William Blevins Jr. (bef. 1745 - bef. 1812)

Born before 1745 in Pittsylvania, Virginia, Colonial America

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 2 Jan 1812 at about age 67 in Emmett, Sullivan, Tennessee, USA

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Biography

William Blevins (William#3-3, William#2-2, William#1-1) b. 1738-1745 in Pittsylvania Co., Va. He served as a private in the Henry Co., Militia 1756-58 at about age 16.

He married Ann Dunn about 1769 at about age 24.

He patented land in Halifax Co., Va on March 10, 1756 amounting to at least 250 acres. He signed to an Oath of Allegiance to the Common Wealth of Virginia in 1777.

1777:

• Deed Book 1 page 15, INDENTURE Feb. 17, 1777. Between William and Agnes Blevins and Philip Thomas. William's father William is selling 125 acres to Philip Thomas for £110.
• Deed Book 1 page 31, INDENTURE Between Peter Copland of the County of Henry, and William Blevins of the same County. For £110 current money of Virginia - Land on waters of Bever Creek in the sd County of Henry, Containing by Estimation 125 acres, more or lefs...signed Peter Copland, Wit: William Blevins Jr., John Blevins. Here William is selling land to Copland. Again the original land patent for this tract of land was granted to William Blevins on Mar 10 1756 in Lunenburg Co. VA. He and his family then appeared in Washington Co., NC, where in 1777 they signed a petition for a change in the Washington County line in an area that later became Sullivan County which was the second county formed in Tennessee, and included all of the part of Washington Co., VA, lying north of a line formed by the ridge dividing the waters of the Watauga from those of the Holston, and extending from the termination of the ridge to the highest point of Chimney Top Mountain. The act was passed in Oct 1779, and in Feb 1780 the county court was organized.

Colonel William Blevins (About 1745 - 1805) and his wife Ann Dunn (About 1756 - After 1826) ^[1]

Death Date

Col. Wm. Blevins's DOD can safely and competently be pushed back to occurring Before Jan. 2, 1812 due to an Indenture with this date involving Gatewood Blevins that identifies William Blevins, commonly called Colonel, of Sullivan County, being deceased and also identifying Col. Wm. Blevins's wife, Ann, as being a widow who is in possession of [her husband's] estate. This Indenture involves one brother (Gatewood) giving up his claim to his portion of inherited land (24 acres) to another brother (john) in exchange for money. In 1805, there is another court Indenture where John is buying out the land inheritance claims of 3 other siblings. I am less familiar with this Indenture, having only seen a small portion of it and do not know if it identifies Col. Wm as deceased or his wife as a widow so i don't reference it as "Certain" the same way i do with the 1812 Indenture. Hopefully, someone who has seen the 1805 Indenture and knows what it says exactly can help us further narrow down Col. Wm's death date.

John's continued attempts to buy his siblings' portions of their land inheritance has created a documented trail that can help both pinpoint Col. William's death date and give us clues as to who and what was in the Col.'s will, which no longer exists. For example, it appears that Col. Wm willed each of his children 1/13 of his 315 acre home/farm, which comes out to about 24 acres a piece. It also appears that the children could not claim ownership of this land until their mother's death (or at least that's how i read it). It appears Col. Wm's widow, Ann, was maintaining possession of certain lands, assets, house (ex: bed) and non-house (ex: wagon) possessions until her death which means that Ann was defiantly mentioned in the will and the will gave her the right to remain in her home. Other court records also seem to imply that Ann had certain possessions that she could will to her children without consideration of her husband's will. I would also like to suggest the possibility that the son William R. could have received the 92 acres in his father's will due to there being no other identifiable records as to how he came to own this acreage in order to sale it in a solo fashion.

Arriving in Sullivan Co, North Carolina/Sullivan Co, Tennessee

It is not exactly known when William Blevins came to Sullivan County. The area in which he lived was affected by the courthouse burnings that occurred during the Civil War and many early documents have been lost. When William and his family came to Sullivan County will forever be based on estimates from a hodge podge of documents and obscure cliff notes in unrelated books.

In his book, The Blevins Men of the Holston - Additions and Corrections, Robert P. Blevins says that William Blevins drops off the Virginia Tax Lists about late 1782/ early 1783. The North Carolina land grants were entered into the books during 1779. These dates may seem to contradict each other but from what I've learned about how land was "bought" during the 1700s, they actually do not. The process of "buying" land then is not the same as today and there appears to be a series of required steps that had to be met before you were granted ownership of the land. I'll explain to process in the way i understood it, if anyone can explain better please feel free to correct me. First you paid someone for the right to a tract of land, even though money was exchanged this didn't seem to mean you owned the land. I see it as "paying for the right to make a homestead on the land". Moreover, i'd like to mention this could happen "sight unseen" with land that is no where near you. Secondly, you had to have the land surveyed. Thirdly, you had to "make improvements to the land" which seems to include building a house, barn, coral; plowing a field, planting a garden, keeping domesticated animals on it, cutting down trees to make the area less wild, and of course living permanently on the land. Lastly, you had to prove to the courts and land offices that you had completed these steps adequately to be given the land grant which would make you the undisputed owner. This process seemed to take years not to mention whatever lag occurred in the courts to finish the land grant. So, a 3-4 year lapse (1779-1783) to bring the family to the area would not be unreasonable. It is within the realm of possibility and plausibility that this family was established in the area between 1782-1785. These dates would make the family Sullivan County residents prior to the county becoming part of Tennessee. These date would also imply that Col. Wm's last 3-4 children were born in North Carolina or possibly Tennessee, not Virginia. I would also like to mention an odd sentence in an unrelated book that may provide assistance to establishing a timeline, the book: First and Second Reports of the Bureau of Agriculture for the State of Tennessee. Bureau of Agriculture, Joseph Buckner Killebrew , mentions, on page 124, that Col. Wm Blevins was an established early horse breeder in Sullivan County by 1790. This reference would have this Blevins family in Sullivan County no later than 1790 and widens the arrival timeline to between 1782-1790. While i understand anyone considering this to be an unreliable source, I do think identifying Col. Wm as a horse breeder may provide an area of research to help discover more about him, his family, and their arrival in Sullivan County.

North Carolina Land Grants

The land grants issued by North Carolina to Col. Wm. Blevins are now located in Sullivan County, Tennessee. All of Col. William Blevins' land grants are located on the South side of the Holston River. There were a total of 3 land grants, 315 acres, 200 acres, and 92 acres. The 315 acres was divided between his 13 children, each receiving about 24 acres. Multiple court records show one son, John, attempted to buy out several of his siblings to increase his allotted acreage. The 200 acres was sold as a whole by the Col.'s 13 children. The 92 acres came into the possession of the Col.'s son William R. Blevins, though it is uncertain by what process this occurred.

• File #770A, Warrent #940, 1779/1796. Land Grant: 92 acres. Grant #706, Date Issued: Nov. 17, 1796. Entry #940, Date Entered in book: Jan. 2, 1779. Book: 91, Pg: 86. Location: South side of Holston River.

(This land was sold by Col. Wm Blevins' son William R. Blevins).

• File # 775, Warrent #1599, 1779/1796. Land Grant: 200 acres. Grant #707, Date Issued: Nov, 17, 179. Entry #1599, Date Entered in book: Sept. 12, 1779. Book 91, Pg: 86. Location: on top of Iron Mountain.

(This land is sold by all 13 of Col. Wm Blevins' children in an Indenture dated 1818).

Sources

1. ↑ Source: The Blevins Men of the Holston - Additions and Corrections - Robert P. Blevins Page 15-18 The Wife of Colonel William Blevins According to this source, the last name of his wife was proven to be Dunn, not Morell see page 3-7

• THE LONGHUNTERS: A Report on the History and Family Of William Blevins Sr. Of Virginia Showing 25 Ascendants And Uncounted Descendants; Researched & Compiled By Leslie W. Blevins Jr. As Well As Named & Unnamed Others. ISBN in softcover 978-1-4653-9999-1; EBook ISBN 978-1-4653-9788-1
• Ancestry Boards; surname Blevins info taken from "Blevin's Ancestry" by Bill Dwayne Blevins, August 1972. Bill D. Blevins, Publisher, 716 East 6th St., Mountain Home, AR. here also added a copy of the Wataugah Purchase on March 19, 1775, witnessed by William Blevins (the William Blevins who signed the Purchase according this probably was the one known as “The Colonel” (abt 1735-1805) and married to Ann Morrell)

• North Carolina Land Grants. Both of these land grants are mentioned in the book The Blevins Men of the Holston - Additions and Corrections - Robert P Blevins, Pg . An additional source for these land grants is the website for the State Archives of North Carolina. NCArchives. https://archives.ncdcr.gov/doc/search-doc

• First and Second Reports of the Bureau of Agriculture for the State of ... - Tennessee. Bureau of Agriculture, Joseph Buckner Killebrew , Pg 124. https://books.google.com/books/about/First_and_Second_Reports_of_the_Bureau_o.html?id=xgBkWsGFM9MC