Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Ancestors of John Franklin Bush, Sr.

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Ancestors of John Franklin Bush, Sr.

102. John Morton⁷², born Abt. 1733 in Prob. Orange Co., VA⁷²; died September 12, 1810 in Woodford Co., KY⁷². He was the son of 204. William Morton and 205. Ann Batchelder. He married 103. Sarah Hawkins 1764.

103. Sarah Hawkins⁷³, born Abt. 1736 in Prob. Orange Co., VA ⁷⁴; died Aft. November 23, 1824 in Woodford Co., KY⁷⁴. She was the daughter of 206. William Hawkins and 207. Elizabeth.

Notes for John Morton:
If John Watts married Frances Morton before he came to Kentucky (which would be a chronological necessity if he is Sally's father), the locale of the Mortons is a good clue to John Watts' family connections. John Morton was born supposedly in Orange Co., VA. about 1733. Interestingly, there are a John Morton, Thomas Watts, Jr., and John Watts each serving in the militia regiment of Stephen Poe from Chatham county, NC, in 1772. Chatham co., NC, abuts the southern line of Orange Co., NC. On the other hand John Morton and John Watts were among the persons from Bedford Co., VA, who subscribed the oath of affirmation as directed by an Act of the General Assembly Aug 9, 1777, which may indicate that they were there rather than in NC at that time. In 1761 one John Morton was a surety for the executor of the estate of Sarah Turberville in Orange Co., VA. (She may have been Sarah Hauxville, who married William Willis). One of her children was Sarah Hawkins. I suspect that this Willis was the father of Sarah Hawkins (probably married to Benjamin Hawkins), because the name Willis has been used as a given name both by Edmund Watts and Sally Elizabeth Watts Shouse. However, the family structure does not seem to include a probability that John Morton fathered a family with Sarah Hawkins unless it was a daughter of Benjamin and Sarah given her mother's name. Her date of birth would have to have been around 1735, which would fit the chronology but there is no such person named at http://www.anusha.com/pafg27.htm#1428. If there were two persons of the same name one would have expected Sarah Turberville's will to clarify the point (unless the putative Sarah Hawkins Jr. had already become a Morton at that point). Apparently our John Morton married Sarah Hawkins, sister of Elizabeth Hawkins, who married Elijah Morton, brother of John Morton. Sons of John and Sarah Morton are called Jeremiah, William, Thomas, and John. See http://www.wagsweb.org/fneher/html/notes.html. Thomas and Jeremiah may have served in Sowel Woolfolk's company of Ky Militia in 1786. See http://pw1.netcom.com/~jog1/militia.html

John Morton, his wife Sarah, and their son John Morton, Jr., leased "for life" 626 acres of land in Orange Co., Va., from William Strother of Culpeper Co., on Mar. 8, 1773. Rent was 1000 pounds of tobacco per year. William (b. ca. 1725) and his wife, Sarah Bayly Pannill, had a daughter named Sarah. Could she be the "Sarah" that married John Morton, rather than the hypothetical Sarah Hawkins? Probably not, since she married Richard Taylor, the father of Zachary Taylor! Another thing to note about William Strother is that he died in 1808 in Woodford Co., Kentucky, where the Watts and Mortons are later found. William Strother's wife, Sarah Bayley, was from Middlesex Co., where a Elizabeth Bailey married John Watts (and John Foster). John and Elizabeth's son, James Watts, married Susannah Taylor. (One of their children was Agatha (1717-1784) who married James George. She died in Goochland Co, which borders the northern edge of Cumberland Co. However, these Watts appear to be of a different (or at least collateral) line from Edward Watts.

The link between Edward Watts and John Morton may be attributable to their common acquaintance, William Strother. In 1758 Edward Watts, William Strother, John Willis, and others sat on a jury to appraise some land of George Morton (possibly John Morton's elder brother of that name). In 1770, Edward Watts and William Watts were partners with Nicholas Porter in the purchase of a 1000 acre tract.

Previous generations of the Strother family are interesting to review because of connections with the Willis and Dabney families. There is conflict among researchers on a number of aspects of this line. But there seems to be general agreement that the parents of William Strother are Francis Strother and Susannah Dabney. Susannah is probably the daughter of George Dabney and Elizabeth Anderson (although some say John Dabney and Sarah Jennings). I have not been able to find a reliable list of Dabney marriages in later generations, but it should be remembered that Benjamin Dabney Hawkins of Franklin County, KY, married Jane Watts, and that their daughter, Mary Jane Hawkins, married a cousin, William Watts. This shows that there is probably a connection somewhere between the Dabney and Hawkins families, either a direct Hawkins-Dabney link, or one based on a marriage of a Dabney and a Willis, passed down to a Hawkins. A brother of Francis Strother, John Dabney Strother, married Mary Willis Wade. (Wade was apparently the maiden name; Willis may have been a middle name or previous married name).

These various links among the Morton, Dabney, Hawkins, Willis, and Strother families of Orange and Culpeper counties, VA, have been an important part of identifying the John Watts who married Frances Morton as the son of Edward Watts.

Notes for Sarah Hawkins:
The parentage of Sarah Hawkins is unproved. The Morton family of Orange county into which she married appears to have the closest ties to Benjamin Morton, son of William Morton. William died in Orange county in __________. His will names his sons, including Benjamin, but does not name any daughters. Still, because of the close Morton-Hawkins associations, William is the most likely candidate as Sarah's father or grandfather. He immigrated from Ireland in 1737, so it is not likely that he is closely related to the Hawkins who lived in Orange county or Essex county before his arrival. Because Sarah died in 1824, we can subtract 70 years and estimate her year of birth as 1754, but because we know her daughter Frances was born about that year, we would need to push it back another 16-18 years to 1736-38. But if Elizabeth is his first wife, that would place a limit of 1740-41 as Sarah's year of birth.

Joseph Hawkins of Spotsylvania Co. definitely had a daughter named Sarah and he was one of the earliest Hawkins landowners in Orange county, having received a grant in partnership with Robert Bickers between 1728-1738. Joseph Hawkins, with his son John, received patents side by side in 1728, so Sarah would have to have been one of his youngest children, maybe even a child of a second marriage if Joseph is her father. Joseph sold 166 ac. in Orange co. in 1738 while he was still resident in Spotsylvania Co.

Sarah's husband, John Morton, would also have been born about 1734-40, However, Joseph's will of 1769 in Spotsylvania Co. refers to Sarah as "Hawkins" and not by a married surname. 1769 is too late for that Sarah to be the mother of Frances Morton. Also in 1738 there was a release of 100 ac. to John Hawkins of Orange Co. from William Eddins. There was an Ann Hawkins who relinquished administration of her husband's estate in 1738 to William Russell, but her husband's name is omitted from the abstract in Dorman. I suspect, but I do not know, that John was also the name of Joseph's father, and that Ann was his widow. Benjamin Hawkins begins to appear in records in 1744. He is obviously a younger man, and his name is the most common Hawkins name to appear in probate records after that date. Although there are clear connections between John Morton and Benjamin Hawkins, Benjamin's will does not mention a daughter named Sarah, although it does name other daughters, so I do not believe he is Sarah's father. He is more likely to be of the same generation, perhaps a brother, but that would eliminate Joseph of Spotsylvania county as Sarah's father, because William of Orange county is known to be Benjamin's father.

Children of John Morton and Sarah Hawkins are:

	i.	Lucy Morton, married John Hayden.
	ii.	Ann Morton, married James Rucker.
	iii.	James Morton
	iv.	Jeremiah Morton, married (1) Rosamond; married (2) Judith Moore.
	v.	John Morton, Jr., married Nellie Rucker.
	vi.	Benjamin Morton, married Lavina Viney Anderson.
	vii.	William Morton
	viii.	Thomas Morton
51	ix.	Frances Morton, born Abt. 1754; married John Watts.

      104. Robert Slaughter⁷⁴, born 1702 in Essex County, Virginia⁷⁴; died 1768 in Culpeper County, Virginia⁷⁴. He was the son of 208. Robert Slaughter and 209. Frances Anne Jones. He married 105. Mary Smith 1723 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia⁷⁴.

      105. Mary Smith⁷⁴. She was the daughter of 210. Capt. Augustine Smith and 211. Susannah Walters.

Children of Robert Slaughter and Mary Smith are:

		i.		Robert Slaughter, married Susannah Harrison 1750.
		ii.		William Slaughter, married ? Zimmerman.
		iii.		Thomas Slaughter, married ? Thornton.
		iv.		Francis Slaughter, married ? Luggett.
		v.		James Slaughter, born 1732; died November 30, 1799 in Nelson Co., KY; married Susan Clayton.

Notes for James Slaughter:
From http://www.geocities.com/colemangenealogy/cldn10.htm#45021

"Col. James Slaughter was born in Culpeper about 1732. Served as
Ensign and Lieutenant in the French and Indian Wars; later
Colonel of Militia. He commanded a regiment at the battle of
Great Bridge, the first battle of the Revolution fought on
Virginia Soil. He was one of the Committe of Safety for
Culpeper, Vestryman, Church Warden, Justice of the Peace, etc.
He married Susan Clayton, daughter of Major Clayton of �Catalpa�
and Aunt of Major Philip Clayton of the Revolutionary Army, who
was one of the original members of the Society of Cincinnati."

The pension application of William Wright of Culpeper Co., summarized at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclark/wrightfam.html
states: "In April 1781 he was again drafted in the militia of said county. He was commanded by Captain James Browning the same Captain he served under before. Col James Slaughter commanded the regiment to which he belonged. Henry Hill was the Major. The regiment marched and joined the brigade commanded by General Muhlenberg across James river near Petersburgh. He was in the Battle at Petersburg, where General Muhlenberg commanded, against the British commanded by Arnold and Philips. After the battle the army marched to Chesterfield Court house, and he was detached to furnish provisions for the army. During this and the previous tours he acted as Sergeant, and he has a certificate bearing date April 27th 1781 from E. Clay showing the number of cattle delivered to him which is herewith also transmitted. About the middle of June 1781 he was discharged having served more than two months. He rec'd a written discharge from Col James Slaughter but has lost it. In the year 1781 about the first of September, he was again drafted in the militia of the same County. He marched down to little York, at the seige of Cornwallis, and was put under the command of Capt. Reed in the brigade commanded by General Stevens. He was in Stevens Brigade, at the siege of York until the surrender of Cornwallis. He was then employed to guard the British prisoners to Winchester Virginia but having been taken sick at Falmouth, he was discharged, having served about two month. He received a written discharge from Maj. Murray being the officer in Command, which he has lost."

More About James Slaughter:
Military service: 1777, Lt. Col. Culpeper Co. militia

	52	vi.		Lawrence Slaughter, born 1736; died August 05, 1779; married (1) Elizabeth Field; married (2) Susannah Winston.
		vii.		George Slaughter, died 1815 in Columbus, OH; married Mary Field.

Notes for George Slaughter:
3--7. George, Col., of Culpeper Co., Va., and later of Louisville, Ky. He raised the first Co. of Culpeper Minute Men, and served as commander of the same in the Revolutionary War; was in command of a Fort at the Falls on the Ohio River, and was one of the founders of Louisville, Ky. (which was then in Virginia); d. 1815, at Columbus; m. Miss Field, dau. of Col. John Field; no issue.

		viii.		Elizabeth Slaughter, married ? Lightfoot.
		ix.		Martha Slaughter, married (1) Gabriel Jones; married (2) William Broaddus.

106. Col. John Field⁷⁴, born 1720 in Culpeper Co., VA ^75,⁷⁶; died October 10, 1774 in Point Pleasant, W VA, killed by Indians⁷⁶. He was the son of 212. Abraham Field and 213. Elizabeth Withers. He married 107. Anna Green or Triplett? 1748⁷⁶.

107. Anna Green or Triplett?^77,⁷⁸, born 1724⁷⁸; died 1804 in Bourbon Co., KY ^79,⁸⁰.

Notes for Col. John Field:
Although he is said to be the father of "Robert Field(s)" and grandfather of a younger John Field, an ancestor of the Presidents Bush, it seems likely that this John is not the father of Robert, because Robert was not named in John's will.

He served, perhaps as a lieutenant, from Culpeper County in the French and Indian war, and some web sites indicate he was present at Braddock's defeat.

rom October through December, 1765, soon after the British acquired Florida from Spain, Daniel Boone and his brother, Squire Jr., along with John Stewart, John Field, William Hill, and several others, explored portions of Georgia's Altamaha River region and pushed southward to Florida. See Daniel Faragher, Daniel Boone, p. 64 (which relates that a companion called Slaughter, an accomplished gambler, paid most of the expenses of the trip by that means.)

In the Spring of 1773 a few individuals had begun to make improvements on the Kanawha River below the falls, and some land adventurers were making surveys in the same section. To these men Captain John Stuart, of Greenbrier, in the spring of 1774, had direction of Colonel Charles Lewis, sent a messenger to inform them that apprehensions were entertained of serious trouble with the Indians and advising them to remove from that section. When Stuart's messenger arrived at the cabin of Walter Kelly at the mouth of Kelly's Creek on the Kanawha, twelve miles below the falls, he found Captain John Field Culpeper engaged in making surveys. Kelly at once sent his family to the Greenbrier Valley under the care of a younger brother, but Captain Field, regarding the apprehension as groundless, determined to remain with Kelly. Very soon after Kelly's family had left the cabin and while yet within hearing of it, a party of Indians approached unperceived and shot Kelly, and rushed to the cabin where they killed a negro woman, and took prisoner a young Scotsman. Captain Field escaped and on his way to the Greenbrier settlement met Captain Stuart with a body of men, who on being informed of what had occurred decided to return to the settlements and prepare them for defense. The foregoing comes from http://www.kinyon.com/westvirginia/midnewriver/chapter3a.htm

More About Col. John Field:
Fact 2: 1774, Militia colonel - killed at Point Pleasant⁸⁰
Fact 3: 1765, House of Burgesses member from Culpeper County⁸⁰
Fact 4: Said to be father of Robert Field, ancestor of Pres. George Bush ^81,⁸²
King: 1755, Served under Braddock in French and Indian War ^83,⁸⁴

Notes for Anna Green or Triplett?:
To ascertain Anna's probable surname I have tried to go with the probabilities. It is possible that John Field met a woman he loved of no particular family and connections and married her, in which case her identity will probably never be known. But that is not what usually happened in this period. There are known customs and tendencies which improve the odds of making a connection, even if they cannot guarantee success.

Perhaps the most usual method is to look at the given names of the male children, which often reveal a mother's surname among them. Two of her sons are named Ezekiel Henry Field, with Ezekiel usually a first name, and Larkin, which was originally a surname but which had already been used as a given name before the birth of Larkin Field. So far I have not turned up much along this line. Ezekiel appears to have been a much more popular given name after the birth of Ezekiel Henry Field than it was before his birth in 1752. Ezekiel Henry is a son of Samuel Henry, born in Hanover Co., VA, but after Ezekiel Henry Field was born. Was there an older Ezekiel Henry who has not yet popped onto the radar screen? There is an Ezekiel Smith who was a spy (scout) at Point Pleasant, Ezekiel Taylor, and Ezekiel Hampton. There are potential connections with the Taylor family but I have not found any candidates among them for Anna Field. Larkin Chew's daughter Ann married William Johns(t)on, who had a son named Larkin Johns)on who is not old enough to be Anna's father. William had a daughter named Ann in his third marriage. She married Harry Winslow, not John Field. Larkin Chew also had a son named Thomas, who lived in Orange County. He married Martha Colby in 1724 and is roughly of the same generation as John Field and Anna. I thought Larkin Chew and Larkin Johns(t)on were my most promising leads, but they led nowhere.

It is also possible that Anna's mother's given name is among the names of the daughters: Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna. Since John Field's mother was Elizabeth Withers, and Anna is her own name, there is a pretty good chance that her mother's name was Mary. She appears to be the number 2 daughter, which would follow the usual convention. Larkin Chew, Jr., married Mary Beverly, but like his brother Thomas, Larkin Chew Jr. is too young to be Anna's father.

Another approach is to look at his closest affinities during real estate transactions, especially the first one, and at his will. Brothers-in-law are often named as executors or serve as witnesses because they do not take under the will ordinarily and are therefore qualified to serve as witnesses.

John Field apparently lived in his early years of adulthood on a 233 acres that his father eventually conveyed to him. But he made his first recorded purchase in 1758 on the north side of Mountain Run from John Triplett, who appears to have been about his own age. John was the son of William Triplett of Prince William Co. John inherited the tract in question from his father. The sale consisted of 471 acres of a 515 acre tract. The other 44 acres had been sold to William Green in 1753. William Triplett had purchased the 515 acres, plus another tract of 300, from Augustine Smith in 1735. Augustine Smith may be the man of that name who was the father-in-law of Robert Slaughter, whose son, Lawrence, would eventually marry a daughter of John and Anna Field. Otherwise, it is probably Augustine Smith, Jr., of Fauquier County, who may be a son or grandson of the Augustine first-mentioned above. So here we have a possible connection.

John Triplett was married to Lucy Abbett, daughter of Roger Abbett and Anne [not Mary] Waddington. I have not been able to learn much about the Abbetts. It is possible that Anna was an Abbett, too, but I have no evidence of that and my instinct tells me otherwise. There may be some evidence that John Triplett's father, William [married to Betty Hedgman, possibly with an earlier marriage to a Popham in some accounts], had a daughter named Annie, but I do not know her year of birth and I do not think she was named in his will. Still, there was some affinity between John Field and John Triplett. Both of them were witnesses on a transaction in Prince William County in September, 1751. John Field did not live there, so his presence may be significant. He was not just a local boy rounded up to sign a deed. The deed was from Tully Choice and his wife Ann Duff Choice, relinquishing their claim on 358 acres conveyed by William Duff to Ann Duff Choice. At the same time William Duff had conveyed 200 acres to Ann Shotwell, wife of John Shotwell. The grantees of the Choice parcel were the brothers William and Robert Green, the two eldest sons of Robert Green, Sr., one of the richest men in Virginia, whose will was probated in 1748. William Duff had been Robert Green, Sr.'s maternal uncle. Duff died without male issue and Robert Green Sr. inherited his property. Robert Green's will had made reference to 100 acres of his own land in Prince William county and to his reversion in the land given to Ann Shotwell. Witnesses on the conveyance from the Choices to the Greens included not only John Field and John Triplett, but also Robert Slaughter Sr. and Jr., and even Valentine Sevier! This is highly unusual because none of the witnesses resided in Prince William County, although the document was proved up on the oaths of Robert and Thomas Slaughter and John Field! The executor named by Robert Green, Sr., in his will is his good friend Francis Slaughter.

It may be useful for a moment to roll the action forward to the end of John Field's life and to look at his will. One of the three witnesses on his will was William Ball, who married Frances Slaughter, daughter of Francis Slaughter. Francis Slaughter and Robert Slaughter, Sr., were brothers. Furthermore, Robert Green, Jr., married Polly Ball, daughter of Samuel Ball (William's father). Which family is the cement among all these relationships? The Green family. But there is a big problem: the will of Robert Green, Sr., despite naming all seven of his sons, names no daughters at all. Did he not have any, or did he simply choose not to leave them any property?

The will of Col. John Field had four witnesses: William Ball, above-mentioned; Joseph Minor; John Gray; and William Field. Samuel Ball supposedly had a daughter named Ann or Anna, which was also his wife's name, Anna Catherine Taylor or Tayloe. But no daughter called Ann is named in his will, so I discount that claim. One Joseph Minor (b. ca. 1727) was a son of John Minor and his wife, Mary. He is supposed to have moved to Lunenburg Co. marrying Edith Cox there in 1750, before the will was witnessed. There were also Minors in Spotsylvania county. He was about the same age as John Field. John Gray seems to be somewhat younger. He was a minor when his father, William Gray, died in 1753. John Gray married Jane Jones in the 1760s. George Gray, who may have been an older brother of John Gray, married Mildred Thompson and was a captain in the revolution. I have not found a clear connection between the Fields and the Minor and Gray families.

May 12, 1729. William TODD of Drysdale Par., King and Queen Co., Gent., to John MINOR of Spts. Co., Planter. �40 curr., 328 a. of land in Spts. Co. at the Little Mountains. Witnesses: John SCOTT, Jas. BARBOUR, John BUFORD. Rec. Augt. 5, 1729.

Francis x ARNOLD, for �25 curr. Mortgage, 100 a. of land, whereon he now lives, etc., etc., to Thomas GRAVES, Richard PHILLIPS and John MINOR. Dated June 1, 1741. Witnesses: Thomas GRAVES, Jr., John GRAVES. July 7, 1741, Recd.

There was also a Joseph Minor in Spotsylvania; he had a deed of lease 17 September, 1764, from William McWilliams, which was witnessed by Thomas Minor and his son Owen. I have also seen one reference to a Joseph Minor of Madison county who married a daughter of Wesley Allen in the ancestry of the Early family.

***

One of the sons of her marriage was named Larkin Field. I have looked into possibility that she could be related to Larkin Johnson, who married into the Rogers family. However, Larkin Johnson, son of William Johnson and Ann Chew, was not born until 1727, too late to be the father of Anna ( ) Field. Larkin Chew of Spotsylvania Co., father of Ann Chew Johnson, was married to Hannah Roy. He had a number of children besides the daughter who married William Johnson, but I have not found any likely direct link to the Fields of Culpeper county. There may be a link by marriage. Thomas Chew of Culpeper Co., son of Larkin Chew and brother-in-law of William Johnson, married Martha Taylor, which provides an indirect link to the Larkin Chew family. Thomas also had a son called Larkin Chew.

Note that George Slaughter was a witness to a will in Bourbon Co. along with a couple of Johnsons. McClanahan _____.

***

A son of Ezekiel Field, another child of this marriage, was Willis Field. I have also tried to find a Willis connection. Henry Willis died in Culpeper Co. He was a prominent landowner, with a daughter named Ann. But she married Duff Green and moved with him to Kentucky.

***

The idea that Anna was a sister or aunt of George Rogers Clark and William Clark does not hold up very well. The family of John Clark, father of the generals, lived in Caroline Co. until after the Revolution. His wife was a daughter of John Rogers and Mary Bird or Byrd. John Clark was the son of Jonathan Clark and Elizabeth Wilson, and although he had a daughter named Ann, it appears she married a McLeod. The sister Ann of George Rogers Clark and William Clark married a Gwathmey.

More About Anna Green or Triplett?:
King: Not Anna Rogers Clark, sister of George Rogers Clark ^85,⁸⁶

Children of John Field and Anna Triplett? are:

Mary Field, married George Slaughter; died 1815 in Columbus, OH.

ii.

Elizabeth Field, married Lawrence Slaughter.

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