Francis Baldridge (abt. 1751 - aft. 1830)

Born about 1751 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Turrentine) Baldridge — married about 1775 in Orange Country, North Carolina

Descendants

Died after 1830 after about age 79 in Jefferson County, Mississippi, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Joyce Hodges [send private message] and Richard Sears [send private message]

Disputed Origins

Francis' origins are uncertain. He may have been born in Ireland, possibly son of Malcolm Baldridge and Elizabeth _____; born 1750s, Ireland;^[1]

Biography

Francis married Elizabeth Turrentine (daughter of Alexander Turrentine and Deborah (Wilson? or Spence?) (Deborah Turrentine's will names daughter Elizabeth Baldridge.) about 1775. She was born 29 January 1759, Pennsylvania;^[2] or North Carolina, (according to the 1880 census entry for her daughter Deborah) died between 1830-40, near Fayette, Jefferson County, Mississippi.

Francis is shown on the Orange County, North Carolina, tax list of 1779 with a listing of his taxable property of 2,325 acres);^[3] he appeared on the tax lists for 1780, 1783, 1785 (in St. Mary’s District), 1788 (St. Mary’s again), 1791 (Hillsborough District), 1792, and 1796. Records that place Francis in the region begin in Orange County in 1778 and end in 1797 when he sold his land on “waters of Little River” for £300.^[4]

He had served in the North Carolina Continental Line and signed the oath of allegiance to make a land entry in Orange County in 1779.^[5] The family moved to the Mississippi Territory about 1802, settling in what became Jefferson County. (Their son John—and perhaps others—appeared on the Petitioners’ List for 1802).. ^[6] His exact date of death is uncertain, but both Francis and his wife were alive in 1816 since they executed a power of attorney in settling the estate of Elizabeth's brother, Alexander.^[7] Francis is believed to have died in Jefferson County, MS about 1835. ^[8]

Military

Private Francis Baldridge served with North Carolina Line during the American Revolution.

Private Francis Baldridge, born @1751 in Lancaster, PA, died after 1830 in Jefferson County, Mississippi, and his wife Elizabeth Turrentine, born 29 January 1759 in Pennsylvania, are honored by the Daughters of the American Revolution for service: 1) CONTINENTAL LINE; SIGNED OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO MAKE LAND ENTRY, ORANGE CO, 1779. Private Baldridge served in North Carolina.^[9]

Family

Children born to Elizabeth and Francis Baldridge included: ^[10]

• i. JOHN BALDRIDGE, b. 8 Feb. 1780, Orange Co., NC; m. (1) JANE OWENS; m. (2) NANCY C. (CHEEK) MARBLE.
• ii. ALEXANDER BALDRIDGE, b. ca. 1782, Orange Co., NC; fought in War of 1812 in Col. F.L. Claiborne’s Regt., Miss. Terr. Militia; Cs. 1816: Natchez Dist., Jefferson Co., Miss. [with Francis, James & John Baldridge].^[11]
• iii. MARY BALDRIDGE, b. ca. 1784, Orange Co., NC; d.y.
• iv. DEBORAH SPENCE BALDRIDGE, b. 6 Oct. 1788, Orange Co., NC; m. JOHN CLEM JOHNSON.
• v. JAMES BALDRIDGE, b. 14 July 1791, Orange Co., NC; m. MARY “MOLLY” STAMPLEY.
• vi. FRANCIS BALDRIDGE, b. ca. 1793; private in George H. Nixon’s Regt., Miss. Terr. Militia, War of 1812; fl. 1820 Claiborne Co., Miss. [in his hh., besides himself, 1 male b. 1810-20, 1 female b. 1794-1804, 3 females b. 1810-20]; Cs. 1820: Claiborne Co.
• vii. DANIEL BALDRIDGE, b. ca. 1797, Orange Co., NC; m. (1) SIBBELL W. FORMAN; m. (2) HARRIET ATWOOD.
• vii. SARAH JANE “SALLY” BALDRIDGE, b. 1800/1, Tenn.; d. aft. 1865, Jefferson Co., Miss.; m. JOHN J. ROBINSON.
• viii. SAMUEL BALDRIDGE, b. ca. 1800; d.y.

Research Notes

1. Francis may have been born in Ireland. The 1880 census of the U.S. (the first one in which everyone had to state where his/her parents were born) enough included daughter Deborah, who was ancient but still alive. She said her father was born in Ireland.
2. Research of Richard Sears suggests family of John Baldridge and Rebecca Clark Baldridge Boggs from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is a different family from Francis and his siblings of Orange County, North Carolina. The Orange County Baldridges were a different group; there is strong evidence for this assertion. See: TWO SEPARATE BALDRIDGE FAMILIES COMBINED AS IF THEY WERE ONE by Richard D. Sears 27 August 20202 <https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Baldridge_Genealogical_Problem>

Francis Baldridge, Sr.: Chronology of Documents, Sources, and Evidence

See PDF file for Chronology.

TWO SEPARATE BALDRIDGE FAMILIES COMBINED AS IF THEY WERE ONE by Richard D. Sears 27 August 20202 <https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Baldridge_Genealogical_Problem>

Researcher Chester Kennedy suggests the following: Francis Baldridge was born in Lancaster County, PA, the son of Irish immigrants. The family moved to the Little River area of Orange County, N.C. about 1770. ^[12] Francis' birthdate and mother are both somewhat questionable. Kennedy's research suggests his mother was an unknown first wife of John Baldridge and that John and Rebecca Clark were married after 1746 (based on her petition to the Orphans Court following John's death) ; others think his birthdate is more likely closer to 1750. ^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ The 1880 census entry for his daughter Deborah gives his birth place as Ireland. If that information is accurate, he could not possibly be the son of John Baldridge and Rebecca Clark, who are supposed to have been in Pennsylvania by 1737. And if he was demonstrably not the son of that couple, it seems obvious that none of the other Baldridge men in Orange County, North Carolina were either.
2. ↑ Her birth was recorded in the Family Bible belonging to Alexander and Deborah Turrentine, cited in Turrentine, The Turrentine Family, 10.
3. ↑ “Orange Co. 1779 Tax List,” North Carolina Genealogy 15 (Summer 1969): 2350.
4. ↑ Orange Co. Deed Book 6 (1797-1798): 407-408 in the Family History Library.
5. ↑ Revolutionary pay voucher #3860 & Officers’ Affidavits in Data File; Haun, NC REV Army Accts, Mil. Land Warrant Book 1783-1841. Francis Baldridge entry (Ancestor #A005184), Ancestor Search, DAR Genealogical Research Databases at DAR. Francis Baldridge, Private, Warrant No. 5072; NC Military Land Warrants; Assignees: Thomas Henderson, Joseph H. Bryan [next to No. 5071 for Daniel Baldridge] [Card index Revolutionary 1784-1799, Tennessee State Library].
6. ↑ McBee, May Wilson. The Natchez Court Records, 1787-1805. Clearfield Co., reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, MD, 1994 p. 516
7. ↑ image of document
8. ↑ Janice Tracy, “Mississippi Memories: The Legacy of John T. Baldridge, born in Orange County, NC” (2009) at mymississippimemoriesblogspot.com.
9. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed March 26, 2022), "Record of Francis Baldridge", Ancestor # A005184.
10. ↑ Chester Kennedy, Francis Baldridge, His Wife, His Turrentine In-Laws, Their Family (1983), 73; “My Baldridge and Turrentine Ancestors” at www.old-new-orleans/Baldridge_and_Turrentine.html.
11. ↑ Norman E. Gillis, Early Inhabitants of the Natchez District (1963), 81.
12. ↑ Orange County Tax list 1779. North Carolina, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890. Ancestry.com Operations, Provo, UT, 1999
13. ↑ Kennedy, Chester C. Francis Baldridge, His Wife, His Turrentine In-Laws, Their Family. 1983.

Object:

File: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=75b94b2d-e765-45d1-91e9-11dbf36b2663&tid=5063808&pid=777

Format: jpg

Title: Francis Baldridge bondsman for marriage of Mary Turrentine

Object:

File: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=3916c356-5612-4669-9957-8cbd5e923732&tid=5063808&pid=777

Format: jpg

Title: Francis.Baldridge.MS_land.claim

See also:

• https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/default.cfm
• Gillis, Norman E. Early Inhabitants of the Natchez District. 1963.
• North Carolina Revolutionary Army Accounts. 1990-1999+. Many volumes.
• North Carolina Revolutionary War Warrants in Tenn. State Archives. Microfilm.
• “Orange County 1779 Tax List,” North Carolina Genealogy 15 (Summer 1969): 2350-4.
• Orange County, North Carolina Deeds, Vol. 5 (Aug. 1805-Feb. 1807). Transcribed & typed by Laura Willis. Indexed by Betty Sellers. Melber, Ky.: Simmons Historical Publications, 1999.
• Orange County, North Carolina Taxpayers, 1784-1793. 1991.