John Alston (abt. 1670 - bef. 1719)

Born about 1670 in England

Husband of Elizabeth (Turgis) Alston — married before Aug 1695 in South Carolina

Descendants

Died before 30 Nov 1719 before about age 49 in South Carolina

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NOTE: John Alston is listed as a Gateway Ancestor in Richardson's "List of Colonial Immigrants" in both Magna Carta Ancestry and Royal Ancestry. On WikiTree, this profile was previously the gateway in trails to several surety barons. However, as there is not enough evidence to support the connection between John and his previously-shown father, William, the relationship was severed and the Magna Carta trail was removed. See research notes below for more information.

Conflation warning: This profile represents John Alston of South Carolina. The profile of John Alston of North Carolina can be seen HERE. See research note below for other profiles that may be conflated with this one.

Biography

John Alston was the son of William Alston of Hammersmith, Middlesex. His date and place of birth are not known but the year if his apprenticeship suggests he was born by 1670.

John was apprenticed in 1682 to James Jones of Charleston, South Carolina, merchant, and subsequently immigrated to America. Indenture as follows:

"This Indenture Witnesseth that John Alston the sonne of William Alston of Hamersmith in the County of Midlelxex gent doth put him selfe apprentice to James Jones of the County of Carolina merchant to Learne and follow his Art with him after the manner of an apprentice & to serve him his sd master the full end & terme of Seaven yeares from the day of the date hereof dureing wch sd Terme he the Aforesd James Jones doth hereby covenant to finde unto his said Apprentice meate, drinke, apparell Lodgeing and all other necessaryes which shall be needfull and convenient for him provided neverthelesse and it is hereby further Agreed by and between the said James Jones and the Aforesaid William Alston ffather of the said John that if the sd. William Alston shall at any tyme or tymes hereafter cause to require or call home to him his sd. sone within the aforesd. Terme of seaven yeares and before that time be compleated he the sd. James Jones doth hereby covenant and Oblige himselfe to returne him Carefully if alive; The said William defraying the money due for his passsage into England and returne In Wittness whereof the pties above named to these prsent Indentures have put their hands and scales Interchangeably this sixteenth day of May Anno Dni 1682."^[1]

In February 1690/1 John, then a merchant himself, went back to England temporarily, leaving his power of attorney to James Jones in Carolina.^[1]

He later settled at St. John's, Berkeley County, South Carolina.^[2][3]

Richardson does not mention a spouse or issue for this John Alston;^[2] Gary Boyd Roberts gives John's wife as "Mrs. Elizabeth Turgis Harris", but lists no children.^[4] A.S. Salley states that John Alston married Mrs. Elizabeth Harris, widow of John Harris after 8 February 1693, when John Harris made his will, and before 13 August 1695 when, Francis Turgis, Esq., was a surety on the bond for his sister "Elizabeth Harris alias Alston" as executrix of John Harris' estate.^[1] They had the following children:

• John, died in 1750; married first Deborah _____ and second to Mrs. Sarah Belin; left issue^[1]
• William, married Esther LaBruce and had issue^[1]
• Elizabeth, married Joseph LaBruce and had issue^[1]
• Mary, married Joseph Warnock and had issue^[1]
• Peter, died April 1748; married Sarah Torquet and had issue^[1]
• Thomasin, married Abraham Warnock^[1]

John left a will dated 2 January 1718^[2] and proved 30 November 1719. The will named all children listed above.^[1]

Research Notes

Parents

WikiTree formerly showed the John Alston of this profile, who emigrated to South Carolina, as son of William Alston (son of John Alston-56 and Dorothy Temple) and his wife Dorothy Brooke. There has been some debate about this line of ancestry.

• It has been raised at least twice in the genealogy newsgroup soc.genealogy.medieval.^[5][6]
• David Faris says that the John baptised in 1668/9 was "probably" the John who emigrated to South Carolina.^[7]
• In March 2015 Forest King wrote that "Some claim that [the John Alston baptised in 1668/9] is the John Alston of South Carolina including having a child named Tomasine", indicating doubt.^[8]
• Cresswell's Stemmata Alstoniana, table 20 on page 19,^[9] gives the children of John Alston-56 by Dorothy Temple. The entry for their son William Alston states that he married _____, daughter of _______ Brooks and d.s.p. (without children). That is incorrect - there are baptism records for children of William and his wife Thomasin, including a son called John.^[10] On page 400, Cresswell indicates the possibility that William/Dorothy may be John's parents, but expresses doubt in the absence of prima facie evidence.^[11]
• The entry on TheKingsCandlesticks website for the John Alston who emigrated to South Carolina leaves the question open.^[12]

The debate turns essentially on whether, as Douglas Richardson presumes,^[2][3] the William Alston of Hammersmith, Middlesex (named in indenture as father of the John Alston who emigrated to South Carolina) is the same as William Alston of Pavenham, Bedfordshire (named on the 1668/9 baptism record), son of John Alston-56 and Dorothy Temple. There is no reliable evidence:

• William son of John Alston-56 was admitted to St John's College, Cambridge, age 16, in 1654, and to Inner Temple the same year, going on to qualify as a barrister in 1662.^[13][14]
• it is possible, as stated in 2006 on soc.genealogy.medieval, that William, practising as a barrister, had a residence in Hammersmith, but there is no evidence for this - it is just speculation^[5] and William's children were baptised in Bedfordshire.^[10]

Disambiguation: other John Alstons

The profile of John Alston of North Carolina can be seen HERE. His parents are currently set as Solomon Alston and Mary Pashfield, but those are also disputed.

John Alston-56 and Dorothy Temple had two grandsons named John Alston (John and Dorothy were previously attached to this profile as grandparents, but the connection was removed due to lack of support):

• One of them was baptized at Pavenham and is the son of William Alston of Pavenham and Thomasine Brooke (this John currently has no WikiTree profile)
• The other, John Alston, was baptized at Felmersham, Bedfordshire 31 December 1673 with his parents named as John and Ann.^[15] David Faris says that he may have been the settler of that name in Chowan County, North Carolina.^[7] The John Alston of Chowan County has a profile here and is shown on WikiTree as belonging to a different Alston family, with parents Solomon Alston and Mary Pasfield: evidence for this is on TheKingsCandlesticks website.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} A. S. Salley, Jr. "John Alston" in The South Carolina Historical (and Genealogical) Magazine. Vol. 6, No. 3. South Carolina Historical Society, July 1905, pp. 114-116. JSTOR.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013), vol. V, page 139, TEMPLE 18.ii (fn. 9).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. (Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011), vol. III, page 230, NELSON 17.ii. (fn. 130). Google Books
4. ↑ Gary Boyd Roberts. The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004, pp. 184-185. Ancestry Sharing Link
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "Some criticism of the claimed Alston line to South Carolina", 2006 discussion in soc.genealogy.medieval newsgroup
6. ↑ "More on William Alston, gent., supposed father of John Alston of South Carolina", 2021 discussion in soc.genealogy.medieval newsgroup
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} David Faris. Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996, p. 202 (Nelson). Ancestry.com.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Edward L Fenn. 'Col John ALSTON of Wethersfield ESS & Nth Carolina America', TheKingsCandlesticks, accessed 16 July 2022
9. ↑ Lionel Cresswell. Stemmata Alstoniana. London, England: 1898, pp. 19 (table 20), Ancestry.co.uk
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Bedfordshire Parish Registers, vol. XI. Bedford: County Records Office, 1935, p. B6 (Pavenham Baps. 1666-1682). Archive.org
11. ↑ Lionel Cresswell. Stemmata Alstoniana. London, England: 1898, p. 400 (discussion of parentage). Online PDF at TheKingsCandlesticks.com
12. ↑ Edward L Fenn. 'John ALSTON [15899]', TheKingsCandlesticks, accessed 16 July 12022
13. ↑ J A Venn. Alumni Cantabrigienses, part 1 vol. 1. London: Cambridge University Press, 1922, p. 25. Archive.org
14. ↑ Calendar of Inner Temple Records, vol 3 (1660-1714), p. 9, PDF and Internet Archive
15. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:9MHT-PK7B : 18 September 2020), Entry for John Alston, 1673.

• South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research 34 (2006): 63-68 (cited by Richardson, not available online)
• Landed Families blog, see: Alston, John (c.1614-87), of Pavenham Bury.