Contents |
Thomas Coleman was born around 1738 in Virginia. Various sites and trees show him as being born in Gloucester, Lancaster, or Spotsylvania County, Virginia, but no records exist to verify any of these.
Thomas died sometime between the date his will was written 20 March 1810 and the date of probate, 7 May 1810.[1] According to court records, his youngest daughter Mary, and her husband Oliver Stott, purchased the land where Thomas, and his second, late wife Ann, had lived.Thomas and Sarah Walker of Northumberland Co. VA, Thomas Coleman Jr. of Tennessee, Robert Coleman of Kentucky, James Coleman of Kentucky, and the heirs of Lucy Fulks, deceased, to wit: Nancy Fulks, John Fulks, Charles Fulks and William Fulks by Charles Fulks his guardian, of Northumberland County, VA to Oliver Stott of Richmond County, VA, whose wife Mary Stott is one of the legatees of Col. Thomas Coleman Sr., deceased. Consideration is $523.40 current Virginia money. Being the said land whereon the said Col. Thomas Coleman Sr., deceased, last resided and being in Farnham Parish, Richmond County, VA."Thus it appears Thomas died in Farnham Parish in Richmond County.[2]
Thomas married Betty (Connolly) Coleman (1741-1788) in about 1758.[3]
They had the following children:
Thomas' wife Betty died in Dec 1788. Circa 13 July 1790, Thomas married Anna Susannah (Asbury) Stowers (1740-), widow of Samuel Stowers (abt.1740-1786), who died in 1786.
They had the following children:
There are a number of Coleman lines and their assorted genealogies can get confusing as they share many given names which makes untangling them difficult. On top of those issues, the records are few--and no less confusing.
Currently, Thomas' father is listed as Samuel Coleman, who was born in King and Queen County and died in Caroline County. Neither of these are what is given for Thomas, posing a slight question as Thomas was only about ten when his father died and unlikely to live elsewhere. As to where he was born, Lancaster is a good guess if we consider the theory presented in[4] Sherrianne Coleman Nicol's The Mystery of Thomas Coleman that Thomas is instead, the son of Richard and Charity Jenkins (?) Coleman. Lancaster is where Richard Coleman is believed to have died--as that is where Charity settled his estate--and Thomas would have been around five years old at the time. A point in this theory's favour is that in Charity's will of 24 Jan 1793, proven on 5 Jan 1795, she leaves everything to her grandson John Mitchell. However, as the abstract notes: "... if he has no heirs, land to be sold and the money to be div. between three chil: Thomas Coleman, Richard Mitchell, and Hannah Luttrell; grdaus. Sarah Walker, Sarah Coleman, Frances Kirk." The witnesses to this will were George Connolley, possibly the father of Betty, Thomas's wife.[5]
When it comes to this profiled Thomas, it is likely there are two men being confused and conflated for each other. They were both born in or about the same year, 1738. One, however, is believed to have died at around age 40.[6] This may be the Thomas who fought in Virginia in the American Revolution and died sometime between 1778 and 1780.[7]
The other, the subject of this profile, died before 1810, the year of his wills' probate.[8] And while probate can take time, 30+ years seems unlikely, being a lifetime at that time
An additional mark against the two Thomas' being one in the same is this: if he did indeed die around 1778, it is unlikely he was able to marry Ann Asbury Stowes c. 1790 and father two children in 1791 and 1793. They are in the will referenced above, so unless a great number of coincidences took place, it looks like this profile is Thomas of 1738-1810 and Thomas of 1738-1778 is another man entirely.
So, which one is the son of Samuel and Betty? And is the Thomas profiled here indeed the mystery Thomas Coleman of Mobjack Bay?[9] With as many Colemans' that use the Mobjack Bay Colemans as a resource, it seems a sound resolution.
Created through the import of Sheppard_Duncan_Bickham_Stroud.ged on 01 February 2011
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Thomas is 22 degrees from Herbert Adair, 20 degrees from Richard Adams, 17 degrees from Mel Blanc, 23 degrees from Dick Bruna, 16 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 30 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 16 degrees from Sam Edwards, 15 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 17 degrees from Marty Krofft, 14 degrees from Junius Matthews, 13 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 17 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.