Thomas Trammell (abt. 1726)

Born about 1726 in Stafford County, Virginia

Ancestors

Descendants

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Biography

According to Gottschalk, "Thomas Trammell had a wife Elizabeth who was the daughter to Joseph Sebastian."^[1] Joseph Sebastian did have a daughter Elizabeth Sebastian born in 1734 who married an unnamed Trammell, but there is no evidence it was Thomas. Elsewhere in her research paper she correctly notes "He and his descendants left the Potomac River section, went to Amelia, Halifax, Pittsylvania Cos., Va., to N.C., Tenn., S.C."^[2]. She estimated his birth as c. 1710 and assigned him sons Thomas, Dennis, Peter, and William.

As shown by Broyles^[3], Thomas was more likely born around the year 1726, the son of William Trammell of Dogue Creek in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Note - Thomas should not be confused with the Thomas Trammell who married Mary Maccay in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in 1730.^[4] That Thomas's timeline makes it unlikely the records refer to the same man.

Thomas married at least twice. Children by his first wife:

1. Penelope, born c. 1748
2. Sampson, born 1750
3. Phillip, born 1750's
4. William, born 1756
5. Peter, born 1757
6. Dennis, born 1759

Children by his second wife, possibly Elizabeth Sebastian:

1. Thomas Jr., born c.1762
2. David, born c. 1765
3. Elisha, uncertain, born c. 1772

In 1752 Thomas Trammell and William Coulter were charged with murdering a slave. We don't know the disposition of his case but Thomas left (fled?) the county, leaving his crops in the care of William Trammell, thought to be his father.

We can track Thomas's movements by what we know of his sons. Dennis says he was born in Amelia County, Virginia, in 1759.^[5] He enrolled in the militia in Orange County, N.C., in 1778, near where his father was living. Son Peter says he was born in Orange County in 1757^[6], so the boys are in disagreement over the details. But tax records confirm the Amelia connection, and land records from Lunenburg County show that Thomas was there in 1758, so a move from northern Virginia to southern Virginia to Orange County, North Carolina, is certain.

The next stop was Rutherford County, N.C., along the South Carolina border. A witness to son Dennis's pension application, James Chitwood of Campbell County, Tennessee, said he lived near Dennis's father (unnamed) at the time of his enlistment and in his own pension application Chitwood says he enlisted in Rutherford Co., N.C., in 1781.^[7] As further proof we find Thomas Senr. is named head of a road crew there in 1784.

One researcher mistakenly said Thomas Sr. died in neighboring Wilkes County in 1807.^[8] The last record we have for Thomas is a 1785 Rutherford County deed showing him as "Thomas Senr. of Guilford County (N.C.)".

Nov 1752 - Thomas Trammel and William Coulter are indicted in Fairfax County for the murder of a negro man slave. A Margaret Trammell and others are required to post bond to ensure they would appear in court in Williamsburg as witnesses in the case. It is not known who Margaret Trammell was. Laws of that time prevented a wife from being a witness either for or against her husband. She is perhaps his mother.^[9]

1754, 1755 - Thomas Trammell/Trammel is taxed for one poll. Nottoway Parish, Amelia County, Virginia. The 1757 tax list is partial and returns for 1758-1760 are missing. He does not appear in the 1761 list but is there in 1762 for the final time.^[10]

22 Aug 1757 - Thomas Trammell witnesses the will of Israel Brown (an impressive multipage document). Lunenburg County, Virginia. Probated 5 Aug 1760.^[11]

1757 - Thom's Trammel is listed in the 1757 account current of Henry Chile's dec'd: Trammel is owed for reaping wheat. In 1756 there is an unspecified credit to the estate from Trammel. Lunenburg County.^[12]

12 Oct 1758 - John Jining (Jenning) of Cumberland Parish in Lunenburg sells to Thomas Trammell and Cornelius Priest of same, for £20, to be paid half on 25 Dec 1758 and half on 25 Dec 1759, 620 acres on Rock House Branch. Recorded 4 Jul 1758.^[13]

12 Jan 1760 - He doesn't stay long. For £12/10, Thomas Tramel sells 310 acres on Rock House Branch, it being half of 620 acres. Witnesses: John Jinings, William Smith, John Allen.^[14] No wife is named so he is a widower.

1762 - Thomas Trammell is taxed for one poll in Nottoway Parish, Amelia County, Virginia.^[10]

1767 - John Jennings (see above) vs. Thomas Trammell. Halifax County, Virginia. Suit dismissed.^[15]

- He moves to Orange County, North Carolina.

Sep 1770 - In Hillsborough Superior Court, Thomas Tramnell has two actions against William Dunnigan, one for T.A.B. (trespass, assault, battery). Dunnigan pays.^[16]

1774 - Orange County, N.C., is divided into districts and Thomas Trammell is named in the description of the district boundaries. His land is in St. Mary's District on the border of Hillsborough District which was located to the west. Thomas's neighbors were John Hart to the south and John Piper to the north. It's estimated Thomas's land was ten miles southeast of Hillsborough.^[17]

c. 1780 - Thomas moves to Rutherford County, North Carolina.

1782 - Thomas Trammell is on the tax list of Rutherford County, N.C. He is taxed for 150 acres, two horses, four cattle. Son Peter Trammell is also present but Thomas Jr. is not yet of age.^[18]

10 Sep 1783 - For £40 Thomas Trammell Sr. buys 150 acres on "both sides Hines Creek of First Broad River incl ye wagon road that leads from ye flint hills to Kings Mountain." Rutherford County.^[19]

Oct 1784 - Thomas Tramel Senr. is appointed overseer of a road in Rutherford County. He is to direct the inhabitants between Hinton's Creek and Brushy Creek of Broad River.^[20] This region is in the western part of modern Cleveland County, N.C.

1 Oct 1785 - For £50 Thomas Tramell Senr. of Guilford County, N.C., sells 150 acres on both sides of Buck Creek of First Broad River including the Wagon Road to John Wells of same. (The survey matches the parcel he bought in 1783). The deed was not recorded until 21 Dec 1796.^[21]

- Records for William and John Trammell are found in Guilford County over the period 1784-87 and Burke County starting in1788.^[22] Son Dennis is in Burke by 1790.

Sources

1. ↑ Kathrine Cox Gottschalk, Trammell family of Virginia : also of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, ..., 1948. This important research report lays out the early years of the family in America.
2. ↑ ibid. p10
3. ↑ Stephen Broyles, Thomas Trammell of Fairfax County, Virginia, 2020 - A major rewrite to the story of the man thought to have been born c. 1710 and who is said to have married Elizabeth Sebastian.
4. ↑ Tramell-Maccay marriage record
5. ↑ Dennis Trammell pension application R10672
6. ↑ Peter Trammell pension application R10674
7. ↑ James Chitwood pension application S1751
8. ↑ Charles McCleskey, Descendants of Thomas Trammell, Revolutionary Soldier, 1972, p8. States Thomas died in Wilkes County, Georgia, where his will was proven 2 Mar 1807, per Will Book C. A search of Book C for Thomas Trammell has been unsuccessful. However, the will of George Thompson, father-in-law of a different Thomas Trammell, was probated that date. See Wilkes Co. estate records
9. ↑ Fairfax County, Virginia, Court Order Book 1749-1754, p249, cited in Hugh C. Keen II, Francis S. Keen and Ancestors, 2006, p81
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Amelia Titheables, 1736-1771, FHL Film 1902616, images 357, 376, 466
11. ↑ Will Book 2:25 in TLC Genealogy, Lunenburg County, Va., Will Book 2, 1760-1778, 1991
12. ↑ ibid., 2:367
13. ↑ Lunenburg Deed Book 5:255 in TLC Genealogy, Lunenburg County, Va., Deeds, 1757-1761, 1990
14. ↑ ibid., 6:185
15. ↑ Plea Book 5:509
16. ↑ Colonial & State Records of North Carolina, vol. 8, p238
17. ↑ Norma Trammell research report, p81, an analysis of Gottschalk and Melvin Lee Steadman's Falls Church by Fence and Fireside, c. 1980. No specific reference given.
18. ↑ Rutherford County, NC, tax list, 1782, North Carolina Archives, p19
19. ↑ Deed Book A-D:174
20. ↑ Minutes, pleas and quarter sessions. Rutherford County, N.C., 1779-1798, p228
21. ↑ Deed Book M-Q:559
22. ↑ Guilford County Court Minutes 1781-1791