Rutherford Porter Cawthon Receives Mail

     ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

In July 1850, Rutherford Porter Cawthon had a letter waiting for him at the post office in Jefferson, Texas.

This list of letters does not look like much, but it tells me a few things. First, he knew one or two people who were writing letters to him. Where was that person? Back in Tennessee where he was from? Had something happened, and they were trying to reach him? Second, sometimes his surname was spelled Cauthon. Third, the entry for Parter Cauthon tells me that he also went by his middle name - Porter. Fourth, he may have been living near Jefferson at the time of the 1850 census, which is a year in which I cannot find him on the census. 

Lodowick and Nathaniel Thompson - Greensville Co., Virginia

    ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

I took a little brain break while chasing the Nevill and Patterson families, which was in itself a brain break from compiling James Piper's documents. Oops.

What I found indicates that documents continue to be added to the full text search feature on Family Search because the information that I found for Lodowick Thompson was not there the last time I searched, which was not that long ago.

On 24 May 1793, Lodowick was in court in Greensville County, Virginia, seeking payment from Nathaniel Thompson for three trips that Lodowick made for Nathaniel to represent him in court in his suit against Betty Atherton:

No relationship between Lodowick and Nathaniel is stated, but this seems like the sort of thing that would happen between family members. One person promises to pay a relative to perform a service for him. Then promises to pay him later - and later gets postponed and postponed until they finally end up in court. What is important here, is that Nathaniel Thompson is the first Thompson who I can link to Lodowick for any reason - after searching for decades.

A cursory look at Nathaniel Thompson reveals that he was administering the estates of his father James Thompson and his brother James Thompson Jr. at the same time. Enter Solomon Thompson, who also took Nathaniel to court for payment of services rendered. At one point Nathaniel and Solomon were joint defendants in a lawsuit. No relationship between Nathaniel and Solomon has bubbled to the surface. Sterling Thompson also factors into the Greensville County records. In adjacent records, there are members of the Rives family mentioned. These families seem to have been in the area since it was Brunswick County. Since Lodowick Thompson named two of his sons Solomon and Sterling/Starling, this all seems promising.

Lodowick Thompson married Delilah Womack in Greensville County, Virginia on 18 March 1793. His appearance in court two months later, on 24 May 1793, to collect payment from Nathaniel suggests a  young man in need of funds to support his new and growing family. 

Lodowick and Delilah Thompson had a son named Harris within the first year of their marriage. Delilah's father Thomas Womack left a legacy to Harris Thompson in his will which was written in early 1794 and which suggests that Delilah may have died in childbirth. 

A widower with a tiny infant would have been highly motivated to remarry. With so many members of the Rives family in the area it is possible that Priscilla Rives was a near neighbor. Priscilla is a name that is repeated frequently in the Rives family. It's also possible that there was another wife between Delilah and Priscilla. 

I'll be brainbreaking with the Thompsons off and on for a while. 

 

Nancy (Morgan) Patterson's Inheritance

   ©  Kathy Duncan, 2024

Once I realized that Solomon Nevill Sr. had been divorced from his first wife Susannah Walton and that he had married Mrs. Nancy Patterson in Carroll County, Tennessee in 1840, it was time to find out more about Nancy Patterson. To pinpoint who she was, I used the shared family tree in Family Search and focused on the most distinct name in Patterson family - Walter A. Patterson. I searched for a Walter A. Patterson with a sister Mary S. Patterson and a mother named Nancy and a connection to Carroll County, Tennessee. That's when Nancy Morgan and husband Chesley Page Patterson bubbled to the surface. Their marriage in Orange County, North Carolina - the same county where Solomon C. Nevill had married Susannah Walton - led me to think that I had identified the correct Nancy. Further examination of the family tree for Chesley and Nancy Patterson revealed that they had a son-in-law named Christopher Barbee. I recalled that Barbees were intermarried with Nevills. Sure enough, Solomon Nevill Sr's sister Elizabeth Nevill was married to Francis Barbee, and Christopher Barbee was their son, so Solomon Nevill's nephew married Nancy (Morgan) Patterson's daughter. Solomon Nevill Sr. and wife Susannah had surely known Chesley P. and Nancy Patterson while they were all living in Orange County, North Carolina.

Both couples married in Orange County, North Carolina in 1795. The Nevills had removed to Montgomery County, Tennessee by 1816. The widow Nancy Patterson did not remove to Carroll County, Tennessee until the mid to late 1830s. The Nevills and extended family members who were left behind in Orange County would have known where Solomon and his family settled in Tennessee. It's not hard to imagine that the Pattersons stopped by to visit the Nevills on their way to Carroll County. Nancy Patterson was probably always aware of where the Nevills lived in Tennessee. It would be interesting to know at what point Solomon and Nancy's relationship grew to more than a friendship. Before the Nevill divorce? After the Nevill divorce?

Records in Orange County, North Carolina solidify the notion that the Nancy Patterson who married Solomon Nevill Sr. in Carroll County, Tennessee is the same Nancy Morgan who married Chesley P. Patterson in Orange County, North Carolina. 

In 1797, just two years after Nancy Morgan married Chesley P. Patterson, her father Hardy Morgan died in Orange County, North Carolina. Thirty years later, in 1827, Nancy Patterson joined with her siblings to request a partition of the slaves in Hardy Morgan's estate. This signals that Hardy Morgan's wife had died while still widow and the children were able to make a final settlement of the estate. 

The division was made in 1828. Nancy Patterson's portion included Hulda, Margaret, Hudson, George, Rubin, and Denny.

Old Hulday, Margaret, Hudson, and George were all included in the deed of gift that Solomon Nevill Sr. made to his wife Nancy's children: Walter A. Patterson and Mary S. Patterson in 1840.

In 1833, Nancy Patterson of Orange County, North Carolina entered into a bond with William Trice for $1,000 to ensure that when Walter A. Patterson and Mary S. Patterson came of age they would warranty their interest in their father Chesley P. Patterson's estate [Deed Bk 25, p. 506]. As part of the bond agreement, Nancy sold slaves to her son, Chesley M. Patterson, and son-in-law, Christopher Barbee. Those slaves were Huldy, Hannah, Margaret, Hudson, Emily, Isham, and Huldy, a child. If Walter and Mary followed through with the warranty, then the bond was null and void. Walter and Mary Patterson evidently fulfilled their part of the agreement because these are the same slaves that Solomon Nevill Sr. named in the 1840 deed of gift that he drew up for them.

On 10 November 1846 in Madison County, Tennessee, Solomon Nevill Sr. sold his life interest in the slaves, who were gifted to Mary S. Patterson, to her husband Henry W. Mooring for $300. Those slaves were Margaret and her two children - Haywood and Alfred - and old Huldy. This indicates that by 10 November 1846, Solomon was the sole survivor and Nancy (Morgan) Patterson Nevill was deceased. Since they were living in Madison County, Tennessee, I would guess that she died in Madison County, Tennessee and was buried there. 

Susannah (Walton) Nevill Surprises Her Descendants

Solomon Nevill Sr's Last Years