| Joseph Hatfield resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies |
Contents |
Joseph was born about 1735 in Virginia and was the son of Martha (Thoms=Toms) and George Goff Hatfield, Sr.
Joseph Hatfield was first married about 1763 in Russell County, Virginia to Elizabeth Vance (1742-1778).[1][citation needed]
In 1777 part of Fincastle County went into the creation of Washington County, Virginia.
He was an American Revolutionary War patriot from Virginia who served at various times between 1778 and 1782 as a Private, scout and spy for the Virginia militia on the western frontier. [2]
A warrant for the arrest of Joseph Hatfield was issued on 11 June 1779 in Fincastle County, Virginia (now found at Botetourt County courthouse) ...
After the war he resided in Greene County, Tennessee, for an unspecified time period.
Joseph Hatfield married secondly on 28 October 1779 in Washington County, Virginia, USA to Rachel Smith [3] [4] (c1754–c1858).
He settled on the Clinch River in Fincastle (now Russell) County, Virginia.
On 17 April 1782 he finally purchased the 50 acres of land in then Washington County, Virginia.
In December 1782 he owned property on Thompson Creek branch of the Clinch River in Washington County, Virginia. [5]
On 13 December 1783 he was granted 50 acres on Thompson Creek. [6] [7]
In July 1785 he was surveyed as owning land at New Garden on the Clinch River, on the head waters of Lewis Creek [5] (at the current boundary of Russell and Buchanan Counties off of Virginia #624, about 2 miles due north of Drill Community, or 8 miles north of Honaker, Virginia).
Joseph Hatfield was among those who signed a petition dated 09 December 1785 to form Russell County, Virginia and reorganize the militia districts to improve access from the citizens’ homes to the assembly points. [8] [9] [10] Signatories included 2 Joseph Hatfields, 2 George Hatfields (one probably Joseph's father), John Hatfield, James Hatfield, Ephraim Hatfield, Eurious Smith, Elijah Smith and Ericus Smith, Jr.,
In 1786 part of Washington County, Virginia went into the creation of Russell County, Virginia where he resided. [11] From various tax lists, a Joseph Hatfield, owning 30 acres of land, consistently appeared on the tax lists of Lower District, Russell County, Virginia. [12]
He and his wife were involved in a land deal [13] with her brothers, Ericus, Andrew, Ale Smith (misspelled as Ely) and Ephraim Hatfield husband of Rachel’s sister, Mary Smith Hatfield...
By 1790 Joseph Hatfield had left Virginia.
In 1795 his name appeared on the tax list for Lee County, Virginia, so perhaps he retained title to land there. [14]
Following his death of his father-in-law, Ericus Smith, he was mentioned in the land disposal. [15] This would seem to confirm Rev. Musick (p37) statement that Ephraim Hatfield's first wife was Mary Goff who died about 1790; and in a footnote (p41) also stated ... "Some folks believe Ephraim Hatfield's first wife was Mary Smith." Joseph and Ephraim Hatfield later sold 106 acres (adjoining the earlier 94 acre tract), to Ericus Smith, Jr. All the parties mentioned must have been heirs of Ericus Smith, Sr.
By 1802 he resided in Wayne County, Kentucky, USA.
In 1806 parts of Claiborne and Anderson County, Tennessee went into the creation of Campbell County, Tennessee, USA.
On 02 June 1807 he gave consent for the marriage of his daughter, Ann "Nancy" Hatfield to Aaron Whitecotton in Wayne County, Kentucky, USA.
By 1808, he had moved to east Tennessee, USA.
In 1830 he resided in Campbell County, Tennessee, USA. [16]
He passed away on 26 August 1832 in Campbell County, Tennessee, USA and was buried at Walker Cemetery (now south of Oneida, Scott County, Tennessee, USA). [17] He is not listed on the cemetery roster for either of the two Walker Cemeteries.
Joseph was the great-great grandfather of the infamous Capt. William Anderson Hatfield, known as "Devil Anse" Hatfield (1837-1927), of the Hatfield-McCoy feud. [citation needed]
Russell County, Virginia Court Minutes recorded Joseph and other Hatfields numerous times ...
book#1 p61 - 8 September 1787 Joseph Hatfield & George Hatfield (& others) ordered to court 3rd Tues. of October to show cause why they should not be fined and double taxed for failing to give Wm. Webb, Commissioner, a list of taxable property.
p74 - Upon petition of Richard Poston against Ephraim Churchwell & Joseph Hatfield for a debt of 3 pounds due by note.
p78 - Commonwealth against Joseph Hatfield, George Hatfield, William Mullet (on information of Wm. Webb), continued 17 October 1787.
p223 - February 1791 Joseph Hatfield allowed 12/6 for the killing of one wolf.
p250 - 25 November 1791 Joseph Hatfield, 12/6 for 2 young wolves.
book#2 p3 - 27 May 1792 George Hatfield, 12/6 for killing 1 grown wolf.
p91 - Joseph Hatfield, 25/1 for 2 old wolves, Valentine Hatfield, 12/6 for 2 old wolves.
Joseph Hatfield is present on surviving tax lists for Wayne County, Kentucky, including:
During the American Revolutionary War, Joseph Hatfield enlisted in Russell County, Virginia as a Volunteer into the Virginia Militia, His service included ...
In 1849 part of Morgan County, Tennessee became Anderson County, Tennessee, USA where his widow, Rachel, resided when she applied for a widow's pension based on her husband's Revolutionary War service,
On 10 October 1843 Jane Smith @78 (wife of Eli Smith - Rachel's brother), a resident of Campbell County, Tennessee, declared she was present "when Joseph Hatfield and Rachel Smith were joined in wedlock".
On 16 October 1843 Andrew Smith @74 (Rachel's brother) declared he was at the wedding of Joseph Hatfield and Rachel Smith in the fall of 1779 and knew that Joseph was in the Revolutionary War.
Mrs. Margart Hansard @91, declared Joseph served as Indian spy on the frontier of Virginia between 1778 and 1782.
His widow, Rachel Hatfield, gave a deposition to obtain a widow's Revolutionary War pension ...
On 04 November 1843 Richard Crabtree @78 (a Revolutionary War pensioner) declared that Joseph served under Capts. Thomas, Scott, and Campbell for a period of over 3 years, before and after marriage. He also states that Joseph was "one of the best spys and Woodsmen in the whole western country".
On 04 April 1854 William Hansard @90, resident of Morgan County, Tennessee, testified he was not in the service, but knows of Joseph's service as he was a "close neighbor to said Joseph Hatfield in Russell County, Virginia", Hansard declared Joseph served as a spy for 2 tours of 3 months each in the company of Capt. Thompson; 1 tour of 3 months under Capt. Scott, 1 tour of 3 mos under Capt. Sevier, 3 tours of 3 months each under Capt. William Campbell (at King's Mountain), 2 tours of 3 months each and several tours of 4-6 weeks under Capt. Lyles. In all of these he performed as an "Indian spy" between the years of 1778 and 1782, and futher declared the "Joseph Hatfield was such an excellent Indian Spy, he was always chosen by the Officers in all their espeditions against the Indians".
On 17 January 1855 Rachel Hatfield, resident of Scott County, Tennessee, declared she and Joseph were married 28 October 1779 by L. Wolez, Esq. She also stated she had no record of the birth of her children "owing to her husband being no scribe". She declared her husband died on 29 Aug 1832.
His widow, Rachel finally received a widow's pension of $40 per annum to begin on 04 March 1843 [18] [19] [20] which was increased to $80 per annum on 01 June 1854. [21] Later, that same area of Anderson County where she lived finally became the present Scott County, Tennessee, USA. [22]
On 17 March 1861 Sampson Reed, administrator for the estate of Rachel Hatfield, wrote to Comm. of Pensions from Huntsville, Tennessee, and stated that Rachel died and left a small amount due on pension "from Mar. 4, until May 19, 1858."
His service records, as well as the validity of 12 of his 13 children, have been accepted by both the DAR and SAR. [23]
On 4 July 1976, the Scott County Bicentennial Commission erected a plaque in front of the Scott County, Tennessee courthouse, honoring veterans of the Revolutionary War, including Joseph Hatfield.
There are no records of any kind that gives his year of birth. What few Virginia records there are do give us clues as to his possible year of birth.
The above 1779 arrest warrant in Fincastle County, Virginia is important, as it provides a geographic tie to George Hatfield, Sr. and his 2 older sons, Jeremiah and George, Jr. This group were Joseph Hatfield's closest Hatfield associates in his later life in Washington and Russell County, Virginia, and therefore most likely his family.
Taking this further, if Joseph were to be a son to George, Sr., who was the only Hatfield in southwest Virginia, old enough to have mature sons by the 1770s, then he was not yet old enough to be on the 1771 tax list, so born no earlier than 1751. However it’s been pointed out (see the link in Source #4 of father George Goff Hatfield’s profile) that the law in 1771 stated that all males ages 16 and up must be on the list. The law changing the tax lists to list all males 21 and up wasn’t approved until 1779. If true then Joseph was born no earlier than 1756. These 2 considerations limit Joseph's birth about 1751-1758.
With a year range of “1751-1758” and no marriage record of any kind between Joseph and Elizabeth Vance that has been found it seems unlikely that Joseph married Elizabeth or fathered her child as listed under “m1 Children” above. Joseph would have had to been have been between ages 5 and 12 when he allegedly married Elizabeth Vance.
There is some debate as to whether brothers Reuben & Stanley belong to Joseph or to his brother Jeremiah.
Ale Hatfield was born prior to Joseph & Rachel’s wedding and was named after Rachel’s brother Ale Smith. (Ale is not short for Alexander, but an old Swedish name. The Smith family were of Swedish/German/Finnish heritage. They resided in New Sweden (Delaware) for multiple generations prior to Ericus & Brigita Smith and family moving to Virginia.
Joseph and Rachel lived in the backwoods or what was then the “frontier” of Southwest Virginia. It was very common for couples to live together as husband and wife while waiting for a Circuit Preacher or Circuit Judge to make an appearance to marry them. Hence the term “shacking up” which is still used today.
The Hatfield surname is an English name that became very famous in the United States after the 1880s when members of the family became involved in a feud with members of the McCoy family.
The Hatfields are also famous for other reasons for the family has produced State Governors, Senators, industrialists, doctors, lawyers, clergymen and many other respected titles.
In the book, "The HATFIELDs and the McCOYs" by Virgil Carrington Jones, there is an error on page 169 which would definitely point to Joseph Hatfield being the father of Abe William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield who is quoted in the "Intelligencer" newspaper of 22 November 1889, as saying ...
But Valentine Hatfield was married to Martha "Mattie" Weddington and not Elizabeth Vance.
Elizabeth Vance was first married to a Smith and was next married as the first wife of Joseph Hatfield. If she had not been known to Devil Anse Hatfield in his family as a grandmother, how else could he have named her as such in this quote. Instead of saying that she was his great-great-grandmother, he mistakenly said she was his grandmother. This indicates that she was a grandmother, but four generations back instead of two.
There is no source material proving that Elizabeth Vance married a Mr. Smith. There is an entry in an LDS database, which is based on submissions by researchers, that a marriage between Joseph Hatfield and Elizabeth Vance took place. However there is no actual Virginia Marriage Record that actually states that such a marriage took a place.
There is no source material that proves that Joseph Hatfield fathered any of the children that has Elizabeth Vance as the mother. There’s no circumstantial evidence that indicates that Joseph Hatfield married Elizabeth Vance or fathered children with her. If Joseph was born between 1751 and 1758 (see above) then he would have been between ages 7 and 14 when Elizabeth’s eldest child, Ephraim, was born.
Most of the generation that included "Devil Anse" Hatfield and previous generations were illiterate. The only way they had of recording family history was by word of mouth. It would seem logical that the knowledge of Elizabeth Vance as a grandmother is positive proof that she and Joseph are direct ancestors and they could be confused as to what generation she was connected.
Joseph's second wife, Rachael Smith was the widow who received a pension for his war service.
There have been many who have joined the DAR and SAR as descendents of Joseph Hatfield by showing that he was the father of Ephraim and Abe Hatfield.
In the book "The James Corbin and Abe Hatfield Lineage" by Kenneth Emanuel Corbin (1978), there is a great amount of information on the of the history and genealogy of the descendants of James Corbin (1793-1875) and Abe Hatfield (1778-1841). However, on page 114, he quotes a grandson of Abfe Hatfield [24] ...
See the discussion of a purported marriage in 1771 in Virginia to Elizabeth (Smith) Hatfield (abt.1740-1858), a person of uncertain existence.
Profile manager update ...
See my Sep 06, 2023 comment. Spratlin-29 14:06, 6 September 2023 (UTC)
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Featured National Park champion connections: Joseph is 12 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 18 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 14 degrees from George Catlin, 12 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 18 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 14 degrees from George Grinnell, 23 degrees from Anton Kröller, 14 degrees from Stephen Mather, 20 degrees from Kara McKean, 14 degrees from John Muir, 14 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 19 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
H > Hatfield > Joseph Hatfield
Categories: Virginia Line, American Revolution | Spies | Virginia Colonists | NSDAR Patriot Ancestors
It is therefore appropriate to correct the record with profile Smith-318456. It currently has Uncertain Existence status. The next step is to begin the one week notice before giving her Disproven Existence status.
Ken Spratlin, Managed Profiles Coordinator, US Southern Colonies Project
FindaGrave is not a source. What are the underlying reliable sources?
You can check for yourself and see that some of his kids memorials are sourced and some are not.
However I have added the memorial numbers as leads for interested researchers because these type of links are subject to updating.
For instance, the wife of THIS profile Rachel previously did not have a findagrave link citing a cemetery, but now it does.
I am trying to help any interested researchers have easy access to find these links and make their own decisions about how valuable or not, the findagrave links are for the children of this profile.
I am not claiming them as sources, I am just sharing info ...
edited by N Gauthier
edited by Steve Ballard
Using William Ferrell is probably a good starting point in this case and after identifying the William Ferrell here on WikiTree, I noted that the profile had 3 John Ferrell's attatched to William. None of which had reliable sources attached. This is another matter though.
I made the comment here originally to state that Joseph Hatfield is not the father of James M. Vance Sr.. The request was to remove him as such. Joseph would have been 93 years old when James Vance was born, in addition, the Elizabeth listed here would have been to old to have given birth to James as well as being a different Elizabeth. Joseph died 1832, the same year James Vance was born. There are no sources on this profile that proves Joseph is James Vance's father. The WikiTree system also points this fact out as well as other individuals here. Eric and the PPP would indeed be correct to remove him as his father, I hope you consider doing so and would be much appreciated by myself and others.
Also can you cite any DNA tests that back this info up ? Thanks
Yes, there are several "Andrew Hatfields" in the family -- but I really don't believe Joseph is one of them. In fact, the likelihood is that he had no middle name at all. Middle names were not common in the early 18th century except among the upper social ranks, those with estates and often titles. But not among the dirt farmers, which Joseph definitely was. Please, people -- don't post unsourced family traditions or random guesses as if they were fact.
But I thank you for your explanation and I make note of that possibility.
edited by Scott McClain
Again to answer your question there is no documentary evidence proving such a marriage.
As for Marthy Thoms that comes from oral family history of the descendants of a couple named George Hatfield & Marthy Thoms who lived in Pasquotank County North Carolina about 400-450 miles from Russell County Virginia where the George Goff Hatfield family lived. Also several parts of the oral history don’t square with Virginia State History or the History of Lord Dunsmore’s War. I saw a recent book on the feud about 10 years ago. Like previous books by previous authors over the last 100 years it spends the 1st chapter on genealogy. This recent book lists Marthy Thoms as the wife. Again, no source material.
edited by Michael Hatfield
If they are different people then that means one of them has different parents and should be detached. Any help getting some sources would be appreciated.
edited by N Gauthier
edited by N Gauthier
TC
Name Joseph Hatfield Gender Male Birth Date 1740 Birth Place Virginia, USA Death Date 29 Aug 1832 Death Place Tennessee, USA Children Ale Hatfield Household Members Name Age Joseph Hatfield