John Hiestand was born circa 1751 in Frederick County, Virginia, British Colony (currently Page County, Virginia, USA); he was the son of Henry Hiestand and Anna Kauffmann. [1][2]
[See Research Notes below regarding the spelling of John's surname and his birth year & location.]
In 1772,[3]
Dunmore County, Virginia, British Colony was created from the southern 1/3 of Frederick County, Virginia, British Colony; this new county included the lands that Heinrich Hiestand had settled along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River.
On 24 & 25 Mar 1777 in Dunmore County, Virginia,[4]
Henry Heasten/Hasten, Senr. leased and released, respectively (i.e., sold), 232 acres of land on the south side of the South River of Shenandoah (i.e., the South Fork of the Shenandoah River) to John Hesten/Hasten. This was land that had originally been patented to Henry Hiestand by Thomas Lord Fairfax (i.e., "his Lordships Office to the said Henry Heasten, Senr.").
On 23 & 24 Jun 1777 in Dunmore County, Virginia,[5]
John Heastant obtained a "lease" and "release", respectively (i.e., he bought), from James Campbell (& James' wife Elizabeth) a 220 acres tract of land on the south east side of the south river of the Shenandoah (i.e., the South Fork of the Shenandoah River) for consideration of 40 pounds of current money (5 shillings per acre)
In 1778,[6]
Dunmore County, Virginia, USA was renamed Shenandoah County, Virginia, USA. Hence, the lands owned by John Hiestand were now in Shenandoah County.
On 30 Apr 1778 in "Shenando" County, Virginia,[7][8]
John Hastings along with 7 other men were sworn in by the Shenandoah County Court as captains of the "Shenando" Militia.
On 28 May 1778 in Shenandoah County, Virginia,[9]
John Heaston, Jacob Heaston, Joseph Winston, Fred. Comer, or any 3 of them, were appointed by the Shenandoah County Court to appraise the estate of Peter Ruffner (deceased).
On 26 Nov 1779 in Shenando County, Virginia,[10]
John Heston, Jacob Heston, Jacob Strickler, Selby Foly, or any 3 of them, were appointed by the Shenando County Court to appraise the estate of Jacob Parker (deceased).
In 1783,[11]
John Heaston was living in Shenandoah County, Virginia.
On 26 & 27 May 1783 in Shenandoah County, Virginia,[2]
John Heaston [sic] "leased" and "released", respectively (i.e., sold), to Edwin Young 472 acres of land (including 232 acres which had been "deeded to him by his father Henry Heaston" and part of a tract that John had previously purchased from James & Elizabeth Campbell) "on the south side of the South River of Shenandoah" (i.e., the South Fork of the Shenandoah River) in consideration of 500 pounds of current money. The release was with signed by John Heaston and Elizabeth Heaston by their respective marks (X).
In 1783,[12]
John Heaston was living in Shenandoah County, Virginia as head of household, which included a total of 5 people.
In 1785,[13]
Jno. Heaston was living in Shenandoah County, Virginia as head of household, which include a total of 3 people.
On 16 Nov 1796 in Shenandoah County, Virginia,[14]
John Heistant [sic] made an oath to a Justice of the Peace that Barbary Heistant [sic] was over 21 years of age. Note: this source is part of a series of marriage records for Shenandoah County, and hence this source indicates that Barbara Heistant was preparing to marry someone. From the source, it is unclear that precise relationship between John and Barbara, other than they shared the same last name.
Uncertain Records
In 1810,[15]
a John Heistand was living in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Virginia as head of household, which included (age range): a) males - 2 (< 10), 1 (26 - 44); b) females - 2 (< 10), 3 (10 - 15), 1 (16 - 25), 1 (26 - 44). [See Research Notes below regarding John's birth year and age range in the 1810 federal census.]
In 1815 in Rockingham County, Virginia,[16]
a John Heistand was taxed for the following:
Description
Quantity
Tax (cts)
horses
5
105
cattle
7
21
watch
1
50
clock
1
50
bureau
1
25
saw mill
1
108
levy
1
62
land
178 acres
36
land
46 acres
21
Total
478
Research Notes
spelling of surname - John's surname was properly spelled "Hiestand" (or "Hiestandt"), but there were many known variants of the spelling including, but not limited to: Heistand, Heaston, Heastant, Haston, etc. etc. For John's profile, the proper spelling is used, but in the biography, his named is spelled as was recorded in a given source. Hiestand-529 17:45, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
birth year & location- currently, there are no primary sources that are conclusive on the date or simply the year of John's birth. As such, his birth year must be estimated based on the extant records and inferences. His location of birth was most probably Frederick County, Virginia, British Colony (currently Page County, Virginia, USA), as that was were his parents & family were living at that time. The following are selected sources to consider for his birth year:
In 1777,[4] John purchased land from his father, Henry. Given that it was generally the case by English law that males or females needed to be 21 years old to legally purchase land,[17] then this sets an upper limit of 1756 on John's birth year. However, John would have needed to have at least some money to buy this land from his father, and so he was probably older than 21 when he purchased the land.
In the 1810 federal census for Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Virginia,[15] it was recorded that John Heistand was between 26 - 44 years old. Assuming that this individual was the John Hiestand of this WikiTree profile, and assuming that the census record was accurate, then it would indicate that John Hiestand was born between 1766 - 1784. However, if the census enumerator made an error (or was given incorrect information), then John could easily have been in the next older category of 45+. With that said, it may also be that the John Heistand listed in this census record was not the John Hiestand of this WikiTree profile.
David Trimble's monograph[1] states that John was born about 1746, but it does not list any sources to support the claim.
My estimate is that John was born sometime between 1746 - 1756, and hence a birth year of 1751 is a reasonable guess. Hiestand-529 17:45, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
land sale by John Heaston to Edwin Young - the genealogical significance of this land transaction is that it explicitly records the relationship between John Hiestand and his father, Henry Hiestand. Hiestand-529 17:45, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
↑ 2.02.1 Gilreath, op. cit., page 179 (of Abstracts) and pages 186 & 187, respectively (of Deed Book), lease & release, respectively, of 472 acres of land by Jno. Heaston to Edwin Young
↑ 4.04.1 Gilreath, Amelia C., compiler, "Shenandoah County, Virginia, Deed Book Series, Volume I; Deed Books A, B, C, D, 1772 - 1784, Abstracted", Nokesville, Virginia: self-published, 1987; available online, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/623310/); accessed 31 Jan 2023, citing page 82 (of Abstracts) and pages 453 & 454 (of Deed Book), lease & release of land by Henry Heasten/Hasten to John Hesten/Hasten
↑ Gilreath, op.cit., page 88 (of Abstracts) and pages 186 & 187 (of Deed Book), lease & release of land between James Campbell and John Heastant
↑ Wayland, John Walter, "A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia", Strasburg, Va.: Shenandoah Pub. House, 1927; available online, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/10607/images/dvm_LocHist000260-00063-0); accessed 31 Jan 2023, citing Chapter VII. Among the Early Records, page 188, entry for John Hastings sworn in as a captain of Shenando Militia
↑ Gilreath, Amelia C., compiler, "Shenandoah County, Virginia, Deed Book Series, Volume 4, Combination: Minute Book 1774 - 1780, Deed Books M and N, 1799 - 1804, Abstracted", Nokesville, Virginia: self-published, July 1989; available online, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/623313/?offset=0#page=25&viewer=picture&o=&n=0&q=); accessed 31 Jan 2023, citing pages 19 - 20 (of Abstracts) and page 44 (of Minute Book), entry for John Hastings sworn in as a captain of the Shenandoah Militia
↑ Wayland, op. cit., page 119, entry for John Heaston as one of the appraisers of the estate of Peter Ruffner (deceased)
↑ Gilreath 1774, op. cit., page 41 (of Abstracts) and page 135 (of Minute Book), entry for John Heston
↑ "Virginia, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890", database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/33879186:3578); accessed 31 Jan 2023, citing Original data: Jackson, Ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. Virginia Census, 1607-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.
↑ 15.015.1 "1810 United States Federal Census", database with images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7613/images/4433172_00203); accessed 31 Jan 2023, citing Third Census of the United States, 1810. (NARA microfilm publication M252, 71 rolls). Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Census Place: Harrisonburg, Rockingham, Virginia; Roll: 67; Page: 146; Image: Vam252_67-0199; FHL Roll: 0181427
↑ "Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly", database with images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/525370704:6131); accessed 31 Jan 2023, citing
Original data: Boyd-Rush, Dorothy A., transcriber, "1815 Rockingham County Tax List", Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly and Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Virginia Genealogical Society, Volume 40, Number 4
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his ancestors' Y-chromosome or 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 John: