Question of the Two William Lindseys in Spartanburg County, Late 1700s and Early 1800s

Unfortunately, we have no clear record of any other children William may have had. If he left any estate records in Spartanburg County or elsewhere, they have not come to light. Figuring out other probable children of William involves making inferences and plausible deductions about kinship on the basis of the best evidence that can be found in Spartanburg County records. In the postings that follow, I’ll explain why I think that William Lindsey (about 1733 – about 1806) had, in addition to his son Dennis, a son William (1760/1770 – 1840), and I’ll tell you what I know about the younger William.

To refresh your memory about the older William: a Dennis Lindsey, who left an unrecorded nuncupative will in Granville County, North Carolina (and see also here), dated 3 August 1762, names a son William in his will. Dennis’s son William disappears from Granville County records following his listing on a 1756 tax list in that county which states that he had “run away.”

On 5 July 1768, a William Lindsey had a precept for a survey of 300 acres on the north side of the Enoree River in what would later be Spartanburg County, South Carolina. The 300 acres were granted to him on 7 March 1769. It is fairly easy to establish that this William Lindsey is the man of the same name later found in Spartanburg County records with a son Dennis, both of whom served in the Revolution and are named as father and son in their pay indent papers. And though I have not found clenching proof for this deduction, it’s also evident that the William Lindsey claiming land in South Carolina in 1768 is the William Lindsey named as a son in the 1762 Granville County, North Carolina, will of Dennis Lindsey. The last two links I have provided above (at the end of the previous paragraph and start of this one) link to the first two postings in a three-part series about William, explaining why I have concluded he is son of Dennis Lindsey (died 1762), and what I know about him. The final posting in that series is here.

William Lindsey Jr. (1760/1770 – 1840), Spartanburg County

Now on to the William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) of Spartanburg County who was, I’m proposing, a son of the older William (about 1733 – about 1806): there are a number of reasons to conclude that the younger William is son of the older William, including the following:

1. The younger William lived in Spartanburg County, interacting with other Lindseys known to be part of the family of the older William, living near them, and interacting with people with whom these other Lindseys also interacted.
2. The younger William is of the right age to be a son of the older William, and there’s no other Lindsey in Spartanburg County in this period who could have been father of the younger William.
3. The younger William named a son Dennis.

These three steps in my argument will be supplemented by more pieces of information I’ll mention in my account below of the life of the younger William, insofar as I know about it.

Here’s what I know about the younger William Lindsey (1760-1770 – 1840) of Spartanburg County, South Carolina: first, if the 1830 census is to be trusted (and I see no reason to doubt this information), he was born between 1760 and 1770.^[1] William Lindsey’s date, place, and cause of death are established in a 10 January 1840 coroner’s inquisition report in Spartanburg County which indicates that he had died the previous day on the property of his son Isaac, when he fell from his horse.^[2] I’ll discuss this report in more detail later on.

1790-1810

As I have noted in a previous posting, I do not find a clear record of the younger William in Spartanburg County until after 1790. It appears he may still have been unmarried and living in the household of his father William when the 1790 federal census was taken. Only one William Lindsey is enumerated on the 1790 federal census in Spartanburg County. The oldest child of the younger William, a daughter Cassandra, was born about 1791, and if that birthdate is reliable, it indicates that the younger William must have married soon after the 1790 federal census was taken. If this estimated marriage date for him is correct, then I’d wonder if he was born closer to 1770 than 1760.

When Dennis Lindsey, known son of the older William Lindsey (about 1733 – about 1806) died in Spartanburg County in 1795, an account of his estate sale held 12 February 1795 states that William Lindsey Jr. bought a pair of saddlebags from the estate. A return of the estate dated 11 April 1796 states that William Lindsey Jr. had paid a debt owed to Dennis’s estate by that date. As the posting I have just linked notes, these estate documents of Dennis Lindsey establish that a William Lindsey Sr. and Jr. were living in Spartanburg County by 1795, and the fact that only one man of that name is listed on the 1790 federal census in the county, coupled with the fact that William Lindsey Jr. appears not to show up in county records prior to 1790, indicates that the younger man may have come of age around or shortly after 1790. The designations Sr. and Jr. do not, of course, establish that these two Williams are father and son, but it’s worth noting that the younger William was a buyer (along with the older one) at the estate sale of a known son of William the elder, his son Dennis.

The 1800 federal census for Spartanburg County provides further evidence that William Lindsey Jr. had married and had begun having children prior to 1800.^[3] This census shows him with a household comprised of a male 26-45, a female 16-26, one male under 10 and three females in the same age range. One enslaved person is enumerated in the household. Another William Lindsey, clearly the older man of that name, is listed separately on the 1800 federal census in Spartanburg County. This household contains a male aged 45+, along with a male under 10 years and a male 16-26, as well as a female 45+ and one aged 16-26.^[4] Enumerated next to the older William Lindsey are John Woodruff and William Moore.

As I’ve noted previously, William Moore married Hannah Woodruff, daughter of Moses Woodruff and Phebe Marsh, and I suspect that a Lindsey Moore connected to Dennis Lindsey (1793 – 1855/1860) in Franklin County, Alabama, records, who is a proven son of Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795), son of the older William Lindsey, is closely related to this William Moore. Information about these matters is in the posting I have just linked. William Moore and Nathaniel Woodruff gave bond with Mary, widow of Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795), in her settlement of Dennis’s estate.

On the page of the 1800 Spartanburg County federal census separating William Lindsey Sr. and Jr. are found members of the Bruton and Woodruff families, families that appear in many records of William Lindsey Sr. and his son Dennis Lindsey. Found on this page^[5] are Thomas and Josiah Woodruff, father and son, who show up in records of Dennis Lindsey. Thomas Woodruff (a son of Nathaniel Woodruff [1719-1805]) had a daughter Jemima who married John Lindsey. I have long thought that this John was another son of William Lindsey Sr. (born about 1733 – died about 1806). I have now concluded that he was more likely a member of the Lindsey family designated as DNA group 2 in the international Lindsay one-name DNA study — a group known as the Lindseys of Long Marsh, Frederick County, Virginia. Also on the 1800 census page with Thomas and Josiah Woodruff is a Jonas Bruton, son of David Bruton, who lived next to William Lindsey Sr.’s son Dennis and to Thomas Woodruff.

A number of documents that will be cited below indicate that William and Rachel had the following children, with the following birthdates and estimated birthdates:

1. Cassandra, born about 1791
2. ? John, born 1790-1800
3. Nicy Malinda, born 28 March 1793
4. Elizabeth, born about 1795
5. Isaac, born about 1798 
6. Mark, born 1795-1810
7. Henry, born about 1804
8. Rachel, born 1800-1810
9. Dennis, born 1815-1817

The one son of William Lindsey and Rachel Earnest whose birthdate seems established by several sources as prior to 1800 is their son Isaac, whose tombstone in Cedar Grove Baptist cemetery in Laurens County states that he died 30 March 1873, aged 75. The 1870 federal census corroborates this birthdate.^[6] Isaac is likely the son under 10 in William and Rachel’s household in 1800. As can be seen, William and Rachel appear to have had daughters Cassandra, Nicy Melinda, and Elizabeth born prior to 1800, and these would be the three females under 10 in this household in 1800.

As we’ll see later, William and Rachel’s son John is something of a mystery. The 1840 federal census places his birth between 1790 and 1800. If he’s the John Lindsey who witnessed a March 1817 deed of William and Rachel to Spencer Bobo that will be discussed below, then he would seem to have been definitely of age by 1817. The deed also states that the land William and Rachel were selling Bobo was bordered by John Lindsey’s. I can think of no John Lindsey in Spartanburg County records in this time frame who could be the John referenced by this deed other than William and Rachel’s son of that name.

Not only do various documents, coupled with the information found on the 1800 census, suggest that William Lindsey had married around 1790-1791, but they also indicate that the wife he had married was Rachel, daughter of Henry Earnest and Margaret McCrory. And they tell us that all of the children listed above were born to William Lindsey with Rachel as their mother.

If Rachel is the Richard Lindsey, aged 75, enumerated in the household of William and Rachel’s son Mark on the 1850 federal census in Spartanburg County — and, as I’ll explain in my next posting, I’m confident this is the case — then the 1850 census places her year of birth as around 1775.^[7] The 1830 federal census places Rachel’s birth between 1770 and 1780, while the 1840 federal census places her birth between 1760 and 1770. The 1800 federal census implies a birthdate falling between 1774 and 1781. 

On 27 September 1805, William Lindsey Jr. witnessed a deed of John Johnson to William Hendrix, both of Spartanburg County, for 400 acres of land on Suck Creek of the Enoree River originally granted to John Hamby.^[8] The deed does not designate the William Lindsey witnessing this land sale as either Sr. or Jr. I think it’s the younger man who was the witness to this deed, however, since his daughter Cassandra married a member of the Johnson family, William C. Johnson. As we have seen previously, Spartanburg County court minutes for 11 September 1792 state say that a road was to be laid from where Pinckney courthouse road crossed the county line between Spartanburg and Union Counties, following the straightest course to the Washington courthouse. The road was to run from Tyger River to opposite William Lindsey, with Nathaniel Woodruff Jr. overseeing that portion of the road, and then from opposite William Lindsey to the Enoree, with William Hendrix overseeing that section of the road.

And (again, this was discussed in a previous posting) a grant to Nathaniel Wofford for 392 acres in Spartanburg County on 4 November 1801 shows the land he was claiming on Ferguson’s Creek of the Tyger bounded by William Hendrix, William Lindsey, Henry Earnest, James Wofford, and William Roads.^[9] William Hendrix married Sarah Woodruff, a sister to Thomas Woodruff mentioned above, and members of this Hendrix family also seem to have gone from Spartanburg County, South Carolina, to Franklin County, Alabama, with Dennis Lindsey (1793 – 1855/1860) and wife Anna Woodruff (see here and here) — this Dennis being a known son of Dennis Lindsey (about 1755-1795), known son of William Lindsey Sr.

Something else worth noting about the 1806 deed of John Johnson to William Hendrix witnessed by William Lindsey: the first record I’ve found in Spartanburg County for the John Lindsey who married Jemima Woodruff is a 30 July 1786 deed of James McCarley of Laurens County to John Bragg of Spartanburg County for 50 acres on Hendrix Bridge of Jemmy’s Creek.^[10] The deed notes that the land McCarley was selling was out of a grant to William Hendrix and bordered John Lindsey on the southeast and others vacant. This record suggests to me that John Lindsey had arrived in the county at exactly the same time the Woodruff family did and had settled near members of the Woodruff family — next to Samuel and Nathaniel Woodruff, according to later deeds. When John Lindsey died around 7 March 1808, William Hendrix would be a buyer at John’s estate sale in May 1808.^[11]

Regarding the John Hamby to whom the land Johnson sold Hendrix in 1805 had been originally granted: as a previous posting notes, a 28 October 1793 deed of Thomas Childress to Thomas House, both of Spartanburg County, states that the land Childress was selling House was bordered on the south by the Enoree, on the east by John Hamby, and on the west by “land surveyed in the name of William Lindsey but now calld Spurgeans Land.”^[12] This tract, “Spurgeans Land,” was the 300 acres William Lindsey (about 1733 – about 1806) had claimed in July 1768 in what became Spartanburg County. That tract was directly on the north side of the Enoree River.

On 22 February 1806, William Lindsey and wife Rachel sold to Nathaniel Woodruff, all of Spartanburg County, 38 acres on a branch of Ferguson’s Creek of the Tyger River bordering Samuel Woodruff. Witnesses to this deed were John Crocker, Thomas Woodruff, and Joseph Woodruff. William signed by mark, and Rachel by her signature. Crocker gave oath on 30 January 1807 to confirm the deed and it was recorded 1 January 1810.^[13] The deed states that this is William Lindsey Jr., and this is the last reference I find to a William Sr. and Jr. in Spartanburg County records. This is one of the reasons I think the older William died after 22 February 1806. The older William was definitely living on 27 September 1805, when the deed of that date showing the William Lindsey witnessing John Johnson’s land sale also designates that William as Jr.

Note that this February 1806 deed places William and Rachel’s land right in the vicinity of John Lindsey with wife Jemima Woodruff. The Nathaniel Woodruff buying land from William and Rachel Lindsey in February 1806 was son of the older Nathaniel Woodruff who had died in 1805. Joseph and Thomas Woodruff were brothers of Nathaniel Jr. The Nathaniel Woodruff giving bond with Mary, the widow of Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795), for her administration of Dennis’s estate could have been either the father or the son. Joseph Woodruff married Anna Lindsey, from the Rutherford County, North Carolina, Lindsey family unrelated to the family of William Lindsey (about 1733 – about 1806). Their daughter Anna Woodruff married Dennis and Mary Lindsey’s son Dennis (1793 – 1866/1860). The 1795 estate sale of Dennis Lindsey shows both Nathaniel Woodruff Sr. and Jr. as buyers — designated as Sr. and Jr. in the sale account.

As I’ve noted above, Thomas Woodruff was father of Jemima Woodruff, wife of John Lindsey. Nathaniel Woodruff Jr. had a son Samuel, who married Mary Dinsmore, sister to Mary Jane Dinsmore who married Mark Lindsey, another son of Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795). Mary and Mary Jane Dinsmore had a sister whose given name has not been found, who married James Woodruff, son of John Woodruff, another brother of Nathaniel Jr., Thomas, and Joseph.

These thick Woodruff connections to the family of Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795) and families closely linked to his family (e.g., the Dinsmores) provide yet another layer of evidence that the William Lindsey selling land to Nathaniel Woodruff Jr. in February 1806 is certainly closely related to Dennis, a known son of William Lindsey Sr. (about 1733 – about 1806). If John Lindsey with wife Jemima Woodruff was a member of the Lindsey family of Surry-Rutherford County, North Carolina, with branches in Spartanburg County, then these thick Woodruff connections also demonstrate to us how challenging it is to separate the tangled Lindsey lines of three different Lindsey families living in Spartanburg County in this period, using the same given names, which DNA analysis proves were entirely unrelated families belonging to the DNA groups designated as groups 2, 8, and 10 in the international Lindsay Surname DNA Project (and see also here). I plan to post a subsequent piece about the five different John Lindseys found in Spartanburg County records in the late 1700s and early 1800s, representing these three different families, to illustrate the challenge of separating one Lindsey family from another in this time frame in this county.

Finally, note that this February 1806 deed adds further proof to the deduction that William Lindsey had married Rachel Earnest by this date. I think it’s likely that the piece of land William and Rachel were selling Nathaniel Woodruff Jr. in 1806 had come to them from Rachel’s father Henry Earnest, who had a plat for 200 acres on Ferguson’s Creek in what would soon be Spartanburg County on 13 September 1784.^[14] This would explain why William and Rachel were selling this piece of land to Nathaniel Woodruff Jr. with both of their names attached to this deed.

Nathaniel Woodruff’s name pops up again in another deed William Lindsey (obviously junior: as stated above, I think his father William had died not long after February 1806) witnessed on 13 February 1809: on that date, he witnessed the sale by Nathaniel Woodruff and William Lindsey Allen of 22 acres on Jamey’s Creek of the Tyger River to Shands Golightly, all of Spartanburg County.^[15] The deed was also witnessed by William Shackelford and James Wofford.

William Lindsey Allen married Mary, the widow of Dennis Lindsey (about 1855 – 1795), who is said to have been the daughter of Spencer Calvert and Nancy Leatherwood. William Lindsey Allen’s parents were the Elizabeth Lindsey and John Allen mentioned above, Elizabeth being a sister of Anna Lindsey who married Joseph Woodruff, parents of the Anna Woodruff who married Dennis Lindsey’s (about 1755 – 1795) son Dennis by Mary. 

The February 1809 deed does not say how Nathaniel Woodruff and William Lindsey Allen acquired the land they were selling to Shands Golightly. Nathaniel Woodruff had bought 400 acres on Jamey’s Creek from James Wofford on 10 July 1792, with witnesses David Bruton, Burwell Pace, Paul Castleberry, and Samuel Woodruff.^[16] The deed for this land states that it was bordered on the east by John Keighler (whose name appears as John Kissler in other records). John Keighler was a neighboring landowner to Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795), and in December 1774, he sold 250 acres on Jamey’s Creek to David Dinsmore,^[17] whose daughter Mary Jane married Dennis Lindsey’s son Mark Lindsey. As previously noted, Mary Jane’s sister Mary Dinsmore married Nathaniel Woodruff’s son Samuel Woodruff. 

On 14 October 1800, David Dinsmore’s son John and widow Margaret sold 82 acres on Jamey’s Creek, waters of the Tyger, with the deed noting that the land was out of a grant to John Keighler.^[18] Witnesses to this land sale were David Bruton, John Woodruff, and James Taylor. The Dinsmores were selling their land as they moved to Wayne County, Kentucky, along with Mark Lindsey and his wife Mary Jane Dinsmore, John’s sister. In Wayne County, Kentucky, Mark would immediately obtain land from George Bruton, son of David Bruton.

Nathaniel Woodruff also bought 100 acres from James Bruton on 8 August 1795.^[19] This land seems to have been on Jamey’s Creek, as well, since the deed states that the land was bounded east by land on which Nathaniel was then living (i.e., on Jamey’s Creek), on the west by Susanna Hemby (i.e., Hamby), on the south by Burwell Pace, and on the north by John Woodruff. Burwell Pace married Lydia Woodruff, daughter of Moses Woodruff and Phebe Marsh.

On 28 October 1809, a deed of John Tate to Daniel McKie in Spartanburg County states that the land Tate was selling McKie on Arnold Creek of the Enoree River bordered William Lindsey among others.^[20] As I note in a previous posting, this places William Lindsey Jr. by 1809 on land near the original tract patented in July 1768 by William Lindsey Sr. on the north side of the Enoree in southernmost Spartanburg County. Arnold Creek runs a few miles west of Woodruff, flowing south to join the Enoree just upstream from Wofford’s Shoals.

I’ve also noted previously that John Tate had a daughter Mary who married Isaac Lindsey, who was, in my view, likely a son of Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795). This family moved from Spartanburg County, South Carolina, to St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, late in 1809 after John Tate sold his Spartanburg County land.

1810-1830

The 1810 federal census enumerates William Lindsey and his family in Spartanburg County, showing a household comprised of 3 males -10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 26-45, 1 female -10, 2 females 16-26, and 1 female 26-45.^[21] In 1810, William and Rachel had, according to various documents, two sons in the -10 category — Henry and Mark. Their son Isaac would have been aged 12, if his tombstone reports his age correctly, so he’d be the son aged 10-15. But where is John on this census, if he was born soon after Isaac? And who’s the additional male listed as under 10?

Re: the females in the 1810 census listing: it appears William and Rachel’s oldest daughter Cassandra had married William C. Johnson by 1810 and is not listed in her parents’ household on this census. The two females listed as 16-26 are Nicy Melinda and Elizabeth. William and Rachel’s last daughter Rachel was born 1800-1810 according to other sources, and should be in the household listed as a female under 10, unless she was born in 1810 and therefore did not appear in this census listing.

A 6 October 1810 Spartanburg County deed of Stephen Wilson to Reuben Newman for 135 acres on branches on the south side of the Tyger notes that the land Wilson was selling bordered William Lindsey, Thomas Wilson, Sample’s old line, and the schoolhouse bridge road.^[22] I have not been able to locate a schoolhouse bridge road on older maps of Spartanburg County. If it was on the south side of the Tyger as the deed indicates, it may have been in the vicinity of Ferguson’s Creek, where William and Rachel Lindsey sold land to Nathaniel Woodruff Jr. in February 1806. This would have been a bit north and east of present-day Woodruff.

On 20 March 1817, William Lindsey sold to Spencer Bobo, both of Spartanburg County, 200 acres on which William Lindsey was then living.^[23] The deed reads, “… all the plantation and tract of Land where I now live supposed 200 acres more or less with every appurtenance thereunto belonging N. adjoining said Bobo’s land, E. joining Brewton, S. joining John Lindsey, and W. joining John Crocker.” Witnesses to this deed were John Lindsey and James Brewton (i.e., Bruton). William signed by mark. Rachel renounced her dower right in this land on 25 April 1817, and the deed was recorded 4 August 1817 with no indication of who proved it in court. 

The deed contains no information about how William had acquired this piece of land. As I have noted in a previous posting, I think this land had come to William by inheritance from his father William Lindsey Sr. William Sr. received a grant on 9 November 1774 for 200 acres on a small branch of the waters of the Tyger River in what would become Spartanburg County.^[24] Of the two men in Spartanburg County in the latter part of the 1700s and early 1800s I have identified as likely sons of William Lindsey Sr. (in the case of Dennis, a proven son), only William Jr. was still living in 1817. Dennis (about 1755 – 1795) had died in 1795. In a previous posting, I suggested that the John Lindsey living next to William Lindsey Jr. in March 1817 was possibly a son of William’s brother Dennis. I’ve now concluded that this is incorrect, and that this John Lindsey is more likely William’s son John, who must have come of age by March 1817 — though as indicated previously, there are many mysteries surrounding this son of William and Rachel, including when he was born.

A little over a year after William Lindsey sold his 200-acre plantation to Spencer Bobo, following Bobo’s death on 20 October 1817, his widow Jane (née Farrow) bought from the Spartanburg County sheriff 600 acres on Ferguson’s Creekin a suit of debt that Bobo’s estate had filed against Samuel Farrow.^[25] The deed for the 600 acres notes that it joined John Means, David, John, and James Brewton, William Westmoreland, William Jones, Josiah Woodruff, William Hendricks, John Crocker, and Nathaniel Woodruff. If this 600-acre tract was near the 200 acres the Bobo estate had bought from William Lindsey in March 1817, then it seems likely that William Lindsey lived prior to 1817 between Jamey’s Creek and Ferguson’s Creek, which flows parallel to Jamey’s Creek into the Tyger River a few miles north of Jamey’s Creek, past Bruton’s mill. It’s worth noting here that on the same page on which William Lindsey appears on the 1810 federal census in Spartanburg County, John Farrow and Sarah Bobo, Spencer Bobo’s mother, are also listed.

The 1820 federal census shows William Lindsey (listed as Wm. Lindsy) in Spartanburg County with a household containing 3 males under 10, 1 male 10-16, 1 male 16-18, 2 males 16-25, and 1 male and 1 female aged 45+.^[26] The older male and female would evidently be William and Rachel. All of their daughters appear to have married by 1820. 

The two males in the 16-25 age group in William and Rachel’s household in 1820 would appear to be sons Mark and Henry. Mark’s age on later censuses varies wildly. The 1850 federal census suggests he was born in 1795, while the 1860 census has him born in 1810 and the 1870 census in 1815.^[27] William and Rachel’s son Dennis was born 1815-1817, according to the 1850 and 1870 federal censuses.^[28] Dennis would have been one of the males under 10 on this census. I cannot account for the additional males in this household in 1820. 

The 1820 federal census shows William Lindsey’s son Isaac now of age in Spartanburg County, and heading his household.^[29] Isaac is enumerated on the page prior to the page on which his father William is listed, with a household containing a male aged 16-25 and two males under ten years, as well as two females aged 16-25 and a female under ten years. As we’ll see later, the 1850 federal census indicates that Isaac was born about 1800, and the 1870 census suggests a birthdate of 1798 for him, which, as noted above, is the birthdate indicated on Isaac’s tombstone.^[30] Listed on the same page with Isaac is Dennis Lindsey (1793 – 1850/1860), son of Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795), Isaac’s uncle, if I’m correct about Isaac’s father William being a son of William Lindsey Sr. 

A John Lindsey is also listed as a household head in Spartanburg County in 1820.^[31] This John is possibly the John who was a son of William and Rachel Earnest Lindsey, per other records, who was apparently of age by March 1817, as we’ve seen, and living beside his parents at that time. The John Lindsey enumerated in Spartanburg County in 1820 is aged 26-44; his household contains only himself and a female aged 16-25. The page prior to the page on which this John is listed contains Josiah Woodruff and Elihu Golightly.

As we’ll see later, the John Lindsey who was son of William Lindsey and Rachel Earnest has been confused with another John Lindsey who married Susan Lee, and who lived on the north side of the Pacolet and not in southern Spartanburg County where William and Rachel Earnest Lindsey’s family lived. This John, who was born in 1795, according to the 1850 federal census, was son of an Elisha Lindsey unrelated to the Lindsey family descending from William Lindsey (about 1733 – about 1806). Elisha’s widow Susan is found on the 1820 federal census in Spartanburg County, along with one of their sons, whose name was Isaac.^[32] This is possibly the John Lindsey of this census listing, and not the John who was son of William and Rachel.

William Lindsey sold another piece of land in Spartanburg County on 22 March 1821.^[33] The land was 57 acres on a branch on the east side of Enoree, which William sold to John Childress, with the deed noting that both lived in Spartanburg County. The deed states that John Tate had sold the land to William Lindsey, out of a grant Tate had acquired. The land bordered Samuel Jones and Henry Pearson. Witnesses were James W. Cantrell and Drury Cox. Once again, William signed the deed by mark. The deed was recorded 26 August 1822. 

This land was evidently near the 300-acre tract on the north side of the Enoree that William Lindsey Sr. had claimed in July 1768: on this, see the discussion above of the 28 October 1793 deed of Thomas Childress to Thomas House. The John Tate who had sold this land to William Lindsey was the man of that name whose daughter married Isaac Lindsey, a probable son of Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795), as noted above.

Four days after William Lindsey made his deed to John Childress, he sold another 57 acres to his son Isaac, with the deed stating that the land was on branches south of the Enoree, out of a grant to John Tate, who had sold it to William Lindsey.^[34] The deed states that the tract bordered John Childress and Samuel Jones. Witnesses were Chaney Lindsey and John Pearson. William again signed by mark. Chaney Lindsey gave oath on 27 March 1821, and the deed was recorded 10 April 1821. If this land was south of the Enoree, it would have been in Laurens County.

I cannot place Chaney Lindsey. This is the sole reference I have seen to this name in Spartanburg County records. Chaney was a nickname for Christiana. Note that this 1821 deed indicates that Isaac was of age by that date (he’d have been 23, if the 1798 birthdate implied by his tombstone is correct). About 1828, Isaac married Mary Pickrell, daughter of William Pickrell and Millana Owen. I suspect Chaney is a first wife of Isaac who died sometime between 1821 and 1828.

The Abstracts of Decrees book for Spartanburg District from 1800-1853 shows William Lindsey involved in two legal actions in 1821-2 as a defendant:

• On 14 June 1821, James MClanden filed suit against William Lindsey (#1355);
• On 12 June 1822, S.L. Westmoreland filed suit against William Lindsey (#1458).

On 12 December 1822, William Lindsey and wife Rachel witnessed John Childress’s sale of the 57 acres he had bought from William the year before to John Cooper.^[35] The deed again states that the land was on the east side of Enoree bordering Henry Pearson and Samuel Jones and had come to Childress from William Lindsey. William proved this deed on 27 January 1823. 

The John Cooper to whom John Childress sold this land is, I think, John C. Cooper, who married William and Rachel Lindsey’s daughter Nicy Malinda about 1815. Three daughters of William Lindsey and Rachel Earnest married Coopers: Nicy Malinda and her sister Elizabeth married sons of Jacob Cooper, John C. Cooper and Eli/Ely Cooper; their sister Rachel married Jacob Cooper after his previous wife, the mother of John C. and Eli/Ely Cooper, whose name I had not found, had died.

On 7 March 1828, Samuel Jones sold 120 acres on the waters of the Enoree to Elkanah Jones, with the deed stating that both Samuel and Elkanah resided in Spartanburg County.^[36] The land description given in this deed states that the land bordered Thomas Westmoreland, Jacob Cooper, a wagon ford on the land of William Lindsey, and a ford of the branch running between James Rhodes and Elkanah Jones.

In my next posting, I’ll track William Lindsey Jr. and his family up to (and beyond, in the case of wife Rachel) his death in Spartanburg County on 9 March 1840.

---

^[1] 1830 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, p. 286.

^[2] Spartanburg County Quorum Court, “The State vs. the Dead Body of William Lindsey,” Coroner’s Inquisition, online at the CSI: Dixie site of the Center for Virtual History at University of Georgia.

^[3] 1800 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, p. 184.

^[4] 1800 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, p. 186.

^[5] Ibid., p. 185.

^[6] 1870 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Reidville, Glenn Springs post office, p. 558A (family and dwelling 450; 4 July).

^[7] 1850 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, p. 305B (dwelling and family 3152; 17 December).

^[8] Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Deed Bk. L, pp. 141-2.

^[9] South Carolina Commission of Locations, Ninety-Six District, Lands North of Saluda River, Plat Bk. F, p. 115.

^[10] Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Deed Bk. B, pp. 138-41)

^[11] See John Lindsey estate file, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, loose-papers estate files #1244.

^[12] Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Deed Bk. D, pp. 448-450.

^[13] Ibid., Deed Bk. M, pp. 157-8.

^[14] South Carolina Land Grants, Bk. 5, p. 189.

^[15] Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Deed Bk. M, pp. 339-340.

^[16] Ibid., Deed Bk. G, pp. 42-3.

^[17] Ibid., Deed Bk. B, pp. 452-5.

^[18] Ibid., Deed Bk. L, p. 95.

^[19] Ibid., Deed Bk. G, pp. 40-2.

^[20] Ibid., Deed Bk. O, pp. 142-3.

^[21] 1810 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, p. 394.

^[22] Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Deed Bk. S, pp. 205-6.

^[23] Ibid., Bk. P, pp. 306-7.

^[24] South Carolina Royal Grants Bk. 34, p. 120.

^[25] Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Deed Bk. Q, pp. 68-70.

^[26] 1820 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, p. 250.

^[27] 1850 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, p. 305 (dwelling and family 3153; 17 December); 1860 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, southern division, Woodruff post office, p. 386 (dwelling and family 1246; 14 September); 1870 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Reidville, Glenn Springs post office, p. 557A (dwelling and family 434; 2 July).

^[28] Dennis was enumerated twice in 1850, once in the household of Nancy P. Farrow in Hamburg, Edgefield County, South Carolina, p. 129 (dwelling 1964, family 1970; 26 November); and once in the household of P.H. Castleberry, also in Hamburg in Edgefield County, p. 137 (dwelling 1997, family 2000; 27 November). In both entries, his age appears to be given as 35, though the numerals are hard to read, and he’s a cotton buyer. The 1870 federal census lists him in Schultz in Edgefield County p. 418B (dwelling 86, family 108; 9 August), where he’s a cotton merchant and his age is 57.

^[29] 1820 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, p. 249. 

^[30] 1850 federal census, Richland County, South Carolina, Columbia, p. 31 (dwelling 542, family 575; 22 October). On the 1870 census listing, see supra, n. 6.

^[31] 1820 federal census, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, p. 242.

^[32] Ibid., pp. 264, 256.

^[33] Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Deed Bk. S, p. 83.

^[34] Ibid., Deed Bk. R, pp. 237-8.

^[35] Ibid., Deed Bk. S, pp. 149-150.

^[36] Ibid., Deed Bk. W, pp. 75-6.