Joshua Dodson Sr. (1725 - aft. 1789)

Born 25 May 1725 in North Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Ruth (Unknown) Dodson — married before 1762 in Virginia

Descendants

Died after 1789 after age 63 in Georgia, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Scott Mitchell [send private message]

Biography

Joshua Dodson was born the 25th of May, 1725 in North Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia. Joshua is the son of Thomas Dodson and Mary Durham.^[1]

Joshua's father, Thomas, named Joshua in his Will, leaving Joshua two slaves, a woman named Sue and a boy named Dick, and one feather bed and furniture. After naming the specific bequest to his children, Thomas stated that the other residue of his estate " . . . to be equally divided between my sons viz Abraham Dodson, Joshua Dodson and Elisha Dodson . . ."^[2]

Joshua is found on a list of taxpayers for Hamilton Parish, Elk Run & vicinity, 1751. From the account book of Capt. John Crump, Sheriff of Prince William County. After 1759, this area became Fauquier County.

Joshua's date of marriage is presently unknown. It is known that he married a woman named Ruth. Joshua and Ruth are named in the minutes of Broad Run Baptist Church, Fauquier County, Virginia. when they were "dismissed to Halifax."

Joshua is listed in 1782 on the tax list in Surry County, North Carolina for 300 acres on Reed Creek, now in Stokes County, North Carolina.

Joshua Dodson appears in the North Carolina state census taken 1784-1787. Joshua was living in Absalom Bostick District's in Surry county, North Carolina. Joshua is listed with 2 white males 21 to 60 years, and 2 white males under 21 and above 60; and 3 females all ages in his household. It is possible that one of the three females may have been Ruth.^[3]

Joshua was exempted from pay pole tax by the Court in Surry County, North Carolina on the 15th August 1786. The Court order reads as follows: "On motion ordered that Joshua Dodson, Samuel Warnock, Michael Rominzer, George Holson, George Renner & Thomas Loyd, aged and inform men; be exempt from paying pole Taxes for the future."^[4]

Joshua's exact date of death and place of death is unknown. Page 20, of The Dodson (Dotson) Family of North Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia: A History and Genealogy of Their Descendants Volume One by Mrs. Sherman Williams, Compiler and Editor and the Rev. Silas Emmett Lucas, Jr. states: "Most Dodson researchers have agreed that Joshua, Sr. died in 1793, but give no source for this information or a place of his death."^[5]

Joshua does not appear in any records of Surry County, North Carolina after the 1786 court exemption from paying pole taxes. No records, or will or estate records for Joshua have been located in Surry or Stokes County, North Carolina.

Joshua does appear in the 1788 Tax List for Greene County, Georgia with his son's Isaac and Joshua Jr. Joshua is listed as taxed with 1 pole. Joshua is not listed as owning any land. On the tax list next to Joshua Dodson Senior is Isaac Dodson taxed with 1 pole and owning no land; and next to Isaac Dodson is Joshua Dodson Junior taxed with 1 pole and owning no land. Joshua Sr. and Joshua Jr. also appear in the 1789 tax list for Greene County, Georgia, again with 1 pole and owning no land. Joshua's son Isaac is not on the 1789 tax list.^[6]

Joshua is listed in 1789, along with Joseph Williams, as one of the pastors of the Sholl Baptist Church in Greene county, Georgia.^[7]

Joshua is believed to have died in Georgia sometime after 1789, based on Joshua appearing on the tax list of Greene county, Georgia and appearing as one of the ministers of Shoal Creek Baptist church in 1789. It is possible Joshua lived his last years with his son Joshua Jr. Joshua's son Joshua Jr. was living in Jasper county, Georgia in 1808, and lived his last years in Henry county, Georgia making his will there in April 1844, which was probated on the 1st of July, 1844.^[8]

Disputed Date of Death

Many sources list Joshua's date of death as 1798, without any sources. Find A Grave site also list Joshua's year of death as 1798; however, this Find A Grave site does not show a tombstone and does not provide the name of a cemetery or any sources for the information given.^[9]

It is believed Joshua possibly lived with his son Joshua Jr. at the end of his life as both men are located in Greene county, Georgia in 1788 & 1789. Joshua Sr. appears in the tax list for 1788 & 1789 with a tax for 1 pole, which would be a tax for himself, and he is listed as owning no land or other property.^[10]

Slaves

Joshua became a slave owner when he was bequeathed two slaves in the 1739 will of his father, Thomas Dodson Sr. The slaves bequeathed to Joshua were:

Sue a "Negro woman

Dick a "Negro boy"

Joshua may possibly have owned other slaves during his life time; however, no records have been located showing additional slaves, and no estate records have been located for Joshua.

Sources

1. ↑ "Virginia Births and Christenings, 1584-1917," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRR4-NM3 : 10 February 2018), Thomas Dodson in entry for Joshua Dodson, ; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 975.523 V2K.
2. ↑ p. 4 from The Dodson (Dotson) Family of North Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia: A History and Genealogy of Their Descendants Volume One by Mrs. Sherman Williams, Compiler and Editor and The Rev. Silas Emmett, Lucas, Jr., Publisher copyright 1988 published by Southern Historical Press, Inc.
3. ↑ North Carolina, State Census, 1784-1787 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Register, Alvaretta K. State Census of North Carolina, 1784-1787. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2001. This database contains a transcription of a state census taken in North Carolina between 1784 and 1787. Historical Background: A 1784 act in North Carolina gave county courts the responsibility of enumerating their population. This count took place between 1785 and 1787, which means it may include individuals who were no longer living in North Carolina when the first federal census was taken in 1790. What You Can Find in the Records: Compiled from original records in the North Carolina Department of Archives and History, this work lists 14,000 heads of households and provides an enumeration of individuals in each household by age, sex, and race. In addition, individuals named are listed under a reference to the original census page, thus furnishing the researcher with a key to the manuscript records.
4. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4R-T9FV-P; Citing: Surry County, North Carolina Superior Court Minutes 1784-1788; [NOTE: No page numbers are given in this Minute Book]
5. ↑ Pages 19 & 20 from The Dodson (Dotson) Family of North Farnham Parish, Richmond County, Virginia: A History and Genealogy of Their Descendants Volume One by Mrs. Sherman Williams, Compiler and Editor and The Rev. Silas Emmett, Lucas, Jr., Publisher copyright 1988 published by Southern Historical Press, Inc.
6. ↑ Greene County, Georgia Tax List 1788 & 1789; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHM-S9QZ-M
7. ↑ Page 44; Asplund, John, and Asplund, John. The Annual Register of the Baptist Denomination, in North-America: To the First of November, 1790. Containing an Account of the Churches and Their Constitutions, Ministers, Members, Associations, Their Plan and Sentiments, Rule and Order, Proceedings and Correspondence. Also Remarks Upon Practical Religion. Humbly Offered to the Public, by John Asplund. United States, Thomas Dobson, 1792.
8. ↑ Henry County, Georgia Wills 1834-1869, pages 120, 121 & 122. Probate Judges Office, 99 Sims Street, McDonough, Georgia. Will and estate records researched and copied by Carol Wilder.
9. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVGF-1W32 : 13 December 2015), Joshua Dodson, 1798; Burial, Farnham, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America, North Farnham Episcopal Church; citing record ID 121522197, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
10. ↑ Greene County, Georgia Tax List 1788 & 1789; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHM-S9QZ-M

See Also

• Residence 1751: Published in the Bulletin of the Fauquier Historical Society, June 1923, p.239-242. Reprinted in the Newsletter of the Prince William County Genealogical Society, V.10, No. 6, Dec 1991, pp.43-45.

• Repository: Name: Online Address: Web Address: http://www.gentryjournal.org/index.htm
• Source: Abbreviation: Thomas/Walters - Brenda Walters Title: Data from Brenda Walters, descendant of Phillip Henry Thomas. Email, copies of records, Pedigree Chart, Family Group Sheets. Jan 2001. Repository: #R3

• Note Among consituting members of Broad Run Baptist Church in Fauquier Co; 12/3/1762. They left there for Halifax/Pittsylvania Counties. Then settled in Surry Co, NC by 1782.

• Repository: Name: NEHGS Lending Library Address: New England Historic Genealogical Society Address 1: New England Historic Genealogical Society Note: 2008. No longer lends books, available only at the Library.

• Abbreviation: North Farnham Parish Registers Title: George Harrison Sanford King, Compiler & Publisher, The Registers of North Farnham Parish 1663-1814 and Lunenburg Parish 1783-1800 Richmond County, Virginia (Self-Published; Fredericksburg, VA; 1966) Repository: #R17 Call Number: F232 .R4K52 1986

• Repository: Name: National Genalogical Society Address: Lending Library Address 1: Lending Library Note: The Lending Library of NGS was moved to St. Louis; the books may be obtained on Interlibrary Loan.

• Abbreviation: Broad Run Bapt Church Title: Trascribed by Richard Slatten, "The Early Records of Broad Run Baptist Church, Fauquier Co VA, 1762-1783"; Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Volume 26, Number 4, November 1988, 284-296 Note: PERSI, Allen Co Public Library. Rec'd Mar 2001. Repository: #R3

Research Notes

Letter written by G. W. Dodson To Mr. John W. Taylor, of Summerville,Georgia. Source: Dodson file, Herman Brown Free Library

2103 Oldham Street Austin, Texas October 19, 1915

Dear Nephew, I have just received your letter of recent date, and will do the best that I can to give you the information that you ask for. I think that it was in 1876 that I visited my Uncles, William and Isaiah Dodson, in Henry and DeKalb Counties and copied some records that I found with them in an old Bible, and learned some other things about the Dodson family that I did not know; also I have lately seen a book belonging to a minister here (Mr. Minter), which is intended to be a genealogy of the Dodsons. I also remember a few things that my Father and Mother told me, but it is more difficult to trace the Mother's than the Father's line -- in fact I cannot go beyond my maternal grandfather.

I learn from the book that I mentioned that there were three families of Dodsons, who all came from England at a very early date, and seemingly from the same place. One family settled in Maryland, one in Pennsylvania, and one in Virginia. We are descended from the Virginia branch, and there is mentioned in the Colonial Records in 1632 a Dodson farm on the James River, which was only 25 years after the first settlement at Jamestown.

This all agrees with the traditions that I have, and the book says that the Virginia Dodsons Claim that they were there from the first..... My name is English, but we are at least half Irish or Scotch. Uncle Isaiah told me that the English was all gone but the name. I cannot go beyond my great grandfather, Joshua Dodson, who was about contemporary with Washington, and was a Baptist preacher. My Father told me that he remembered him..... Now, from the records, my grandfather, Joshua, was born in 1764, and was the fourth son of Joshua,Sr. The older brothers were Charles, Elijah and Elisha. I think all these went to Kentucky soon after the Revolutionary Wa The younger brothers were Isaac and Daniel. Joshua Dodson, Jr., and Sarah Warnick (or Wirnick) were married in Virginia and went to Georgia previous to November 1785, and Daniel also went to Georgia.

I do not know as to Isaac, but Joshua, Sr., visited Georgia when my Father was a child. ... Two of my grandfather's sisters married Creels, and one a Ballinger, and one a Stamps.

If I have been correctly informed, one of Ida Autrey's boys married a Miss Robertson, who is descended from Stamps...... The children of Joshua, Jr., were Elijah, born November 20, 1785; Samuel (my father), November 21, 1788; William, March 22, 1791; Dicy, April 6, 1796; Ruth, December 12, 1801; Isaiah, June 9, 1804; Daniel, December 9, 1806.

Of these brothers of my father, Elijah married a Miss Rowden, and raised a large family, but I know very little about them. My father was the second son. William, the next one, lived and died in Henry County. Only one of his sons raised a family. This one was named Newton. Frank was a Captain, I think in Gobbs Legion, and was killed at Fredericksburg. The others, Marion and Green, died unmarried. I know scarcely anything about Uncle William's daughters. One of them married a man who owned a mill on South river, but I have forgotten his name. I heard once that she was a widow living in Atlanta. Uncle Isaiah married a Miss Brabin, and had one son, Jasper, who was living about Gadsen, Alabama the last that I ever heard of him. Uncle Daniel was a Captain in some of the Indian Wars. He was never married. Aunt Dicy married Mr. Hulsey. She lived at Lithonia and raised one son and two daughters. Marion was killed, I think, and left a widow, but no child, in Atlanta. Aunt Dicy had a daughter who lived at Lithonia, but I have forgotten who she married. Another one married Dr. Clark, and came to Texas before the war. Aunt Ruth married Mr. Hollis, died young, and left one son, Andrew D. This is about all I can inform you about my father's family and I will turn to my mother's side of the hous

My grandfather, Christopher Gardner, was born in Ireland in 1754. He came to America when a boy, served in Washington's army from Pennsylvania, was twice wounded, married after the war and moved with a colony to Georgia. His wife died, leaving him a daughter, who afterwards married Dick Saye, and lived in Cherokee County. Some of the grandchildren may be there yet. Grandfather afterwards married Sarah Simmons, from whom we descended. I know nothing of her except the name. I think she was Irish. She was the mother of three sons and six or seven daughters, but I don't remember their names. I know who most of them married. The sons, Asa and John, moved to Mississippi and I presume their descendants are there yet. Thomas lived and died in Henry or DeKalb County, and I am sure that some of his children are still there. Mother's sisters married men of the following names: Rowden, Underwood, Caruthers, Drumners, Trisar, and Gillespie. The last named lived in Banks County, and the Drumners went to Mississippi, and the Caruthers did live near Chicamauga. None of them ever married except Jack, and they are all dead except Julie, I mean of my Aunt's children, but Jack left a family, and I am now going to write of my own family. I hope you will preserve the main facts for the younger generation. I like to see people pay some attention to the history of their ancestr

In looking over this, I find that I might say more about my father's mother. She was an Irish Presbyterian, as was also my mother's father, and whom, I suppose, were Scotch Irish. My parents were married, I think, in 1816. their children were: James Warnick, born January 3, 1818, died 1894 Jefferson Monroe, Don't know when born, died 1882 Areissa Wilshire, your mother, born Oct. 10, 1894, died 1914 Sarah Ann, born in 1827, died 1890 Caroline Margaret, born Feb. 1889--still living Samuel Putnam, born 1832, died 1853 [date not clear] Elijah Mosely, born 1835, died 1904 John Lafayette, born 1837, died 1911 George Washington, born January 26, 1840 [died 1916] Columbus and Sarah never married, and Putnam left no children; neither did John. James married Miss ____ and came to Texas in 1840. They are both dead. They left two sons and five daughters, and many grandchildren. Monroe married Miss Clem Flint in Texas--both dead. They left one son and four daughters. The girls all married well--the son is in California, not married. I leave out your mother, and ask you to get Bernard to tell you about the Beatty family. Areissa married John Taylor, and lived and died at Summerville. I think he, John Jr.,, is doing well. Sallie (Taylor) Hassell lives at Fredericksburg, Virginia. She has two sons missionaries in Japan. Areissa had a son, Samuel Fleming, who died in Atlanta, and left a widow and one son. I don't know whether they are still living or not...... Brother Mosely married Miss Fannie Germany. They are both dead--left two sons and four daughters. The boys went off before Mosely died. I don't think it is known where they are. Two of the daughters lived in Chattanooga--one is a widow, and I expect a good woman--her name is Samuels. One of the other girls, I think, lives in Savannah, and the other somewhere in the North. I know but little about them--not even their names..... We have five girls and three boys. the girls are Mattie, Mary, Amy, Sarah, and Carrie; and the boys are Edwin, Sam and William. Mattie and Sarah are teaching here--have a home--and wife and I live with them. Mary and Samuel are missionaries in Korea. Edwin is a lawyer at Rosebud, Texas. Amy is married to Dr. Garrett, and lives at Bertram, Texas. Carrie is teaching at Port Arthur, William at Llano, Texas......

(signed) G.W. Dodson

Records copied from the Dodson Family Bible BIRTHS: Samuel Putnam Dodson, Jr., son of Samuel Putnam and Martha J. Dodson, was born March 3,1854. MARRIAGES: R. G. Dodson was married May 17, 1854 Elijah Mosely Dodson and Frances Germany were married June 21st 1856 George W. Dodson and Sallie J. Huie were married December 20, 1870 George Washington Dodson and Naomi S. Kendrick were married February 12, 1879. DEATHS: Samuel Putnam Dodson, son of Samuel and Rebecca Dodson, died 6th of September 1853 in Anderson County Texas. Rebecca Dodson, wife of Samuel Dodson, died January 4th, 1872, aged 76 years, 9 months and 26 days. Sallie Jane Dodson, wife of George W. Dodson, died February 22nd, 1872, aged twenty years, three months and eight days. Samuel Dodson died September 4th, 1879, aged 83 years, 9 months and 17 days. George Washington Dodson, youngest son of Samuel and Rebecca Dodson, died July 21, 1916.

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Dodson-533 created through the import of Dodsons Only.GED on Nov 22, 2011 by Betty Dotson. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Betty and others.

• WikiTree profile Dodson-350 created through the import of Haden for WikiTree.ged on Oct 10, 2011 by Kay Haden. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Kay and others.

• S641 Abbreviation: Gedcom - Thomas Ancestors Title: William Thomas Stamps; GEDCOM file imported on 23 Dec 2000. "Stamps Family History & Lineage Updated 12 Nov 2000. Walters, Stamps, Echols, Slade, Howard, etc. Repository: #R6