Rachel (Greer) Lumsden (bef. 1773 - bef. 1808)

Born before 1773 in Bedford County, Virginia

Ancestors

Wife of Elijah Lumsden — married 7 Feb 1787 in Franklin County, Virginia

Descendants

Died before 2 May 1808 at about age 35 in Randolph County, Georgia, United States

Biography

Rachel Greer was probably born sometime between 1766 -1773. She was the daughter of Benjamin Greer and Mary Haynes. Rachel's birth date is an estimate. Some sources, without supporting documentation, report a birth in 1756 but that seems inconsistent with a first marriage in 1787 (at age 31?). Other sources report she was only 14 when she married (born 1773) and her father did sign a consent for her to marry, indicating she was under age 21 at the time. That's how we arrive at a birth date of 1766-1773.

She married Elijah Lumsden in 1787 in Franklin County, Virginia. His brother, Jesse Lumsden, served as surety. Elijah was the son of John and Wilmoth Lumsden and Elijah was named in his father's will written in October 1787 in Franklin Co. Elijah and his brother Jesse were allotted land in that will but no deeds were recorded. Other land records for John Lumsden place his residence somewhere on the Blackwater River, having acquired part of that land by 1770, when the area was in Bedford Co. (Bedford Co. DB 3, p 525).

Elijah only appears in Franklin Co. tax records in 1787and 1788. He and his brother, Jesse, apparently moved to Georgia by about 1789. Other sources indicate they lived in Greene, Hancock, Putnam, and Randolph (now Jasper) Co., GA.

Rachel died sometime before 2 May 1808, as Elijah remarried on that date to Nancy White in Jasper County, Georgia. Elijah made a final move to Marshall County, Mississippi, where he died in 1842.

Children

Unconfirmed sources report Rachel's children as:

Julia Lumsden
Elijah Fletcher Lumsden
Sarah Lumsden
John Greer Lumsden
Nancy Lumsden

Research Notes

Many sources, over the course of several decades, have reported Rachel Greer Lumsden as the daughter of Benjamin Greer and Rachel Lowe. This was done when daughter Rachel's birth date was estimated as 1756, with no supporting documentation. However, Benjamin apparently remarried to Mary Haynes in 1770 and and Rachels' marriage in 1787 casts serious doubt on the 1756 birth date. As a result, the WikiTree profiles have been adjusted to indicate Mary Haynes Greer as the mother of Rachel.

Sources

• Franklin County, Virginia Will Book 1, page 17-19; 28 December 1787, Will of Benjamin Greer includes: "Item, I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Rachel Lumsden one Negro Boy named Lewis and no more.

• Marriage Bonds of Franklin County, Virginia, 1786-1858, by Marshall Wingfield, p. 147; Lumsden, Elijah and Rachel Greer, Feb. 7, 1787. Sur. Jesse Lumsden.

• Franklin County, Virginia Will Book 1, p. 28-29; Will of John Lumsden written 2 October 1787, proved3 December 1788; mentions wife Wilmoth, sons Jeremiah, Elijah, Jesse and Dudley; Executors Jonathan Price and wife Wilmoth.

• Franklin County, Virginia Personal Property Tax Lists, 1786-1803, Binns Genealogy, 2009;
  

1786, Elijah not enumerated
1787A, Elijah Lumsden, 1,0,0,0,1
1788A, Elijah Lumsden, 1,0,0,0,1
1789-1803, Elijah not enumerated (moved to Georgia)

• O'Quin, Bertie, compiler. The Descendants of Aquilla Greer, Sr. 1719-1790 (August 2005)