Thomas Gillespie (bef. 1725 - bef. 1790)

Husband of Eleanor (Unknown) Gillispie — married 1745 in Augusta, Virginia Colony

Descendants

Died before 15 Jun 1790 at about age 65 in Cowpasture, Augusta, Virginia, United States

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Thomas Gillespie resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies

This is the profile of Thomas Gillispy of Cowpasture River, Augusta Co named in 1746 land survey.

Biography

Thomas Gillespie was born before 7 April 1725. His parents are unknown. See Presumed Relationships below.

Thomas settled in Augusta County by 1742 when he is listed on the Muster Rolls of Augusta County in Captain John Smith's List.^[1]

Thomas married Eleanor Unknown (possibly Bowen) about 1745 in Augusta County, Virginia.^{[citation needed]}

On 13 December 1748, Archibald Clendening of Cowpasture, Augusta County, Virginia executed his Last Will and Testament. He appointed Thomas Gallespy and William Galaspy as his executors. The Will was presented in the Court of Augusta County on 17 May 1749, and was proved by the oaths of William Dougherty and Michael Reamey. The Court "ordered that the Sheriff Summon Thomas & W'm. Gilaspy the Executors named in said Will to appear at the next Court to show cause why they will not take on them the burden of the Executor."^[2] On 24 August 1749, Clendening's wife Esther, William Elliott, and John Gay posted bond with the Court in Augusta County, and Esther was appointed administratrix of Archibald Clendening's estate.^[3]

He passed away before 15 June 1790 in Augusta County, Virginia.

Children

Thomas' children are identified in his Will:^[4]

• John Gillespie
• Thomas Gillespie
• Jacob Gillespie, died abt. 1829 in Pocahontas County, VA, married Rebecca Berry
• Samuel Gillespie
• Mary Donally
• Hannah Jones
• Jene ____
• Eleanor Gillespie
• Ann Gillespie
• James Gillespie, died abt. 1790, probably in KY
• William Gillespie

Land

Note: The identity of this Thomas Gillespie is defined by the 7 Apr 1746 land survey record for his 300 acre tract of land on Stuarts Creek, a branch of the Cowpasture River.

William Galespy (Gillespie/other variants) and Thomas Gillispy claimed land surveyed on Cowpasture River in the 30,000 acre Lewis Land Grant.^[5] The land was surveyed in early April 1746 by a crew "far above" Giffith Knob.

By virtue of an Order of Council dated 29 October 1743, 300 acres of land in "that part of Orange [County] Now Augusta County" on "both sides of Stuarts Creek a Branch of the Cowpasture River Now in Possession of Thomas Gillispy" was surveyed on 7 April 1746.^[6] William Gillespy's 320 acre tract on Cowpasture River was surveyed on 3 April, 1746. On 26 September 1760, Virginia Governor Francis Fauquier granted Thomas Gillespy this 300 acres, on Stuarts Creek, a branch of Cowpasture River.^[7]

On 21 March 1767, Samuel Hamilton was appointed Surveyor of the highway from Captain Dickinsons to the main road between Captain Lewis and the Warm Springs, and it was ordered that with the tithables from Thomas Galespies down the Cowpasture to Alexander Clark's he clear and keep the same in repair.^[8]

Tithables

On 17 August 1759, John Galespy son of Thomas Galespy was ordered added to the list of tithables in Augusta County, Virginia.^[9]

Thomas Gillespie (and other spellings) is listed in Botetourt County (created 1769, effective 1770, from Augusta County) lists of tithables throughout the period 1774–1775.^[10]

1774 - 1 tithables; for Samuel Lapsley's District
1774 - 1 tithables; for Big Licks of Greenbrier, and several Creeks
1775 - 1 tithables; for Green Briar, and several Creeks
1775 - 1 tithables; for Green Briar, and several Creeks

Other Gillespys (and other spellings) appear in these lists with him, apparently residing in only two locations in Botetourt County: Hugh, James, John, Robert, Simon, and William.

Will & Death

Last Will & Testament of Thomas Gillespey^[4]
Augusta County, Virginia.
1 June 1785.
13 November 1786 (codicil).
15 June 1790 (proved).

Thomas made bequests to:

• my beloved Wife Eleaner
• my eldest Son John Gilespey
• my Son Thomas Gillespey
• my Son Jacob Gilespy
• my Son Samuel Gilespy
• my Daughter Mary Donally
• my Daughter Hanna Jones
• my Daughter Jene
• my two Youngest Daughters Eleaner and Ann; as well as a remainder bequest
• my two Younger sons James and William; tract in Augusta County on Stuarts Creek a Branch of the Cow Pasture River; as well as a remainder bequest

He names as executors "my said two youngest Sons James and William Gillespy and my said beloved Wife Eleanor."

Witnesses: William Connell, Zachariah Beall, Leavin Nealls, Andrew McCasling.

On 13 November 1786, Thomas executed a Codicil to his Will:^[4]

• The £15 previously bequest to "my Daughter Eleanor" to be given to "her son Thomas a Child between three and four years of age … for his schooling".
• If (my son) "James should die without issue I give then his part of the plantation to revol to the said (my son) Willliam …".

Witnesses: William Connell, Andrew McCasling, Leavin Nicalls.

The Will and Codicil were presented in Court in Augusta County on 15 June 1790 by executors William Gellaspey and Elenor Gillaspey, and were proved by the oaths of two of the witnesses, William Connell and Andrew McCaslin.

Noting the Codicil's item concerning if "James should die without issue," we find that Thomas' son James executed his own Will about one month earlier on 12 October 1786, where he states his motivation for executing his will—"considering the uncertainty of this Mortal Life, and being determined to take a Jurney to Kanetucky …"^[11] James makes bequests to his brother William, his brother Samuel, his Mother, and his sister Anne. The Will bequests a tract of land given to him and his brother William by his father.

Research Notes

• Needs Research: Primary records need to be found to prove his origins.

Place Creation

• Orange County, Virginia was created in 20 Sep 1734 from Spotsylvania County.
• Augusta County, Virginia (unorganized; organized 1745) was created in 15 Dec 1738 and was formed from Orange County.
• Botetourt County, Virginia (pending; effective 1770) was created in 28 Nov 1769 from Augusta County.
• Cowpasture River lies to the west of and is not the same place as Beverley Manor.
• The entirety of Beverley Manor lies within present-day Augusta County, bounded on north by Middle River, east and south by South River, and west by a line a little east of Spotswood.

See Augusta County, Colony of Virginia for a map created from recent research. Spratlin-29 17:08, 11 April 2022 (UTC)

Conflated Persons

See Deconflation of Gillespies of the Colony of Virginia.

Easily Conflated

These Thomas Gillespies are easily conflated:

• Thomas Gillespie Sr. (1719-1796)
• Thomas Gillespie (bef.1725-bef.1790)

Open Issues

• This item below dated 15 December 1789 previously included in the biography appears to be for someone else. Assuming the date is correct, pages "(177-178)" were reviewed in each of Vol. 7-9 of the Court probate records, as well as the pages covering that date, and no records were found for a Thomas Gillespie there.

DECEMBER 15, 1789. - (177-178) Thomas Gillaspie's will presented and witnesses summoned to prove it.

Birth

Thomas was presumably over 21 years of age on 7 April 1746 when land was surveyed for him on Stuarts Creek, a branch of the Cowpasture River. So he was presumably born "before" 7 April 1725.

An unsourced birth of "about" 1720 in Coleraine, Ulster, Ireland, "uncertain", was previously listed.

Unsourced Parents

He was previously attached to unsourced parents:

• Matthew Gillespie (1700-1728)
• Lucy (Pickens) Kerr (1702-abt.1785)

Presumed Relationships

Reviewing these land records:

• 3 April 1746
• 7 April, 1746
• 18 June 1766
• 8 November 1766

specifically the dates of these land transactions, the locations of the land plats relative to each other, and the names listed in those records, the following relationships are presumed likely (>50%):

William Gillespy (bef.1725-aft.1801) is likely the father of:

• Robert Gillespie Sr. (abt.1725-bef.1798)
• James Galespy (bef.1745-)

William Gillespy (bef.1725-aft.1801) is likely the brother of:

• Thomas Gillespie (abt.1720-bef.1790)

Allied Families Study

See Allied Families of Gillespies of the Colony of Virginia.

DNA Information

These FTDNA Gillespie Y-DNA Project Kits are described as "being of this family line". But no Y-DNA test kits appear in the DNA Connections. Need to identify them in WikiTree or encourage them to add their profile and line.

• I-FGC59339>BY3467>BY3466>FGC17591>FGC52748>I-FGC51755> William>Thomas?> Y500 PVs A18214, A18215, A18216
  • 90633 (I-M253)
  • 181838 (I-FGC51755)
• I-FGC59339>BY3467>BY3466>FGC17591>FGC52748>I-FGC51755> William>Thomas> Rees> FGC51758 neg
  • 98277 (I-M253)
• I-FGC59339>BY3467>BY3466>FGC17591>FGC52748>I-FGC51755> William>Thomas>John> Y700 PVs FGC51758, FT116756
  • 68239 (I-FGC51755)
• I-FGC59339>BY3467>BY3466>FGC17591>FGC52748>I-FGC51755>I-A20722>William>John> Wm>
  • 77342 (I-M253)
  • 65714 (I-A20722)

Sources

1. ↑ Lyman Chalkley, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, Volume 2 (The Commonwealth Printing Company, 1912), p508.
2. ↑ County Court, Augusta County, Virginia, Will books, 1745-1871; index to wills, 1745-1903, Index to wills 1745-1903 Will books, v. 1 1745-1753; database with images, FamilySeach (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P7-3CP8?i=376&cat=279443), image 377.
3. ↑ County Court, Augusta County, Virginia, Will books, 1745-1871; index to wills, 1745-1903, Index to wills 1745-1903 Will books, v. 1 1745-1753; database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P7-3C57?i=396&cat=279443) images 397-398.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} County Court, Augusta, Virginia, Will books, 1745-1871; index to wills, 1745-1903, Will books, v. 7-9 1787-1804; database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P7-39X4?i=124&cat=279443), images 125-126.
5. ↑ Oren F. Morton, Annals of Bath County, Virginia (Staunton, Virginia: The McClure Co., Inc., 1917) pp11-41; image copy; Archive.org (https://archive.org/details/annalsofbathcoun00mort/page/n7/mode/2up).
6. ↑ Surveyor, Augusta County, Virginia, Surveyors records, 1744-1906, Surveyors records, v. 1-4 1744-1795; database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS35-C95J-X?i=42&cat=332334), image 43.
7. ↑ Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants, Patents No.34, 1756–1765, p734; digital images, Library of Virginia (http://image.lva.virginia.gov/LONN/LO-1/033-034/033_0387.tif).
8. ↑ Nathaniel Mason Pawlett, Ann Brush Miller, Kenneth Madison Clark, and Thomas Llewellyn Samuel, Jr., Augusta County Road Orders 1745–1769 (Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Transportation Research Council, 1998) p130; image copy, VirginiaDOT.org (https://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/99-r17.pdf).
9. ↑ County Court, Augusta County, Virginia, Court order books, 1745-1867, Order books, v. 4-6 1753-1761; database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4H-C954-D?i=699&cat=275633), image 700.
10. ↑ County Court, Botetourt County, Virginia, Lists of tithables, 1770-1789, Lists of tithables, 1770-1789; database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS7S-M96D-H?i=5&cat=753667), images 102 (1774), 116 (1774), 125 (1775), 156 (1775).
11. ↑ County Court, Augusta County, Virginia, Will books, 1745-1871; index to wills, 1745-1903, Will books, v. 7-9 1787-1804; database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99P7-39DX?i=160&cat=279443), image 161.

See also:

• F. B. Kegley, Kegley's Virginia Frontier: The Beginning of the Southwest, The Roanoke of Colonial Days, 1740–1783 (Roanoke, Virginia: The Southwest Virginia Historical Society, 1938); image copy, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/402522-kegley-s-virginia-frontier-the-beginning-of-the-southwest-the-roanoke-of-colonial-days-1740-1783-with-maps-and-illustrations).
• Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish settlement in Virginia, extracted from the original court records of Augusta County, 1745-1800 Vol 3.

Acknowledgements

• F LaVerne Gillespie, Saturday, August 9, 2014.
• Thank you to Chris Varney for creating Gillispie-224 on 23 Aug 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Chris and others.
• Thank you to Will X for creating Gillispie-217 on 21 Jul 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Will and others.