we are probably related, altho neither of us knows exactly how.
My John Richey’s wife was Mary Woods. Mary was son of John who was son of Joseph. All these families seemed to have migrated from Augusta/Rockbridge Co., Va to Blount Co., Tn,
This increases the possibility we might be related to the Solomon Richey in Amherst Co., Va who was a FPC.
Wish I could pin this all down to a certianty, though, but I don’t know if that can be done.
vance
http://www.rootsweb.com/~vafreder/fredbook.htm#The%20Frederick%20County%20Fee
Since it mentioned frederick County, Va I just looked up the following —
Frederick County, VA
Col. James Wood’s Fee Book
Anno Dom 1744
Name and # pounds of Tobacco
Blackburn, Wm 296
Edwards, Joseph 85
Richey, William 130
==========
So those suranmes are listed in that county in the 1740s. They say Gideon Blackburn was descended from a different Blackburn, not William. Also I note Wiliam Richey of this county spells his name the same way my family did.
Thre were a lot of other interesting surnames also.
vance
Vance,
Regarding your question regarding “Free Negro” versus “Free Person of Color”:
(1) THEORETICALLY, these two terms did not always mean the same thing, altho many historians have assumed that they did.
(2) In NC in 1857, State v. Chavis, it was determined by the court that a free person of color could be colored by virtue of Indian ancestry, without necessisarily(sp) having actual African blood.
(3) I’m not sure what the legal definition was in Va. in 1810; I can look it up, but Va. changed their racial definitions several times.
(4) In the Personal property tax lists for Greensville Co Va., (ca 1813-1814) the lister differentiates between the “Free Negro” families, and the “Mulatto” families like the Jeffries, who can be proven to be Indian.
(5) A free person of color was USUALLY, it seems, of mixed racial background, as opposed to Free Negro, altho it all depended on who was using the term. In the same way, you get descriiptions of free non-whites describing them as “light black complection’, or ” a free black man of yellow complection” Race, like beauty, it seems was often in the eye of the beholder…
That didn’t really answer you question, I’m afraid, but it may shed a LITTLE light on it.
Vance,
Brenda Collins Dillon and I both have Blackburn relatives so your reference to Jefferson Co., Tn, caused me to look at that.
Jefferson Co., Tn was created in 1792, and is the 2nd county NE of Blount Co., which was created in 1796 from Knox Co which is next door to Jefferson. That geographical association makes the following worth reading.
From “Tennessee Cousins”, by Worth S. Ray, c.1950,
begining on page 15, “The First Courts Established in Washington County, North Carolina” (later Tennessee) :
“After the establishment of the first Courts in Washington County, NC in 1777, the old proceedings show the names of the following persons, from time to time (a partial listing and there are no dates attached to most):
BLACKBURN, Robert
DICKSON, William
DIXON, John, deceased 1778.
RITCHIE, John
RITCHIE, Thomas, Constable in 1782.
RITCHIE, William
WOODS, Agnes, Admr. of John WOODS
WOODS, Bartholomew, owned Grist Mill.
WOODS, John
WOODS, Michael”
page 98, “Tennessee Cousins”
“On a lot back of the square that the courthouse occupies in Dandridge, the county seat of Jefferson County, is a monument and Tablet:
On one side appears the following inscriptions:
1930
Erected by
Marth Dandridge Garden Club
In Memory of Revolutionary Soldiers buried
here
John Blackburn (compare to Grizelle Blackburn’s father)
1741-1808
Abednego Inman
1752-1831
Samuel Lyle
1747-1834
Richard Rankin
1756-1827
Samuel Rankin
1738-1828
On the reverse side of the tablet is this inscription:
Burial Ground at the
site of the original
Hopewell Presbyterian Church
in Jefferson County
1785″
same page: (Jefferson Co was created in 1792)
“Hopewell Presbyterian Church, the oldest in Jefferson County:
The oldest church in Dandridge, according to both records and traditions, was the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, which was established in 1785, eight years before the town of Dandridge itself came into extistence. It is believed that either Dr. Hezekiah Balch or Rev. Robert Henderson was the organizing minister, and that both preached to the origal congregation there is no question. The latter was pastor of the Church as late as 1810 or 1811. The elders in 1816 were:
Alexander Shadden
Samuel McSpadden
JOHN BLACKBURN (son ? of John, b.1741? )
Thomas Rankin, Sr.
James McSpadden”
partial quote from page 99:
“The first county court for Jefferson County was…….. on July 23, 1792. Following are the name of the first magistrates who were present:
Alexander Outlaw
James Roddy
JOHN BLACKBURN
James Lea
Joseph Wilson
Josiah Wilson
Andrew Henderson
Amos Balch
William Cox
page 101:
“Will of ROBERT RICHEY, the old Dandridge Blacksmith:
ROBERT RICHEY was a Dandridge Blacksmith, who died leaving will in Jefferson County, dated August 8, 1811. His wife’s name in the will was Catherine (Kate) Richey. His children were:
1. JOSEPH RICHEY
2. Isabella Richey, wife of a James Hunter.
3. Jane Richey, who married a man by the name of Samples.
Executors: James Hunter and the son, JOSEPH RICHEY.
Witnesses: James Mayer and John Carson.”
……….
I’ve searched several historical reference and genealogy books and several databases and this is the only Joseph Richey/Ritchie I’ve found.
Bill
Thank you Forest. You hae been helpful lately with many of my questions. I apprciate it.
Cindy, thanK you too.
Bill,
I wonder if Gideon Blackburn’s father “Robert Blackburn” was the same one you have found, or is this another? Are you related to Rev. Gideon R. Blackburn? I was told the “R” stood for “Ritchie”. It seems odd, but so many of my ancestors and their relations used their mother’s maiden name for the middle name of at least one of their children.
You found a constable Thomas Richey in 1782 in washington Co. (NC or Tn?) There was a constable Samuel Richey (various spellings) in Russell/Scott County, Va in the 1790s/1800s. My John Richey had a son Samuel, and there is a Dawes application (rejected) of a Samuel Richey Jr. It says he married a Cherokee but they’d split up and it said he had no Cherokee blood himself — he lived in the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, I believe it was the Cooweescowee District. I could say much the same about my Jeffrey Richey — at least the part where he married a Cherokee. Samuel Jr may have been my Jeff’s cousin.
Interesting Robert Richey (Dandridge) was a blacksmith. Dad told me his grandpa (Jeffrey Hoten Richey, 1851-1926) was a country blacksmith, & fixed his neighbors busted plows, et cetera. Also on 1820 (or was it 1830?) census Gibson County, Indiana Gideon B. Richey’s occupation is listed as “blacksmith”.
I think these people are related, but I am just not sure how they all fit together. I think this is the right path, somehow, so thanks.
==========================
Jeff’s parents were Joseph E Richey (b. Indiana 1819-d. Arkansas 1852) and Sarah Wayland (B. Arkansas 1829-d. Arkansas 1857) and he was raised by his uncle Hamilton Woods Richey. Joseph and Hamilton’s parents were John Richey (1797-1861) and Polly (Mary) Wood/s (b. 1796 Tennessee, most likely Blount Co- d. after 1860 Lawrence Co. Arkansas). Mary (Polly)’s parents were John Wood’s and Mary Dickson.
vance
I think that 1820 and/or 30 census in Gibson Co., In had a 3rd Richey — Joseph Richey — who might have been a older than John and Gideon, I need to look it up again to see if he was the age of an older brother or mabe a father.
However there is a wrench in the gears — John Richey 1797-1861 says in 1850 census he was born in Virginia, not Tennessee or North Carolina. His wife (Mary (Polly) Wood/Woods placed her place of birth as Tennessee in those same 1850 census, so they probably knew the border counties and probably wouldn’t have gotten it wrong. But maybe they moved away when he was young and he wasn’t sure.
If those Richey’s from Frederick to Amherst Co, Va were related to those in Russell and Scott Co., Va, and these were related to those in Dandridge, Tn, & Blount Co., Tn, then we might be making headway. I think they are related — I just need to discover how. Some might have mixed — one group did definitely mix with Indian and/or black (the ones called FPC in Amherst Co, Va).
My group went from Va or ?NE Tn? to Gibson Co, In between 1797 (John’s birth) and 1812 (John Richey was in the Indiana Militia during the War of 1812, and at the end of the was was at Mobile Bay, Alabama in early 1815. That must have been a great adventure for someone so young.
Since John Wood lived close to Rev. Gideon R Blackburn (son or Richard Blackburn, husband to Margarite Ritchie) and since we have 3 (maybe more) Gideon B Richey’s in my family (as well as a Margarite Richey), and John Wood’s daughter mrried a Richey — this seems to be a lot of circumstantial evidence we are on the right track.
Also this group of Richey’s came from the same locations the Wood’s had come from in Western Virginia.
vance
ps — thanks for the Dickson names, too — too much to try & figure out at one sitting . . .
Vance,
I’m not directly related to these Blackburns.
“Tennessee Cousins” related that many of the Dandridge Tenn families were from Rockbridge Co., Va. Rockbridge was created from Amherst & Botetourt in 1778.
There are no Richeys or Woods in early Blount Co. records that I can find but they are in Jefferson Co.
It makes sense that Gideon Blackburn would be in Blount Co., but I think this Robert Blackburn is the one you’re talking about and I’m thinking these could be your Woods & Richeys there also.
Back up in the mountains on the border areas of Va/NC/Tn in the late 1700s, many people were confused about which colony/state they lived in.
Washington County, “NC” :
“After the people of the Watauga settlement petitioned in 1776 to be annexed to North Carolina, the legislature of that state established “Washington County, NC” in 1777. As established, Washington County then embraced all of what is now Tennessee”
per “Tennessee Cousins”.
Until 1784, the area that would become Tennessee was a part of North Carolina under their colonial Charter granting NC the land from “Sea to Sea”.
“Tennessee” was ceded to the U.S. gov’t in 1784 but that session act was repealed the same year. North Carolina did cede it finally to the U.S. in 1790.
The “State of Franklin”, 1784-1788, was still claimed by NC.
Bill
thanks.
Bill said –
There are no Richeys or Woods in early Blount Co. records that I can find but they are in Jefferson Co.
reply —
What do you mean by “early” Blount County? I found Joseph (father), John, and James (sons) Woods in Blount Co., Tn in the late 1780s.
I don’t know where my Richey’s were, but my Woods were around Wheeling,W Va early 1780s, and at Mount Miserable, in what is now Rockbridge Co, Va from about 1770 (I don’t think it as called Rockbridge at the time) until near the end of the decade. Joseph and Patrick Woods are both mentioned, Patrick might be his brother.
Bill said —
It makes sense that Gideon Blackburn would be in Blount Co., but I think this Robert Blackburn is the one you’re talking
reply —
Robert was Gideon’s father, and Robert’s wife was Margaret Ritchie.
vance
By ‘early’ Blount County, I meant from its creation to the time period the Richeys left Tenn.
Blount County, Tenn wasn’t created until 1795.
Bill
http://www.sevierlibrary.org/genealogy/landgrant/tsfb.htm
I was going by this where it says —
#293
JOSEPH WOOD-199 ACRES-Cocke County-on French Broad and Big Pigeon Rivers beginning on the bank of French Broad at two beeches corner to WILLIAM HORN, up French Broad to a sycamore corner to RACHEL MOON, with her line, road from Newport to Chucky, RACHEL MOON’s corner bank of Big Pigeon, MOON’s corner to GEORGE BAXTER, WILLIAM HORN’s corner-CC ARON BAXTER and WILLIAM MOON Surveyed January 7, 1807
#487
GIDEON BLACKBURN-474 ¾ acres-Blount County-on west fork of Lackies Creek-CC None Granted January 29, 1807 Assigned to THOMAS BLACKBURN November 25, 1807 Witnesses CHARLES DONOHOO and GEORGE BERRY
#617
SAMUEL DICKSON-204 ½ acres-Blount County-CC GARLAND RUTHERFORD Granted April 4, 1807
#618
SAMUEL DIXON-171 acres-Blount County-on the waters of Cloyds Creek-CC None Granted June 5, 1807
#1345
DAVID RICHEY-311 ¼ acres-Blount County-on the waters of Bakers Creek-CC WM. THOMPSON and ABM. McCORD Granted June 10, 1807
============================
I know I saw something about them in the late 1880s somewhere in Tn — maybe I was wrong about Blount Co. at that date.
Odd I am just noticing this — but the Woods went to Indiana in 1806 — why is this survey Jan 1807?
Some information I obtained from another researcher who knows a lot about the woods — I think I’ll email her again with what you have mentioned here.
============================
Back to the Richey’s —
I looked this up (tired of guessing from memory ) — On 1820 census Gibson Co, In
Joseph Woods Sr — 45 & up
Gideon Richey — 18-26
John Richey — 18-26 (one female in the household over 45)
Joseph Richey — 45 and up, oldest female in household is 18-26
John has 5 kids, Gideon has 3, Joseph Richey is in a household of 8.
Maybe Joseph is a father or an uncle?
Vance
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