This was posted on Ancestry about the Reuben Paxson theory.
32. Reuben3 Paxson, son of William Junior2 (James1) and Abigail (Pownall) Paxson, was born in 1713 and it is possible he died in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. He married Alice SIMCOCK.
Reuben appeared in the will of his uncle Henry Paxson (#1), receiving the 238 acres Henry had purchased from George POWNALL, and adjacent to Dr. Pownall's land. On 11 February 1723/4 "Ruben" Paxson was mentioned as owner of the land bounding that of George Pownall in Solebury. On 10 June 1725 Reuben received land in Solebury from George Pownall by lease, and six days later received either more, or more likely, confirmed the same parcel.[133]
Reuben apparently removed to Philadelphia, because on 28 August 1730 he was granted a certificate of clearness from the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting to Abington Meeting in order to marry Alice SIMCOCK. On 30 April 1731 Alice was received in Philadelphia Meeting by certificate of removal from Abington. The couple moved around a fair amount, their first five children being born in four different locations. Eventually they removed to Kingwood Meeting in Quakertown, New Jersey, where the births of their five children were recorded. The first three children were mentioned in Reuben's mother's will, dated 16 July 1742.[134] It appears that Reuben was a tailor.
Reuben went to Frederick County, Virginia about 1744. This might account for why Alice went to her father's house to give birth to her fifth child in September that year. Reuben seems to have been in Virginia when his father-in-law, John SIMCOCK, died, naming Reuben his executor. I am guessing that John Simcock lived and died in Hunterdon County, but owned land in Frederick County which he probably bequeathed to Reuben (since it was legally difficult for married women to own land in their own right). Reuben posted bond, as required by law:
9 June 1744. Reuben Packston, with Robert Worthington & John Smith his securities, posted bond of three hundred Pounds as Administrator of John Sincock [sic.].
Reuben Paxson
R. Worthington
Jn Smith[134a]
It looks like the estate was not settled, however, because three years later Reuben appointed two of his friends to serve as attorneys in his stead.
Know all men by these presents that I Reuben Paxton of the County of Hunterdon & Province of West New Jersey, Taylor ... do Constitute & Appoint my Trusty friends William Mitchell & John Smith of Frederick County my true & Lawfull Attorneys ... to ask, sue for and demand from each and every person/persons indebted to me ... as administrator of estate of John SIMCOCK, deced. Signed Reuben Paxton
Wit: R. Worthington, John Hampton, Patrick Reily (Recorded: 8 April 1747.)[134b]
This could have been done from Hunterdon County, but since the papers were filed in Virginia, it seems probable that is where he was at the time. His self-identification as being "of Hunterdon County" poses questions. It may be that he added that identification not because his legal residence (if there was such a concept then) was in New Jersey, but because that was how he was identified in John Simcock's legal papers (I have not seen Simcock's will or administration file).
It seems quite possible that there was at the same time in Virginia a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian Reuben Paxton, whose only family connection to the above Reuben Paxson would be way back in England centuries earlier. However, in spite of diligent seeking by Kay Walton and Dianna Privette, no proof has been found that documents the existence of an Edward and Margaret (Collins) Paxton, said to be the parents of the possibly-hypothetical second Reuben Paxton—even though they are copied from one secondary source to another and passed around the web as "fact".
Reuben was listed with 400 acres at Tablers Station in the 6 May 1751 Fairfax survey. This may or may not be the 400 acres "acres adjoining Isaac Julian, and John Poteet, on the Wagon Road to Watkins Ferry, on the dreans of Opeckon" of which he was grantee on 7 June 1760 in Frederick County, Virginia.[134c] He still held the land (or some other parcel) on 15 August 1766 when it was mentioned as bordering someone else's tract on Middle Creek.[134d]
Now moving into speculation: Reuben and Alice were living in Virginia when their final child, Nancy, was born. Alice then disappears from all records, and it is quite possible that she died. (The Mormon IGI gives her death as "ca. 1745" but anything there with a "ca." is pretty pure speculation.) Nancy was born ca. 1735-1737, married Zackquill Morgan ca. 1755-1759, and died ca. 1763 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. So there is a wide enough range of dates to offer a variety of possibilities.
At some point Anne Morgan moved in with Reuben, the relationship between the two of them being unclear. She had been in the household of Nathaniel Thomas, but in his will (1760) he stated that they were never married, although sometimes she claimed they were, and they had no children in common. He did, however, name Anne his executrix. Presumably Anne moved in with Reuben after 1760? It appears that Reuben and Anne removed to South Carolina together. There is a later real estate record referring to a tract of land that was "part of a Tract of 250 acres, originally granted unto Reuben Paxon by Wm. Bull Esq., Gov, 27 Nov. 1770, in the then Craven Co. on the waters of Encree River, bounding on all sides by Vacant Land at time it was laid out."[134e]
Presumably Reuben died in South Carolina in the 1770s or early 1780s.
