William Gaddis (abt. 1718 - 1772)

Born about Aug 1718 in Banff Aberdeenshire, Scotland [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Priscilla (Bowen) Gaddis — married 1740 (to 11 Oct 1772) in , Orange County, Colony and Dominion of Virginia

Descendants

Died 11 Oct 1772 at about age 54 in Mill Branch Valley, Hampshire County, Virginia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Judy Lawson [send private message]

Biography

William was born in 1715 in Donegal, Ireland; he died on 11 October 1772 in Mill Branch Valley, Hampshire County, Virginia,^[1] now West Virginia. He is buried in the eastern foothill of Bear Garden Mountain, Hampshire County, WV, USA.

 : Alternate birth information for William is given on Findagrave.com, as follows: Born in August 1718 in Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.^[2]

From Findagrave.com

William Gaddis

Birth: Aug 1718 Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; Death: 11 Oct 1772 (aged 54) Hampshire County, Virginia. Burial: Buckwalter Cemetery, Bloomery, Hampshire County, West Virginia, USA. Memorial #: 63481893.

Bio: There was in Colonial America a man named William Gaddis about whom little is known, but who is the patriarch of one existing line of the Gaddis family in the United States today. One published genealogical account in the 1890s says that William came from Ireland during the Irish migration to Virginia in 1737, but William's parents' names and his birthplace are not known, so he may or may not have been an immigrant to the Americas. Some researchers link him to James Geddes and Margaret Jackson of Scotland and James' father Alexander Geddes. Other speculation is that he sprang from one of the several colonial Gaddis families in Virginia, Maryland, or Pennsylvania. Whatever his origins may be, his first recorded appearance is in the Northern Neck of Virginia where he served as a surveyor's chainman in the early 1740s. This is what is known about William Gaddis: He was probably born between 1700 and 1715. He lived at Apple Pie Ridge, Frederick County, near Winchester, Virginia, from at least 1740 through the 1750s. He was a landowner in Virginia, a voter, and not a Quaker although he lived near the Quaker meeting of Hopewell and interacted frequently with Quakers. He was married to Priscilla Bowen (1718-1796), a daughter of Henry Bowen of Cecil County, Maryland, and Frederick County, Virginia. About 1762 he and his family moved from Frederick County, Virginia to a 421 acre farm on Bear Garden Mountain in what is now Hampshire County, West Virginia, near the community of Bloomery, West Virginia. He died in 1773 and his marker is still in place on his homestead in West Virginia. (A photo of his grave may be viewed at this web site: http://www.historichampshire.org/cems/gaddis.htm.) He and Priscilla had at least four sons – John (1741-1827), Thomas (1742-1834), Robert (1749-1834), and Henry (1753-1833 or later), plus probably two others, Rees (1755-before 1820) and William (about 1754-1777). He and Priscilla also had a daughter, Anna Gaddis (1747-1778) who was married to Levi Springer. There may have been other children as well whose names are lost to history. Some time subsequent to William's death Priscilla Gaddis moved across the Allegheny Mountains to what is now Fayette County, Pennsylvania, perhaps after, but probably with her sons. It is said that she traveled alone on a mule carrying her waffle iron. She died in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1796 and is buried at the Great Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery there. The son William died in the Revolutionary War on Sullivan's Island near Charleston, South Carolina. The other five sons moved to southwestern Pennsylvania before 1780, with Rees settling in Washington County and the other four sons settling near Uniontown in what is now Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The eldest son, John, remained in Fayette County until his death. He was a lawyer and farmer and owned several pieces of land north of Uniontown. Not as active in local affairs as his younger brother Thomas, John nevertheless was a prominent man of early Fayette County. He served under his brother Thomas in the Sandusky Expedition. The son Thomas was known as Col. Thomas Gaddis. He built "Fort Gaddis" south of Uniontown, Pennsylvania; was Colonel of the Monangalia Militia during the Revolutionary War; was third in command of the disastrous Sandusky Expedition in 1782 during which Col. William Crawford was captured and burned at the stake; was arrested and jailed in Philadelphia for raising a "Liberty Pole" near Uniontown during the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion; and moved with many members of the Gaddis family to Clinton County, Ohio, in 1814. Bio supplied by Jim Gaddis, Grifton, NC 28530.

Family Members: Spouse: Priscilla Bowen Gaddis (1718-1796); Children: John Gaddis (1741-1827), Thomas Gaddis (1742-1834), Robert Gaddis (1749-1834).^[3]

Citations

1. ↑ Jim Roberts, "William Gaddis," Findagrave.com. Record added: Dec 30, 2010. URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=63481893. Accessed 29 Aug 2017 by Patricia Prickett Hickin.
2. ↑ Jim Roberts, "William Gaddis," Findagrave.com. Record added: Dec 30, 2010. URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=63481893. Accessed 29 Aug 2017 by Patricia Prickett Hickin.
3. ↑ Jim Roberts (47080633), “William Gaddis,” Findagrave.com. Record added 30 Dec 2010. URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63481893. Accessed 07 November 2018.

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to Judy Lawson for creating WikiTree profile Gaddis-125 through the import of JudyLawsonPastOnly.GED on Sep 23, 2013.

Sources

• Deuschle, Keely, contr, Gaddis Family > "GADDIS," Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, Under the Editorial Supervision of John W. Jordan, LL.D., Librarian of Pennsylvania Historical Society, Philadelphia, and James Hadden of Uniontown, Pennsylvania).

• Dresslar, Sef Walden Raúl Ramírez Dresslar. "Henry Gaddis" (Geni.com. May 2, 2009).

• Gaddis, Jim <jimg320@gmail.com>. "Re: Gaddis, Rees, Capt. Campbell Co., Ky. 1801" (Gaddis Family GenForum #65 November 25, 1998 at 08:59:47).

• Johnson, Anna <widoanie@aol.com>. "Re: Descendants of William GADDIS, b. 1715" (Gaddis Family GenForum #158, May 28, 1999 at 01:56:06).

• [Kerns, Wilmer L.] “Colonial-Period 1773 Grave of Fairfax-Land Grantee Is Found In Hampshire County,” West Virginia Advocate (Capon Bridge, HAMPSHIRE Co., WV).

• Jim Roberts (47080633), “William Gaddis,” Findagrave.com. Record added 30 Dec 2010. URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63481893. Accessed 07 November 2018.

• Rude, Lori < lorirude@hotmail.com>. RUD/RUDE HOME PAGE > "Gaddis" (http://www.rudefamily.50megs.com/).

• Shepherd, H[enry] E[lliot),1844-1929, "DR. LEVI SPRINGER GADDIS," from Nelson's biographical dictionary (Uniontown, Pa. : S.B. Nelson, Year: 1900) http://www.pagenweb.org/~fayette/bios/gaddis001.html).

• Shepherd, Henry Elliot, ed. Nelson's biographical dictionary and historical reference book of Fayette County, Pennsylvania: containing a condensed history of Pennsylvania, of Fayette County, and the boroughs and townships of the county: also, portraits and biographies of the governors since 1790, and genealogies, family histories and biographies of representative men of the county: illustrated" (Volume 2. Uniontown, Pa. : S.B. Nelson, 1900).

• Tracy, Todd <ttracy330@aol.com>. "Re: Descendants of William GADDIS, b. 1715" (Gaddis Family GenForum #715, February 27, 2002 at 13:41:17).