Rebecca (Baldridge) Poston (abt. 1764 - 1851)

Born about Dec 1764 in Martic Township, Lancaster, Colony of Pennsylvania

Ancestors

Wife of John Poston — married 25 Apr 1782 in North Carolina, USA

Descendants

Died 22 Jul 1851 at about age 86 in Buncombe, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

Rebecca Baldridge was born about December 1764 in Martic Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to John Baldridge and Rebecca Clark. She was only eight months old when her father died in July of 1766. Her mother remarried, and the family moved to North Carolina.

On 24 April 1782, John Poston took out a bond to marry her. He was described and being of Rowan County, North Carolina, and she was described as being of Lincoln County, North Carolina. They were married the next day in Lincoln County.^[1] They lived on the 320 acres that his father left him on the east side of the Catawba River at the mouth of Morrison’s Creek.

In 1807, the Poston family moved to 820 acres on both sides of Hominy Creek in Buncombe County, North Carolina.^[2] John Poston died there on 22 August 1819.^[3] After her husband’s death, Rebecca Poston ran a tavern on Upper Hominy Creek west of Swannanoa.^[4]

On 6 October 1829, Rebecca Poston sold her “personal & Equitable interest in fee simple to all the lands and premises & free hold & free hold improvement that John Poston my deceased husband devised to my self and my sons Robert Poston and William Poston…in the written will of my said deceased husband John Poston” for $50.00.^[5] She later sued him for having taken advantage of her. She stated that she “never had more that ordinary understanding, but that at the time aforesaid, her health being very much impaired by age, (she being between seventy five and Eighty years of age) she was thirily rendered utterly incapable of managing her business with discretion, and but little, if at all, removed from strict legal incapacity of mind.” She also stated that, in about 1829, Alexander Henry “commenced suits by way of warrants against her for alleged trading with slaves” and that her son Robert convinced her to sign over her property to protect it from being seized.^[6] On 5 October 1847, she sold her interest in the 300 acres to Reuben Deaver for $23.50.^[7]

Rebecca Poston applied for a pension based on her husband’s service during the Revolutionary War on 4 July 1845. She was granted a pension of $38.33 per year back dated to 4 March 1836.^[8] By 1846, most of her children had moved away or were deceased. She employed Charles McFee to take care of her at the rate of $50.00 per year.^[9]

Rebecca Poston died 22 July 1851 in Buncombe County, North Carolina.^[10] In applying for her final pension payment, Charles McFee stated that he was the administrator of her estate and that she was survived by Mary Davis, Jane Bryson, Rebeca Bryson, Nancy Nicholas, Lusindia Stines, Ruthy Smith, & Robert Poston.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters, Transcript of the Pension Application of Rebecca Poston, 4 July 1845, (accessed 13 October 2021).
2. ↑ “Buncombe County, North Carolina, Deed Records, 1789-1964,” images, FamilySearch, John Davidson to John Poston, 8 October 1808, (accessed 10 October 2021); citing Buncombe County, North Carolina, Deed Book A, page 527.
3. ↑ John Poston Family Record
4. ↑ Terry Ruscin, A History of Transportation in Western North Carolina, (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2016).
5. ↑ “Buncombe County, North Carolina, Deed Records, 1789-1964,” images, FamilySearch, Rebecca Poston to Robert Poston, 6 October 1829, (accessed 13 October 2021); citing Buncombe County, North Carolina, Deed Book 16, page 34.
6. ↑ “North Carolina State Supreme court Case Files,” images, FamilySearch, Rebecca Poston v. Robert Poston and G. W. Jones, 1847-1851, (accessed 13 October 2021); citing Case File 6894.
7. ↑ “Buncombe County, North Carolina, Deed Records, 1789-1964,” images, FamilySearch, Rebecca Poston to Reuben Deaver, 5 October 1847, (accessed 13 October 2021); citing Buncombe County, North Carolina, Deed Book 23, page 547.
8. ↑ Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters, Transcript of the Pension Application of Rebecca Poston, 4 July 1845, (accessed 13 October 2021).
9. ↑ “Buncombe County, North Carolina, Estate Records, 1822-1964,” images, Family Search, Estate of Rebecca Poston, 2 January 1852, (accessed 13 October 2021); citing Buncombe County, North Carolina, Inventory Docket Book, 1845-1860, page 181.
10. ↑ “Ledgers of Payments, 1818-1872, to U.S. Pensioners,” images, FamilySearch, Payment Record of Rebecca Poston, (accessed 13 October 2021); citing NARA Series T718, Roll 19.
11. ↑ Southern Campaigns Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters, Transcript of the Pension Application of Rebecca Poston, 4 July 1845, (accessed 13 October 2021).

• "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch, Household of John Poston, Buncombe County, North Carolina, (accessed 13 October 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication M252, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Census, 1820," database with images, FamilySearch, Household of Rabeca Poston, Buncombe County, North Carolina, (accessed 13 October 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch, Household of Rebeccah Poston, Buncombe County, North Carolina, (accessed 13 October 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch, Household of Rebecca Poston, Buncombe County, North Carolina, (accessed 13 October 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch Rebecca Poston in the household of Charles McFee, Buncombe County, North Carolina, (accessed 13 October 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).