James Gillespie (1751 - 1834)

Born 1751 in Augusta County, Colony of Virginia

Descendants

Died 18 Aug 1834 at about age 83 in Chatham Hill, Smyth, Virginia, United States

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Biography

James Gillespie was born in 1751.^[1]

He passed away in 1834.^[1]

Land

James and Isabella Gillespie lived on the North Fork of the Holston River in Montgomery County (now Smyth County), Virginia adjoining his brother Thomas as early as 1787. On April 5, 1793, James bought 61 acres of his brother Thomas' land and lived there the remainder of his life.

Tithables

James Galaspy is listed in Botetourt County (created 1769, effective 1770, from Augusta County) lists of tithables in 1772 and 1786.^[2]

1772 - 1 tithables; for Jackson River including the Cowpasture and Down James River 1786 - 2 tithables; for CPT Frazer's Company

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

Will and Death

Last Will and Testament of James Gillasprey^[3][4]
Smyth County, Virginia.
23 February 1833.
18 September 1834 (proved).

(transcript from Geni.com profile)
In the name of God amen - I James Gillasprey of the County of Smyth and State of Virginia being weak of body but of sound mind and memory knowing that it is appointed once for all men to die, do make and ordain this my last Will & Testament as follows to with

First I give and bequeath to my wife Isabel one third part Of the tract of land whereon I know live also the mantion House and all the household furniture and at her death To be equealy divided amongst my children that is to say The house hold furniture to be divided

Second - I will and bequeath to my son Thomas R Gillasprey Two thirds of the tract of land whereon I know live and the other third at the death of his mother is to be his, also a part of a fifty acre tract ajoining my old tract the divition line to begin at two sugar trees at the west end of the tract I now live on wining northwardly bareing to the west with The road to join the line of the fifty acre tract

Thirdly - I give and bequeath to my son James Gilluspie The balance of the fifty acre tract above mentioned

Fourthly - I will and bequeath to my son William Gillaspey one dollar and no more.

Fifthly - I will and bequeath to my daughters, Jane, Polly, Sally and Isabel one dollar each and no more.

Sixthty - I will and bequeath that all my live stock to Be equally divided between my sons Robert Thomas R, Elijah and Matthew.

I further bind my son Thomas R Gillaspey if he complies With my will to pay sixty dollars a peace to my sons Robert Matthew and Elijah at the end of three Years from my death.

Lastly I hereby constitute and appoint my two sons Thomas R Gillaspey and Robert Gillaspey my Executors of this my last will and testament by me made in mtuep whereof I have hearunto, set my hand and seal this 26th day of February acknowledged in the presence of : Soloman McDanald Joseph Sexton Thomas Sexton

James died on 18 August 1834. Isabella died the prior year on 19 September 1833.

On 18 September 1834 in Smyth County Court, the Last Will & Testament of James Gillespie, deceased, was proved in Court by the oaths of Soloman McDanald, Joseph Sexton, and Thomas Sexton, witnesses thereof and was ordered to be recorded. Thomas R. Gillespie, Soloman McDanald, and Joseph Sexton entered a bond of $6.00, and Thomas R. Gillespie was granted certificate of probate. Robert Gillaspey was apparently not at the Court, as the order states "liberty being reserved to the other Executor named in the said will to join in the probat when he shall think fit."^[5] The Court ordered Andrew H. Law, John G. Sexton, Issac Patrick, and Robert Buchanan, or any three of them, to appraise the estate.

On 18 December 1834 in Smyth County Court, Andrew H. Law, John G. Sexton, and Issac Patrick returned the appraisement and it was ordered to be recorded.^[6]

Research Notes

• Needs Research: Research into the life events and family of this person is needed. Vital statistics and relationships (birth, parents, marriage, children, death) need citations for primary sources. Spratlin-29 18:00, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

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.
• Alleghany County, Virginia was created in 5 Jan 1822 and was formed from Bath County, Botetout County and Monroe County, West Virginia in 1822; additional parts of Bath County (1823) and Monroe County, West Virginia (1843) were added.

See Augusta County, Colony of Virginia for a map created from recent research. Spratlin-29 23:03, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

Conflated Persons

See Deconflation of Gillespies of the Colony of Virginia.

Conflated?

See Harman's Annals of Tazewell County, Virginia. What connects Thomas Jr. of Tazewell County to Thomas Sr. of Augusta County?

Thomas Gillespie (abt.1720-bef.1790) lists:

• Thomas
• Samuel
• Ann
• James Gillespy (-bef.1790)
• William
• others

Son James Gillespy (-bef.1790) then lists:

• my Brother William
• my Brother Samuel
• my Mother and my Sister Anne

So how can James Gillespie (1751-1834) be the brother of Thomas S. Gillespie (abt.1756-bef.1842)?

What is the basis or source for the statements:

Thomas and his wife Margaret sold 61 acres of the grant to his brother, James Gillespie, in 1793 …

On April 5, 1793, James bought 61 acres of his brother Thomas' land and lived there the remainder of his life.

Name

The middle name of Smiley appears to be unsourced.

Birth

What is the primary source for his birth in 1751?

Based on the two "land" references, he could have been born in:

• 1787 - 21 = 1766
• 1793 - 21 = 1772

He could then be a child of rather than a sibling of that generation.

Presumed Parents

Some presume James Gillespie (1751-1834) is the son of:

• William Gillespy (bef.1725-aft.1801)
• Mary (Unknown) Gillespy (abt.1725-aft.1780)

Some presume Mary is Mary (Glendinning) Gillespie (-1797).

DNA Information

The present theory says that James was born in Cowpasture to William and Mary Gillespie. We are matching 6th-8th cousins where test takers can trace their ancestors to 18th Century Cowpasture Virginia through Amanda (Moyer) Torrey. All of Mary Glendinning Gillespie's descendants are invited to complete the same process.

• If we assume Mary married William Gillespie
• If "Mary and William" settled with their family in Cowpasture, Virginia
• was the daughter of Archibald Glendenning' of Cowpasture, Archibald who took possession of the land in 1746 ^[7] (See "Land"Archibald)
• It is unlikely William and Mary of Cowpasture would have married and began having children before 1746.
• So, Gedmatching trace DNA samples from James' descendants would assist in determining this James Gillespie who is attached to "William and Mary" from any other "James" appearing in other profiles with other descendants.

With that said: We will take the paths of 5 test takers that would have with this child of "William and Mary" being:

• Thomas Pentzer is a direct descendant of James and as he's 6 generational degrees from James on average they would be expected to share 1.56% of their DNA. ^[8]
• Janice (Hatridge) Givens is a direct descendant of one of James' siblings (Elizabeth (Cunningham) Gillespie) and as she's 7 generational degrees from James on average they would be expected to share 1.56% of their DNA. ^[9]
• Thomas Wightman is a direct descendant of one of James' siblings (Elizabeth (Cunningham) Gillespie) and as he's 8 generational degrees from James on average they would be expect to sharee 1.56% of their DNA. ^[10]
• Greg Welker is a direct descendant of one of James' sibling Nancy (Gillespie) Owens and as he's 7 generational degrees from James on average they would be expected to share 1.56% of their DNA. ^[11]
• Amanda (Moyer) Torrey is a direct descendant of one of James' siblings and as she's 7 generational degrees from James on average they would be expected to share 1.56% of their DNA.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Entered by Marie Mills, Apr 29, 2012.
2. ↑ 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 45 (1772), 511 (1786).
3. ↑ The Smyth County, Virginia, Will book for this year is not available on-line at FamilySearch.
4. ↑ Geni.com, James "Smiley" Gillespie (1751–1834) profile.
5. ↑ County Court, Smyth County, Virginia, Order books, 1832-1904, Order books Vols. 1-4 1832-1840; database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-J36T-N9HW-J?cat=374000), image 237.
6. ↑ County Court, Smyth County, Virginia, Order books, 1832-1904, Order books Vols. 1-4 1832-1840; database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-V36T-N9Z2-J?cat=374000), image 250.
7. ↑ 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).
8. ↑ From Thomas Pentzer to James Gillespie of Cowpasture.
9. ↑ Janice Hatridge Givens and Elizabeth Gillespie Cunningham.
10. ↑ Thomas Wightman and Mary (Glendinning) Gillespie.
11. ↑ From Greg Welker to Mary (Glendinning) Gillespie through Nancy (Gillespie) Owens.