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.

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 Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795): Mark Lindsey (1774-1848) (2)

Jeremiah Bell Jeter, The Recollections of a Long Life, Richmond, Religious Herald Company, 1891, p. 305
Jeremiah Bell Jeter, The Recollections of a Long Life (Richmond: Religious Herald Company, 1891), p. 305

Or, Subtitled: Round-Breasted Methodist Coats and Venerable Circuit Riders

Morgan and Lawrence County, Alabama, Records to 1830 for Mark Lindsey

And so another move for Mark and Mary Jane Dinsmore Lindsey and their family: in 1800, they left Spartanburg County, South Carolina, where both were born (in 1774 in Mark’s case, in 1779 for Mary Jane) and moved with her Dinsmore family to Wayne County, Kentucky. They remained in Wayne County to 1817 (if they moved with son Dennis, who went to Madison, later Lawrence County, Alabama, in that year) or until the fall of 1819, when they sold their homeplace in Wayne County and then begin to appear in Lawrence County records. Mary Jane’s brother John Dinsmore and wife Phebe (Woodruff?) then joined Mark and Mary Jane Lindsey in Lawrence County, selling their land in Wayne County, Kentucky, on 26 February 1821. Continue reading “The Children of Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795): Mark Lindsey (1774-1848) (2)”

The Children of Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795): Dennis Lindsey (1793-1855/1860) (1)

Screen Shot 2020-02-26 at 1.53.28 PM

Or, Subtitled: Tracking Families from Spartanburg County, South Carolina, to Alabama

As I’ve noted previously, the only child of Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795) for whom we have definitive proof is his son Dennis, who was born in 1793 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, and died between 1855 and 1860 in Franklin County, Alabama. Unfortunately, though we know with certainty that the younger Dennis is son of the older Dennis, there’s much that is unclear about the life of Dennis younger. Continue reading “The Children of Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795): Dennis Lindsey (1793-1855/1860) (1)”

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) (3)

Lindsey, Dennis 96 Dist. Plat Bks D, (North of Saluda), p. 182
Dennis Lindsey, February 1796 plat, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina, Plat Bk. D (North of Saluda), p. 182

Or, Subtitled: Land Deeded Before Being Granted

From 1790 to Dennis’s Death by 12 January 1795

In this next posting chronicling the life of Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795), son of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806), I’d like to focus on records pertaining to a 248-acre tract of land between Jamey’s and Ferguson’s Creeks of the Tyger River granted to Dennis in December 1792. This is the only piece of land I find Dennis owning at any point in his life — and it appears that, even before he acquired the grant, he had signed half of the land to George Bruton by a bond he made before the grant was made. Before we look at records about that piece of land, I want to remind you of some points I made in my previous posting, which are important to keep in mind as we look at records regarding Dennis’ land grant of 248 acres: Continue reading “The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795) (3)”

The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795) (2)

Woodruff, Thomas, Plat, 49, 127
December 1829 plat for Thomas Woodruff, for 863 acres, Spartanburg District, South Carolina, at site of contemporry Woodruff, South Carolina, South Carolina Plat Bk. 49, p. 127

Or, Subtitled: Plats and Churches with Shifting Names

From The Revolution to 1790: Land Records Situating  Dennis Lindsey and His Father

At the end of my previous posting, I told you that I’d then move on to discuss Dennis Lindsey’s life from the Revolution up to his death in 1795. As I began working on this posting, I saw, however, that the material I wanted to discuss here is so voluminous that I’ve now decided to cut my final postings about Dennis Lindsey’s life into several pieces. This next piece will focus on the period from the Revolution to 1790, and will show you how land records can be used to draw conclusions about where Dennis very likely lived up to the early 1790s, and about probable neighbors of his. Continue reading “The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795) (2)”

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)”