Thaddeus Gardner (1774 - 1831)

Born 29 Mar 1774 in Deep River MM, Guilford, North Carolina

Ancestors

Husband of Eunice Starbuck — married 1 Oct 1801 in Deep River Friends Meeting, Guilford County, North Carolina

Descendants

Died 24 Jul 1831 at age 57 in Guilford, North Carolina, United States

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Categories: Nantucket Founders and Descendants

Biography

Information taken from Deep River Friends Monthly Meeting

Thaddeus Gardner was born in 1774. He was a son of William Gardner and Susanna Gardner according to records of Deep River Friends Meeting, Guilford County, North Carolina.

Thaddeus married Eunice Starbuck on 1 October, 1801at Deep River Friends Meeting.

Thaddeus died on 24 July 1831 in Guilford County, as noted in records of Deep River Friends Meeting. He was buried in the cemetery there. ^{[1] [2]}

Note: Meeting records indicate he was born in Guilford County, while find-a-grave records indicate he was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

According to records of Deep River MM, Guilford County, North Carolina, Thaddeus and Eunice Starbuck Gardner had the following children:

Mary ~ 26 3 1803

Jesse ~ 29 11 1804

William ~ 29 12 1807

Lydia ~ 30 4 1810

Eunice ~ 1 6 1812

Franklin ~ 20 1 1815

Grafton ~ 11 6 1817

Bartlett ~ 29 4 1815

^[3]

^[4] North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes. Hege Friends Historical Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina. Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana. Haverford, Quaker Meeting Records. Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.

From "Deep River Friends: a valiant people by Cecil Haworth

Thaddeus Gardner was born in Guilford County in 1774 to William and Suzanna Gardner who had migrated here from Nantucket in 1772. They were a Quaker family and members of Deep River Monthly Meeting from which Thaddeus was disowned in 1814 for excessive use of profanity after repeated attempts to convince him to mend his ways. Just when Thaddeus began making guns is not known. . . . We do know that by 1836 he had a large scale gunmaking operation as he advertised in a Charlotte, N.C. newspaper that he had ". . . rifle guns for sale. ... 40 or 50 on hand." ... In the 1850 census of manufacturing, this shop was listed as being operated by William Gardner. 3 . . . The shop was equipped with water power and annually used 2000 pounds of iron, 100 gun locks, 1000 bushels of coal and $60 worth of miscellaneous materials. The annual production was 100 "rifle guns." . . . William Gardner and his wife Penelope Hill Gardner are both listed as ministers in the Deep River Monthly Meeting Minutes of 1861. [1]

Thaddeus Gardner was born in Guilford County on March 29, 1774 to William and Suzanna Gardner who moved here from Nantucket Island in 1772. Gardner would have been 26 years old in 1800, and since most young men served their apprenticeships during their teenage years, it is quite possible that he began making rifles in the 1790s. We do know that Thaddeus built a gun shop and water powered mill off Gallimore Dairy Road near Highway 68. His millrace is still visible at the site of the Greensboro Pipe Company. In the late 18th century his shop fronted Old Salisbury Road.

Thaddeus Gardner built a large-scale business over the years with the help of his sons William (born 1807), Grafton (born 1817), Bartlett (born 1819), and apprentices such as William Lamb (born 1806), who was also his nephew. Thaddeus Gardner and William Lamb must have been partners for a period of time in the late 1820s because there are several rifles signed T.G. & W.L. In 1836, Gardner placed an ad in a Charlotte newspaper that he had “rifle guns for sale, 40 or 50 on hand.” He listed his address as Friendship, P.O. Thaddeus Gardner was disowned by Deep River Monthly Meeting in 1814 for excessive profanity after failing to change his ways despite repeated warnings.

Thaddeus Gardner signed a number of full-stock, flintlock rifles, some of which survive today. Most of his rifles differ from the other rifles of the Jamestown School by featuring a short, one screw barrel tang, rather than the typical three-screw tang. Of the early makers Gardner, Grose, and Jackson, only Gardner became a prolific maker of rifles. Thaddeus Gardner seems to have had the most influence on what became the Jamestown Stock architecture as even his earliest rifles feature a slender stock architecture and some have a broken forestock style molding. He died on July 24, 1851 and is buried at Deep River Friends Meeting Graveyard ^[5]

• Birth

Thaddeus Gardner in the U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 VIEW U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Name: Thaddeus Gardner Birth Date: 29 Mar 1774 Birth Date on Image: 29 Third 1774 Birth Place: Guilford, North Carolina Father: William Gardner Mother: Susanna Gardner Event Type: Birth Monthly Meeting: Deep River Monthly Meeting Historical Meeting Data: Search for this monthly meeting in the 'Quaker Monthly Meetings Index' Yearly Meeting: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Meeting State: North Carolina Meeting County: Guilford ^[6]

• Marriage:

Thaddeus Gardner in the U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 VIEW U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Name: Thaddeus Gardner Marriage Date: 10 Sep 1801 Marriage Date on Image: 10 Ninth 1801 Marriage Place: Guilford , North Carolina Death Place: Guilford, North Carolina Father: Wm Mother: Susannah Spouse: Eunice Starback Spouse Father: Matthew Spouse Mother: Lydia Event Type: Marriage Monthly Meeting: Deep River Monthly Meeting Historical Meeting Data: Search for this monthly meeting in the 'Quaker Monthly Meetings Index' Meeting State: North Carolina Meeting County: Guilford ^[7]

• Thaddeus, mentioned in women's minutes of Deep River Monthly Meeting

^{[8] [9]}

• Thaddeus' family record in meeting records of Deep River Friends Meeting. This includes his wife and children.

^{[10] [11]}

• Thaddeus Gardner in Find-a-Grave records:

^{[12] [13]}

Find A Grave: Memorial #9611229

• Thaddeus' Will and Probate records:

Thaddeus Gardner in the North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 VIEW North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 Name: Thaddeus Gardner Probate Date: 1851 Probate Place: Guilford, North Carolina, USA Inferred Death Year: Abt 1851 Inferred Death Place: North Carolina, USA Item Description: Original Wills, Doak, James - Heath, Eliza A Table of Contents 6 images Cover Page 1 Will Papers 2–4 Cover Page 5 Will Papers 6 Source Citation Wills and Estate Papers (Guilford County), 1663-1978; Author: North Carolina. Division of Archives and History; Probate Place: Guilford, North Carolina ^[14]

Sources

1. ↑ Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
2. ↑ Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.
3. ↑ Source Citation Guilford College; Greensboro, North Carolina; Women's Minutes, 1843-1892; Collection: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes
4. ↑ Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.Original data:Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
5. ↑ https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2011-B103-The-Longrifle-Makers-of-Guilford-County.pdf
6. ↑ Source Citation Guilford College; Greensboro, North Carolina; Women's Minutes, 1843-1892; Collection: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes. Hege Friends Historical Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina. Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana. Haverford, Quaker Meeting Records. Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania
7. ↑ Source Citation Earlham College; Richmond, Indiana; Quaker Marriage Records; Collection: Miscellaneous Vital Records Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes. Hege Friends Historical Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina. Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana. Haverford, Quaker Meeting Records. Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.
8. ↑ Source Citation Guilford College; Greensboro, North Carolina; Women's Minutes, 1843-1892; Collection: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes. Hege Friends Historical Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina. Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana. Haverford, Quaker Meeting Records. Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.
9. ↑ Source Citation Guilford College; Greensboro, North Carolina; Women's Minutes, 1843-1892; Collection: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes. Hege Friends Historical Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina. Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana. Haverford, Quaker Meeting Records. Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania.
10. ↑ Thaddeus Gardner in the U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 VIEW U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Name: Thaddeus Gardner Birth Date: 29 Mar 1774 Birth Date on Image: 29 Third 1774 Birth Place: Guilford, North Carolina Spouse: Eunice Gardner Event Type: Birth Monthly Meeting: Deep River Monthly Meeting Historical Meeting Data: Search for this monthly meeting in the 'Quaker Monthly Meetings Index' Yearly Meeting: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Meeting State: North Carolina Meeting County: Guilford
11. ↑ Source Citation Guilford College; Greensboro, North Carolina; Women's Minutes, 1843-1892; Collection: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original data: Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes. Hege Friends Historical Library, Guilford College, Greensboro, North Carolina. Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Earlham College Friends Collection & College Archives, Richmond, Indiana. Haverford, Quaker Meeting Records. Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania
12. ↑ Thaddeus Gardner in the U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current Name: Thaddeus Gardner Birth Date: 29 Mar 1774 Birth Place: Nantucket County, Massachusetts, USA Death Date: 24 Jul 1831 Death Place: Deep River, Guilford County, North Carolina, USA Cemetery: Deep River Friends Church Cemetery Burial or Cremation Place: High Point, Guilford County, North Carolina, USA Has Bio?: Y Spouse: Eunice Gardner Children: Grafton Gardner Bartlett Gardner
13. ↑ Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.
14. ↑ Source Information Ancestry.com. North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: North Carolina County, District and Probate Courts.