William Elston (abt. 1738 - 1817)

Born about 1738 in Woodbridge Township, Middlesex, New Jersey

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (David) Haggard — married [date unknown] in Woodbridge, Middlesex, New Jersey

Died 31 Aug 1817 at about age 79 in Smith, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Stu Elston [send private message]

Biography

William Elston was born about 1738, in Woodbridge, New Jersey. He and his brother, David, born about 1740, were pivotal figures in the migration of Elstons away from New Jersey and south to Rowan County (William) and Wilkes County (David), North Carolina, and from there to Smith County, Tennessee (William) and Kentucky (David). Many of their descendants soon established families further north and west, to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, etc., and others settled in South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana. Many of the details of this migration are related in the work of James Strode Elston.^[1]

While still in New Jersey and prior to moving south, William and his wife, Mary, sold property in Hardyston, Sussex Co., NJ on 20 Oct 1782.^[2]

William appears to have died in Smith County, Tennessee, where he left a will dated 31 Aug 1817.^[3]

Research Note

Introduction

This note is being added to gather evidence and sources in preparation for editing the biography of William Elston, born about 1738 in Woodbridge, NJ to father William Elston (born about 1720 in Woodbridge) and an unknown mother, and who was the grandson of Samuel Elston, born about 1690, and his wife Sarah Spencer (according to Samuel's profile). The previous sentence is to establish the identity of the man in this profile as it existed on WikiTree on 28Jul2022. It is not necessarily to assert the correctness of that line of descent, although the author of this note ( Stu Elston) thinks it likely to be correct, based on having explored both the content and many of the sources contained in research conducted by James Strode Elston.^[1] This identification is important because several William Elstons lived in New Jersey at times overlapping the life of this William.

Possible Duplicate Profile

In addition, there is a separate profile for William Elston Jr. which may represent the same person and, if so, that profile and this may need to be merged with this in the future. However, there are facts in each of these profiles that are contrary to evidence in sources associated with them and to other available sources. The author of this note has elected to edit this profile first, as it was orphaned and needed a manager, and because he has worked on this line in the past and had some knowledge of the confusion over the spouses of William Elston and his brother David Elston, who married two daughters of William Line, as is detailed in William Line's will^[4]

Marriage

The following information was in the biography section at the time of creation of this Research Note on 28Jul2022:

Husband: William Elston

Wife: Sarah Sary Spencer

Marriage:

Date: <1704>

Place: East Greenwich, Kent, RI

This marriage data is probably incorrect. The marriage date precedes the date of birth of William (about 1738). In addition, a Sarah Spencer was apparently married to Samuel Elston in Woodbridge, NJ. While there was a family of Spencers in Woodbridge, no trace of a Sarah, at a time appropriate to be the wife of the William of this profile, has been found. There was no source in the profile for this marriage data.

Discussion of Sources

The Sources listed below, delineated with bullet points, were part of the profile as it existed on 28Jul2022, and have been lightly edited for formatting and ordering. The "WikiTree profile Elston-57 . . ." source speaks for itself. The "New Jersey, Deaths . . ." source is an abstract of a death record of a John Elston, b. abt. 1785 in Wantage, NJ, and who d. age 78 on 30 Jan 1863, in Wantage, and establishes that he was the son of a William Elston. The "Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index . . ." source does not seem to be specific enough to determine what information in the profile it supports.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Elston, James Strode. The Elston Family in America. Rutland, VT: Tuttle Pub. Co., 1942, esp. p. 39, entry 39; pp. 80-85 in entries 100 and 101. Available online at the HathiTrust Digital Library: http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/4484786.html.
2. ↑ Elston, The Elston Family in America, p. 80 in entry 100.
3. ↑ Ancestry.com. Tennessee, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Tennessee County, District and Probate Courts. Smith County, Tennessee Will Boxes, 1803-1855; Petitions For Homestead, Dower and Widows' Support, Ca. 1859-1919; Miscellaneous Inventories and Estate Records, Ca. 1812-1867; Author: Smith County (Tennessee). County Court Clerk's Office; Probate Place: Smith, Tennessee.
4. ↑ Ancestry.com. New Jersey, U.S., Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Viewing images 310, 311 of 749, Abstract of Will for William Line, 1 Mar 1997. Original data: New Jersey State Archives. New Jersey, Published Archives Series, First Series. Trenton, New Jersey: John L Murphy Publishing Company.

• WikiTree profile Elston-57 created through the import of Shurtliff Family.ged on Jun 20, 2011 by Mark Shurtliff. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Mark and others.

• "New Jersey, Deaths, 1670-1988," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZGK-ZGW : 11 February 2018), William Elston in entry for John Elston, 30 Jan 1863; citing Wantage, Sussex, New Jersey, United States, Division of Archives and Record Management, New Jersey Department of State, Trenton.; FHL microfilm 584,582.

• Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1643-1890 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Jackson, Ronald V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. New Jersey Census, 1643-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.