The Conundrum of Sorting John Lindseys, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Latter Half of 1700s and Early 1800s

South Carolina Colonial Plat Bk. 9, p. 1

Or, Subtitled: “’Curiouser and curiouser!’ Cried Alice”

These notes about the challenge of sorting men named John Lindsey in records of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, in the latter part of the 1700s and early part of the 1800s begin with the conundrum of a 20 March 1817 deed of William Lindsey to Spencer Bobo, both of Spartanburg County.[1] I discussed this deed in detail in a previous posting. As that posting notes, William Lindsey deeded to Spencer Bobo 200 acres on which William was then living, stating that he was selling “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.” The witnesses to this deed were John Lindsey and James Brewton/Bruton.

Children of William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) and Rachel Earnest — Rachel Lindsey and First Husband Jacob Cooper (2)

15 November 1829 summons by Thomas Bomar, Spartanburg court of ordinary, announcing Isaac Lindsey’s application for probate of the will of Jacob Cooper, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, loose-papers estate file of Jacob Cooper, file 580

Or, Subtitled: “Sail Bills,” Meeting Houses, and Family Squabbles

As the previous posting notes, the Spartanburg county loose-papers estate file of Jacob Cooper and the case file for the equity court case his widow Rachel Lindsey Cooper pursued on behalf of herself and their son Jacob Henry Cooper against the other heirs of the estate contain rich genealogical information, enabling us to document quite a bit of this family’s history over a considerable length of time.[1] In what follows, I want to discuss these two sets of documents and to note what they tell us about the Cooper family.

Children of William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) and Rachel Earnest — Rachel Lindsey and First Husband Jacob Cooper (1)

History of Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Crawford & Gasconade Counties, Missouri (Goodspeed: Chicago, 1888), p. 1059

Or, Subtitled: “There Is Some Confusion… More Information Is Sought

This posting is a continuation of my discussion of the children of William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) and Rachel Earnest of Spartanburg County, South Carolina. In three previous postings, I discussed William and Rachel’s children Cassandra, John, and Nicy Malinda, then their children Elizabeth and Isaac, and then their sons Mark and Henry Lindsey.

The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) (1)

Or, Subtitled: Five John Lindseys Representing Three Distinct Families – Trials and Tribulations of Researching Lindseys in Spartanburg County, South Carollina, in 1700s/1800s

In a lengthy series of postings, I have followed the descendants of a Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795) who is the known son of a William Lindsey (about 1733 – about 1806) of Spartanburg County, South Carolina. As the posting I have just linked and postings about Dennis’s father William linked below state, we know that William and Dennis were father and son because records in the South Carolina Revolutionary audited account files of both men state that relationship.

The Children of Mark Lindsey (1774-1848) and Mary Jane Dinsmore: David Dinsmore Lindsey (1815 – 1873)

Lindsey, David Dinsmore, Moulton Advertiser, 22 Dec 1908, p. 1, col. 5-6 (1)
S.W. Barbee, “Old Lawrence Reminiscent,” Moulton Advertiser (22 December 1908), p. 1, col. 5-6 (1)

Or, Subtitled: Irish Linen, Thirst for Red Liquor, and a Loyalist Grandfather

Now to the last of the children of Mark Lindsey and Mary Jane Dinsmore, their son David Dinsmore Lindsey (after which I’ll turn to Dennis, their oldest son): Mark and Mary Jane’s last child was named for Mary Jane’s father and, like his brothers Burke and Wesley, was called by his middle name. As we found when I did a series of postings about David Dinsmore previously, David was an Ulster Scots immigrant who arrived with wife Margaret in Charleston, South Carolina, on 10 December 1767. The couple sailed from Belfast aboard The Earl of Donegal, and immediately after their arrival in South Carolina, claimed land under the Bounty Act in what was then Craven County (and by 1769, Ninety-Six District) and would later become Spartanburg County. The Earl of Donegal’s passenger list states that David was aged 17 in 1767. (I’ve provided links to the six postings in my series about David Dinsmore at the end of this posting.) Continue reading “The Children of Mark Lindsey (1774-1848) and Mary Jane Dinsmore: David Dinsmore Lindsey (1815 – 1873)”

The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795) (4)

Dennis Lindsey Probate File 1
12 January 1795 bond of Mary Lindsey with Nathaniel Woodruff and William Moore, in loose-papers estate file of Dennis Lindsey, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Probate Court, estate file 1111

Or, Subtitled: Cittles, Chears, Coffy Pots, and Canters: What Can Be Gleaned from an Estate File

Dennis Lindsey’s Estate Documents: Prefatory Comments

Estate or probate files (or, in Louisiana, they’re called succession files) can, in my experience, run the gamut from genealogically astonishing — they can name all the heirs of the decedent and identify them as full or half-siblings, for instance — to disappointing. Too many of my ancestors left wills naming “my wife and all my children,” and estate files that show their estate being inventoried, appraised, and sold, without including any division of the proceeds of the estate naming the heirs of the decedent. Continue reading “The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795) (4)”

The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795)

Lindsey Direct Line Mark to Wm. Dennis

Or, Subtitled: Documenting Lives with “Receets” and Tombstones

As I told you when I began my postings about William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806), son of Dennis Lindsey the immigrant, I have not found absolute proof that the William Lindsey who claimed land in 1768 on the Enoree River in what was later Spartanburg County, South Carolina, is the son William named in Dennis’ 1762 will in Granville County, North Carolina. I am persuaded, however, that these two Williams are the same person, and in the posting I have just linked, I provided you with my reasons for concluding this — compelling ones, it seems to me. Continue reading “The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795)”

The Children of Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806) (3)

Lindsey, William, Account Audited (File No. 4600) Of Claims Growing Out Of The American Revolution 2
William Lindsey (Lindsay), South Carolina Account Audited (File No. 4600) of Claims Growing Out of The American Revolution (indent 479)

Or, Subtitled: Land Grants and Payments for “Sarvis Done”

From the Revolution to the End of William Lindsey’s Life

We ended the previous posting, the second in our three-part series about the life of William Lindsey (abt. 1733 – abt. 1806), son of Dennis Lindsey the immigrant, noting that he acquired a 200-acre land grant on 9 November 1774 in what would become Spartanburg County, South Carolina. The land was on a branch of the Tyger River that was almost certainly Jamey’s Creek, and a number of indicators suggest that this land may have been between that creek and Ferguson’s creek near what would eventually become Woodruff, South Carolina. Continue reading “The Children of Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806) (3)”