Continuing the family from yesterday....

Jennings Motley Jeffress married Susan D. Finch.  He actually had three wives and Susan was the middle one.  I didn't know about her until fairly recently.  I found Jennings Jeffress's will in which he gave his daughter Susan Emma Jeffress (my great-great grandmother) "her Mama's gold watch and all the silver spoons marked F".  That was the first hint that her mother's name began with "F".  The will was part of a chancery record that I reviewed at the Library of Virginia.

Then I found indexed marriage records for Jennings Jeffress.  He first married Margaret "Peggy" Moseley in 1812 in Charlotte County, second Susan D. Finch in 1812 in Charlotte County, and third Jane Pettus in 1841 in Mecklenburg County. His will mentions his wife Jane, which further supports  that she was his last wife.

During the past month, I was looking through a book that the Virginia Genealogical Society had published that indexed marriages from the Richmond, Virginia, papers. I was actually looking for a Jenkins and noticed the name Jennings.  That led me to the microfilms at the Library of Virginia where I found the following notice of the 21 November 1827 marriage of J.M. Jeffress and Miss Susan D. Finch, the only daughter of Thomas Finch, all of Charlotte Co.  This was published in the Richmond Enquirer on 22 December 1827.

Sadly, I also found in the Richmond Enquirer dated 25 February 1840, the obituary for Susan D. Jeffriess, wife of Capt. Jennings M. Jeffriess on 13 February 1840.

And, also the obituary for Capt. Jennings M. Jeffress appeared in the Richmond Enquirer on .
7 May 1852. He died suddenly on 22 march 1852 in Clarksville, Virginia.

 

Not a 5th-great grandparent, Thomas Jeffress was merely a 4th-great grandparent and this is his will.  The will was proven in Lunenburg County, Virginia, on 12 August 1822. Again, I obtained this copy from the Library of Virginia's microfilm, Lunenburg County Will Book 8 pages 241-242.  He mentions his "beloved wife" but does name indicate her name.

The will mentions children Lucretia, Jennings, Polly, James, Eliza, Nancy, Lucinda, and Jane, in that order.  Because he further mentions that Jennings and Lucretia will inherit land from their grandfather, I assume that they had a different mother than the other children.  At least one SAR application paper lists Jennings's mother as a Ms. Motley, which makes sense because his middle name was Motley.

Thomas Jeffress's son Jennings Motley Jeffress married Susan D. Finch, whose daughter Susan Emma Jeffress married James W. Love, whose daughter Mamie Elizabeth Love married John Graham Barnett Sr, whose son John Graham Barnett Jr married Gracie Allen Van Pelt, whose daughter Jean is my Mom.

Thomas Jeffress's other son James Jeffress married Nancy Moseley, their son Edwatd A. Jeffress married Sally E., and their son William Arthur Jeffress married fanny Dorsey Price, and their daughter Sarah Burton Jeffress married my Uncle Jim Alexander. I believe this is the case, but I haven't proven it beyond a doubt!

So Mom & Sarah were descended from half-brothers, but they were both 3rd-great-granddaughters of Thomas Jeffress.

James Robertson & Rachel Phair are another set of 5th-great grandparents.  This is James Robertson's will, which was proven on 13 December 1819 in Campbell County, Virginia.  James Robertson is a proven DAR patriot.  He provided "two beeves" in payment of taxes to the new government in 1782 in Bedford County (Campbell's predecessor).  I retrieved this copy of the will at the Library of Virginia from the microfilm copy of Campbell County's Will Book 4, pp. 219-220.

James and Rachel's daughter Isabell Robertson married John Gibson, their son John Gibson married Grace Taylor, their daughter Ann Eliza Gibson married John M. Alexander, their son James W. Alexander married Sally Belle Gibson (now I know it was really Sarah Isabella), their son, John Addison Alexander married Janet Fultz, and their son Jack was my Dad.  From John & Isabell Gibson on down to my Dad, the family lived in Rockbridge County, Virginia.

This is the beginning of the will of Samuel Downey.  The will was written 2 January 1773 and proven 17 August of the same year in Augusta County, Virginia.  The closeness of dates and the wording at the beginning of the will indicate that Samuel knew he was ailing and, thus, prepared his will.  Samuel bequeaths to his "loving wife" his "house biblle her sadle mare and sadle and a feather bed & furniture & spinning wheel & all her cloaths."  He also gives her two parts of his personal estate.  He gives the 500 acres on which he was living equally to his sons William and Samuel, but states that his wife will have the land during her lifetime.  And he named his loving wife as one of his executors of his estate.  In recording the will, the wife's name is given as Martha Downey.

Samuel Downey & his wife Martha are another set of my 5th-great grandparents. 

In addition to their sons William and Samuel, the will mentions daughters Margaret, Mary Ann, Janet, Rebeca, and Rachel (although not in that order). 

Their daughter Rachel was married in 1779 to John Willson, whose son Samuel Willson married Phoebe Tate in 1809, whose son Robert Tate Willson married Eliza Jane Ingles in 1843, whose daughter Ida Willson married Joseph Fultz in 1887, whose daughter Janet Fultz married John Alexander in 1913.  Janet & John's son Jack was my Dad.

Here are the other two pages of the will found in Augusta County Will Book #5 located on microfilm at  the Library of Virginia.