Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) of Louisa and Wythe Counties, Virginia, and Cumberland County, Kentucky: First Appearance in Montgomery County, March 1776

NARA, Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, Virginia, 7th Regiment, #2577, RG 93, available digitally at Fold3

Or, Subtitled: What a Close Reading of an Historical Document Might Reveal

In this posting, I’ll begin my documentation of the life of Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – May 1830) after he arrived in Montgomery County, Virginia, by 1776: in previous postings, I’ve discussed his probable date of birth, and the sparse documentation I have for him prior to his appearance in Montgomery County records (and here). I noted that, after his appearance in the estate settlement of his father James Whitlock in Louisa County, Virginia, in November 1757,[1] the first solid record I have for Thomas — other than a July 1769 Bedford County, Virginia, court record and the statement of the bible of his daughter Sarah Whitlock and her husband Thomas Brooks that Sarah was born in Bedford on 9 June 1774 — is a 1 March 1776 deed in Montgomery County to which he was a witness.[2]

Thomas Brooks (abt. 1747-1805): Wythe County, Virginia Years, 1793-1805

Will of Thomas Brooks, 4 November 1804, Wythe County, Virginia, Wythe County, Virginia, Will Bk. 1, pp. 308-9

Or, Subtitled: Fertile New Land, Lead Mines, Shot Towers and Forges, and Movement from the Middle Colonies into the Valley of Virginia

With my first posting about Thomas Brooks (abt. 1747-1805), I shared my information about Thomas’s life in Frederick County, Virginia, up to 1792, when he moved his family to Wythe County, Virginia. My account begins with a March 1767 deed of Patrick Rice to his son John, which Thomas witnessed, the first certain record I have of him in Frederick County. Since, as my posting indicates, I have not found information about Thomas’s father, I haven’t been able to track this family line sufficiently to say with any certainty where Thomas Brooks was born — a point to which I’ll return when I discuss in more detail the information I have about Thomas’s mother Mary, who made her will in Frederick County on 9 July 1786, with the will being probated on 4 April 1787.

The Children of Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): Margaret Lindsey and Robert Phillips — Notes about David Phillips (2)

Orange County Survey, Fry
Survey map of Orange County, Virginia (1736?) in Joshua Fry, Memoir of Col. Joshua Fry (Richmond: Randolph & English, 1880), p. 26, showing fork of Rapidan River.

Or, Subtitled: Recurring Names, Plausible Patterns, and DNA Stumbling Blocks

This is the second half of a two-part set of postings. The first part, which is here, discussed the life of David Phillips in Richmond and Spotsylvania-Orange Counties, Virginia, prior to his move to North Carolina in 1742. Continue reading “The Children of Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): Margaret Lindsey and Robert Phillips — Notes about David Phillips (2)”

Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): The Indentured Servant Years

cropped-dennis-lindsey-1762-will-p1a-copy.jpg
Will of Dennis Lindsey, Granville County, North Carolina, August 1762 (in Granville County Loose-Papers Estate Files, North Carolina Archives, C.R. 044.801.25)

Or, Subtitled: Strother Ties and Bristol Ties Everywhere You Turn

The Indentured Servant Years

As we’ve seen, Dennis Linchey/Lindsey, the Irish servant indentured in Richmond County, Virginia, on 1 June 1718 whom we’re now tracking, would likely have been born around 1700 — or perhaps a bit before or after that date. We noted that Carol McGinnis indicates that most indentured servants coming to Virginia in this period were young people aged 18 or so, though many were younger.[1] According to Nathan W. Murphy, an expert on indentured servants in Virginia during the colonial period, most indentured servants in Virginia were 15-24 years of age when they began their servitude.[2] Continue reading “Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): The Indentured Servant Years”

Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): Do DNA Work and Prepare for Surprises

cropped-dennis-lindsey-1762-will-p1a-copy.jpg
Will of Dennis Lindsey, Granville County, North Carolina, August 1762 (in Granville County Loose-Papers Estate Files, North Carolina Archives, C.R. 044.801.25)

Or, Subtitled: How DNA Findings Can Upend All You Thought You Knew about Your Family

I want to return now to a topic I introduced in May 2018 (and here): the descent of my Lindsey family, classified as group 10 in the International Lindsay Surname Project, from an Irish indentured servant named Dennis Linchey, who arrived in Richmond County, Virginia, by 1 June 1718 aboard the ship The Expectation, and was indentured in August 1718 to Francis Suttle. This first posting in this new series will talk about how DNA findings can completely upend everything you think you know about your family history, and point you in fruitful new directions for researching your actual family history. Continue reading “Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): Do DNA Work and Prepare for Surprises”

Dennis Linchey, Irish Indentured Servant to Richmond County, Virginia, 1718, and Dennis Lindsey, Who Dies in Granville County, North Carolina, in 1762: A Comparison

The following is a small chart I’ve compiled to map some of the pertinent facts we know about Dennis Linchey, who came to Richmond County, Virginia, in April 1718 as an indentured servant from Ireland, and Dennis Lindsey, who died in August 1762 in Granville County, North Carolina. Yesterday, I posted a more extended discussion about why I am confident that the two men are the very same men — that is, that Dennis Lindsey of Granville County, North Carolina, is the man who arrived in Richmond County, Virginia, in 1718 as an Irish indentured servant. Continue reading “Dennis Linchey, Irish Indentured Servant to Richmond County, Virginia, 1718, and Dennis Lindsey, Who Dies in Granville County, North Carolina, in 1762: A Comparison”

Dennis Linchey & Dennis Lindsey: Strother Family Links Help Establish Connection of Irish Indentured Servant in Virginia (1718) to Edgecombe/Granville County, North Carolina, Settler (1742-1762)

cropped-dennis-lindsey-1762-will-p1a-copy.jpg
Will of Dennis Lindsey, Granville County, North Carolina, August 1762 (in Granville County Loose-Papers Estate Files, North Carolina Archives, C.R. 044.801.25)

Using unexpected DNA findings (which show that the group of Lindseys from whom I descend have the Irish Type III genetic signature pointing to southwestern Ireland as the family’s pre-American place of origin) in combination with traditional genealogical research methods, a group of us researching my Lindsey line have determined that it’s almost certain the line descends from a Dennis Linchey/Lynch who came to Richmond County, Virginia, in April 1718 as an Irish indentured servant. It has also come to be obvious to me and others that this Dennis tried to patent land in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, after having served his term of indenture, and when he failed at this venture, went to Edgecombe (later Granville) County, North Carolina, where he acquired land and died in August 1762.  Continue reading “Dennis Linchey & Dennis Lindsey: Strother Family Links Help Establish Connection of Irish Indentured Servant in Virginia (1718) to Edgecombe/Granville County, North Carolina, Settler (1742-1762)”