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William Gordon (1774 - 1841)

William Gordon
Born in County Down, Irelandmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at age 66 in Ripley, Indiana, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 20 Feb 2014
This page has been accessed 312 times.

Biography

William B Gordon 1773–1841 BIRTH 20 MARCH 1773 • DEATH 20 JANUARY 1841 •

From: "Report of the Commission to locate the site of the frontier forts of Pennsylvania" [1] Of the early settlers in this part of the county, as well as the adjoining county of Greene, we desire to speak. The first settlers were squatters who purchased the land from the native Indians for a gun, trinket, or gewgaw, of whom were John Rutnian and Dennis Smith, the former dying at the age of ninety-nine and the latter at one hundred and four ; these two, with William Gordon, Russel Reese, John Lorrison, and John James constituted the principal original settlers.

From the year 1770 to 1790 they were followed by a different kind of men, who patented their lands and obtained them legally; these early pioneers were Nathaniel McGiffin, David Evans, James Milliken, Abel McFarland, George Cooper, and John Bates, some of whom served in the Revolutionary war with marked distinction with Washington, La Fayette, Green, Marion, and Sumpter.

Transcription of Last Will & Testament William Gordon

HUSBAND – WILLIAM GORDON
I sent for this will from Ripley Co[unty], Indiana.
I William Gordon of Ripley County, Indiana, do make and publish this my last will and testament hereby revoking and making any all former wills by me at any time heretofore made first I direct that my body be decently interred and that my funeral be conducted in a manner aireteous? to my estate making conditions in life and as to such worldly estate as it had pleased God to entrust me with. I dispose of the same in the following manner (to wit) I direct first that my funeral expenses and all my just debts be paid as soon after my decease as possible after the first moneys that shall come into the hands of my Executors and I direct further that all my Real Estate shall belong to my beloved wife, Sarah, during her life. To my daughter Charlotte, I give $250 on her marriage or on her previous arrival at the age of 21 years old, as the case may be reserving to my Executor in the latter case, the right of withholding it, should my wife Sarah, if then living to her discretion so direct which sum of $250 dollars as well as other claims already received, I direct shall be paid out of my personal estate and should the moneys on hand, together with outstanding debts be insufficient for their discharge, I authorize my Executor to make sale of so much of my personal property as will supply the defect and to make such other sales of the same as the interests of the estate may at any time made to require and I give unto my Wife, Sarah, all the use or interest arising from all or any part of the moneys intended for the discharge of the claims aforesaid that may be collected and available until paid over to those for whom it is intended and the residue of my personal property, my wife Sarah, forever to be disposed of at her death as she make think proper provided however, that on the marriage of my daughter, Charlotte, my wife Sarah at such time is directed to give her any bed and bedding. At the decease of my beloved wife, my Executor is directed to have appraised and sell all my real property on such terms as may be most beneficial to this estate. And I do hereby authorize and empower my Executor hereafter named to convey a title or titles to the purchase in as full and ample a manner as I could have done while living. And to do and transact all other business, I have and do hereby authorize him and when the whole of the money arriving from the sale of my real estate shall have been collected and my executor is directed to make the following distribution at the same arrange my children, not already provided for (to wit) first to give unto my daughter, Mercy one dollar. To my son Irvin $50 dollars, to my daughter, Cynthia one dollar, to my son Seth, $100 dollars, to the heirs of my son Abel one dollar, to my son Anan, $25 dollars, to my daughter Ruth, $50 dollars to my daughter, Ph[o]ebe one dollar, to my son John one dollar, to my daughter Dolly, one dollar and the residue after all claims and expenses are fully settled and paid. I direct my Executor to give to my son Jonathan and would any of my children die previous to the time of distribution above provided, I direct that the to their proper. But my Executor is however hereby directed to not make sale of my Real Estate as aforesaid if my son Jonathan wishes to hold the same and discharge the claim from which it is bound and further, I authorize my said Executor to pay off any or all or any part of or any of the Legacies for which my Real Estate is bound at any time where he may have the means by the joint direction however, convenient and of my wife, Sarah and I hereby make and ordain my worthy friend Jeffrey Cooper Executor of this my last will and testament.
William Gordon

June 25, 1840

From "History of Washington County, Pennsylvania"[2] On the 4th of July, 1811; the citizens of the town met at the house of Leslie Carsons "for the purpose of celebrating the birthday of American independence." Maj. Thomas Vanemen was chosen president, Thomas Brice vice-president. The Declaration of Independence was read by Abel McFarland. The festivities were accompanied with martial music and a discharge of firearms by a detachment of Capt. William Gordon's rifle company.

Sources

  1. "Report of the Commission to locate the site of the frontier forts of Pennsylvania" Authors: Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Richards; John M Buckalew; Sheldon Reynolds; Jay Gilfillan Weiser; George Dallas Albert Pub:: C.M. Busch, State printer Harrisburg, PA., 1896 p. 431 "FORTS MILLIKEN AND McFARLAND"
  2. "History of Washington County, Pennsylvania" Boyd Crumrine; Franklin Ellis; Austin N Hungerford; Reprint of the 1882 ed. published by L.H. Everts, Philadelphia. (pp. 652-672)

Acknowledgements

First-hand information as remembered by Candace Biamonti, Thursday, February 20, 2014.

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It may be possible to confirm family relationships with William by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with William:

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Comments: 1

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I ran across this site today and have already found useful information on my 4th Great Grandfather William Gordon.

We were just starting the search again after a very long gap in the work and the family has been wondering if he was actually from Ireland or Scotland. Now we know where he was born for sure. I love this site already, looking forward to getting a lot of use from it. Thanks to everyone for the great work. I saw one or two things that need rechecked for accuracy but nothing big.

posted by Forest McClain

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