Jesse Hinkle (1763 - abt. 1832)

Born 15 Dec 1763 in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1832 at about age 68 in Wayne, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Jesse was born in 1763. He was the son of John Hinkle and Elisabetha Graff. He passed away in about 1832.

Census

1790 Chester District, South Carolina; pg 180
Jesse Hinkle 111; no slaves
males >= 16 1
males < 16 1
females 1

John Downing and his son Andrew Downing live 5 entries away.

1830 Wayne Co., Tennessee; sheet 291
Jesse Hinkle 000000001 -- 00001; no slaves
male female
< 5
5-10
10-15
15-20
20-30 1
30-40
40-50
50-60
1 60-70

Jesse's two sons William and Jonathan are separated from him by just one entry. Andrew Downing is five entries away from Jonathan, and John Downing is on sheet 289. Jesse's daughter Zebil is in the 1830 census as a recently married women. The 20-30 woman in Jesse's household may be her, counted twice in the census because of being in transition.

Summary

On page 1315 of the Henckel Genealogical Bulletin (Vol 33, No 2, Fall 2002) Robert L. Hess points out that Jesse was previously thought by some to possibly be a son of Jacob Henckel of Spread Eagle and his wife Christina but that subsequent investigation has shown that he is a son of Balthasar and Elizabeth Hinkle. The following is from a long footnote:

"On the same day in the Lutheran church at Frederick, Maryland, 18 April 1783, were confirmed Anthon Hinckel (born 15 Dec 1765), his brother Jacob "frater" (born 22 February 1764), and Jesse Hinckel (born 15 December 1763). Present also at the boys' first communion were both Christina Hinckel [wife of Jacob, Sr.] and Elisabetha Hinckel [wife of Balthasar]. The circumstances strongly suggest that Jesse was a son of Balthasar and Elisabetha, while the other two were sons of Jacob and Christina. The reported birth dates of Jesse and Jacob, Jr. would not allow of their having the same mother; and Anthon's and Jacob's names in the register were listed sequentially with the notation that they were brothers, while Jesse's name was listed separately. Later events tend to support this conclusion. At the marriage of Balthasar's daughter Margreth Hinckel to Caspar Rhein at Frederick Lutheran Church on 4 April 1784, Jesse and John Hinckel (both presumably Margreth's brothers) were witnesses in addition to [Caspar's brother] Johannes Rhein. And in the 1800 Lincoln County, NC Population Census, where by then [HG#26] Jacob Hinckle's family had moved, both Anthony Hinkle and Jacob Hinkle, Jr. were enumerated as residing near [their now widowed mother] Christina Hinkle."

On page 1456 of the Henckel Genealogical Bulletin (Vol 37, No 1, Spring 2006) Robert L. Hess says of Jesse, "He seems to have moved with his cousins William, Joseph, and Jonathan Hinkle to the Carolinas by about 1786. Jesse Hinkle served as bondsman for the marriage of [HG#656] Margaret Hinkle and Joseph Dial, Rowan County, North Carolina, bond dated 13 March 1786 with W. Cupples, witness." Six sons of [HG#6] Jacob Anthony Henckel went to Rowan County, so Jesse would have had many cousins there.

Shirley Drury Patterson in an article in the Hardin County Historian (Volume 1, No. 3, July-Dec. 1997) says, "He [Jesse Hinkle] married about 1788-89, and family tradition says that she was Frances Riley, although there is no proof. The name Riley has been used in the Hinkle family for a first or a second name down to the present. Jesse's son William named his youngest son William Riley Hinkle, and his daughter Zebil named one of her sons Albert Riley Patterson."

By 1790 Jesse is in Chester District, South Carolina. He is married and has one child. He does not have an entry in the 1800 census, but he may be living in Chester District with his younger second cousin Joseph Hinkle (Jacob, Gerhard Anthony, Anthony Jacob). Or he may just be missing from the census.

In Chester County on January 22, 1802 Jesse and Joseph Hinkle sell an 8 year old Negro boy named Gideon to John Rosborough for $320. The boy is warranted "to be of Sound Health and Sensible without Defect in Judgment". (Chester Co. Deed Records, Bk I, pg 138, #87)

On November 5, 1802 Candour McFadden of Chester District sells to Jesse Hinkle of the same place for $550 a plantation of 105 acres, more or less, on which the seller resides and which is situated on a small branch of Rockey Creek in Chester District. It is a square 31 chains and 62 links on a side. J. Rosborough is one of the witnesses.(L/269, #161)

Whereas James White is the security for a $86 promissory note which Jesse Hinkle has given to William Knox, on March 15, 1806 Jesse Hinkle conveys to James White two horses, two cows and calves, two sows and 10 shoats. If Jesse pays the debt with interest within 12 months, the conveyance will be void. (M/177, #121)

In March 1808 Jessey Hinkle of Chester District conveys to Reuben Stringfellow and Hugh Simpson of the same place for $200 "all that plantation or tract of land containing one Hundred Acres Certified for Agnes Henry May 18th 1768 and transferr'd last from Candour McFadden to the said Jessey Hinkle situated on a small Branch of Rocky Creek Bounded on the N W By land laid out to Philip Walker and on all other sides Vacant Beginning at a white oak . . .". He also conveys 3 horses, 2 cows and 3 feather beds with furniture. If Jesse Hinkle pays the full sum of $200 to Reuben Stringfellow and Hugh Simpson by November 10, 1808, the conveyance will be void and of no effect. The deed was recorded April 6, 1808. (N/406, #296)

Apparently Jesse Hinkle did repay the $200 mentioned in the preceding instrument because on October 27, 1808 Jesse Hinkle of Chester District sells to William Champion for $250 the same tract of 105 acres, more or less, "being the plantation of which I now live". One of the witnesses is Ruben (X) Stringfellow. (O/52, #41)

At some point Jesse Hinkle left South Carolina, and by about 1817 he was in Madison Co., Alabama. The fact that he sold his plantation in 1808 suggests that he left South Carolina about that time. Shirley Patterson says that Jesse Hinkle is on the 1816-17 census of the Mississippi Territory (of which Madison Co., Ala. was a part). However, the database "Mississippi, State and Territorial Census Collection, 1792-1866" indicates that Madison Co. was not included in the 1816 census. She says that Jesse lived in Lincoln Co., Tennessee for a while before going onward to Alabama. She provides no evidence for her assertion and I have been unable to find any mention of him in the public records of Lincoln Co. The birth places of Jesse's oldest grandchildren (children of his son William Hinkle) suggest that the family did live for a while in Tennessee, and Lincoln Co. is a reasonable place. It is just north of the Tennessee-Alabama state line and is not far from Madison Co., Alabama. Jesse's second cousin Joseph Hinkle (Benjamin, Jacob Anthony, Anthony Jacob) was a wealthy planter in Lincoln Co. He and his father Benjamin arrived there sometime between 1810 and 1814 (Joseph bought 183 acres in 1814). The fact that Jesse is missing from the 1810 census might be due to his being a newcomer in some Tennessee county; if he had still been in Chester District, South Carolina, where he was known, it is less likely that he would have been missed.

William Hinkle's oldest child, Jesse born in 1814, says twice in the census that he was born in South Carolina and once in Tennessee; the second child, John D. born in 1816, says once that he was born in North Carolina; the third child, Andrew J. born in 1818, says twice that he was born in Tennessee; and the fourth child, Catharine born in 1819, says once that she was born in Alabama.

In 1818 William Hinkle received a grant of one section (one square mile) of public land in the far northwest corner of Madison Co., very close to the Tennessee state line. There is no record of land ownership for Jesse in either Tennessee or Alabama. Unfortunately the 1820 census for various Alabama counties, including Madison, has been lost. According to Shirley Patterson, on July 1, 1824, a letter for Jesse was left undelivered at the Huntsville, Alabama (Madison Co.), post office.

Sometime in the 1820's the family moved onward to Wayne Co., Tennessee (middle Tennessee, just north of the Alabama border). One of Jesse's sons, Baltis, remained in Madison Co., where he died in about 1827 at the age of thirty. His widow and their 4 children left Alabama and went to live with her father Andrew Downing, who by that time was in Wayne Co. She was pregnant when her husband died, and their youngest child Baltis was born in Tennessee May 12, 1828. Old Jesse Hinkle and his two sons William and Jonathan are in the 1830 census in Wayne Co.

It is generally agreed that Jesse Hinkle had the following children, all born in Chester Co., South Carolina. Note the intermarriages with relatives of Andrew Downing. In the 1790 census of Chester Co., Andrew Downing lives very close to Jesse Hinkle, and the two families probably migrated together.

1) a son born before 1790, who appears in the 1790 census and about whom nothing more is known

2) William, born December 7, 1792, died April 15, 1867, Mountain View, Stone Co., Ark., married Sarah Downing, sister of Andrew Downing

3) Baltis, born ca. 1797, died ca. 1827 in Madison Co., Alabama, married January 3, 1820 in Madison Co. to Ann Downing, daughter of Andrew Downing and Elizabeth Jones

4) Jonathan, born ca. 1801, died ca. 1858 in Hardin Co., Tenn., married Elizabeth Paine

5) Zebil A. (Azuba), born ca. 1802, married Peter Patterson ca. 1830 in Wayne Co., Tenn.

And Elizabeth?

Among the children of Jesse Hinkle some researchers include Elizabeth Hinkle, who was born 9 Jan 1794, married John Downing, died 17 Sep 1828 in Wayne Co., Tennessee, and was possibly the first person to be buried in the Mount Hebron Cemetery in Wayne Co., Tennessee. John Downing was another son of Andrew Downing and Elizabeth Jones.

There are documentary references to John Downing and to his wife Elizabeth, but they don't say what her maiden name was. In Appendix B of The Porters of Fishing Creek by William and Faye Leigon, Stewart Porter, and Blake Williams, published in 1987, we find the contents of the family Bible of James J. Porter and on page 2 under "Births" the following:

John Downing was born 31 Dec 1786
Elizabeth, his wife, was born 9 Jan 1794 and died 17 Sep 1828

and then the names and birth dates of his second wife, the five children of his first wife Elizabeth, and the three children of his second wife. Note that Fishing Creek is in Chester Co., South Carolina.

The reason that John Downing and his wife Elizabeth are in James J. Porter's Bible is that he (James J. Porter) married their daughter Frances Downing.

One reason for believing that Elizabeth Downing might have been Elizabeth Hinkle is that one of her sons was named Jesse, a common name in the Hinkle family.

In a biographical sketch of Jesse's grandson William Hinkle (son of Baltis) published in 1896, the author says that Jesse had 4 children: William, Jonathan, Baltis, and Zuly.

And Effa?

Some researchers include Effa Hinkle among Jesse's children. She was the wife of William Downing, son of Andrew Downing and Elizabeth Jones. There is substantial evidence that her maiden name was Patterson, not Hinkle. See the profile of Effa Patterson.

The Henckel Genealogy

The following is from page 158 of The Henckel Genealogy. It is followed by various comments about a Jesse Hinkle who died in Jefferson Co., Kentucky. That Jesse Hinkle is not John Balthasar's son.

424 Jesse Hinkle, born December 15, 1763 Frederick County, Maryland; confirmed April 18, 1783, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Frederick; died probably about 1815 in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Jesse Hinkle was a witness at the marriage in Frederick County, Maryland of his older sister on April 4, 1784 and was apparently in Rowan County, North Carolina in 1786. He was in the 1790 Census of Chester County, South Carolina (adjoins Lincoln County, North Carolina) with a wife and son who was under 16 years of age (born between 1774 and 1790).

Sources

• Federal census
• Henckel Genealogical Bulletin, Vol 33, No 2 (Fall 2002)
• Henckel Genealogical Bulletin, Vol 37, No 1 (Spring 2006)
• The Henckel Genealogy 1500 - 1960; Ancestry and Descendants of Reverend Anthony Jacob Henckel 1668 – 1728 by William Sumner Junkin and Minnie Wyatt Junkin; 1964
• The Porters of Fishing Creek by William and Faye Leigon, Stewart Porter, and Blake Williams, published in 1987