John Atkinson, Jr., was born about 1736 to John Atkinson, Sr., and his wife Eleanor. He was married to married Maria Catarina Diebi by Rev. John Casper Stoever of Hill Lutheran Church in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.[1]
On 24 August 1767, John Atkinson was mentioned in the will of his father.[2] On 7 September 1773, John Atkinson and his wife, along with several of his other siblings, sold their interest in his father’s land to his mother. In the deed, they are referred to as “John Atkinson of Lebanon Township in Lancaster County & Province of Pennsylva. yeoman & Catharine his wife.”[3]
John Atkinson appears on the tax lists of Lebanon, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, through at least 1783.[4] He was also mentioned in the 1783 will of his mother.[5] He seems to have moved west to Guilford Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, where he first appears on the tax list of 1785.[6] He only appears again the following year. [7]
The John Atkinson family moved to south Rockbridge County, Virginia, sometime prior to August of 1791 when he signed the marriage bond of his daughter Catherine.[8] He first definitely appears on the tax list of Rockbridge County, Virginia, in 1792.[9]
On 11 August 1796, John Atkinson was granted 228 acres in Greenbrier County, Virginia. [10] On 28 February, John Atkinson purchased 365 acres on Howard’s Creek in Greenbrier County, Virginia, from Joseph and Ann Dixon for £70.[11] On 27 June 1797, John Atkinson and his wife Catherine sold one hundred acres on Howard’s Creek to Elias Remley for five shillings.[12] John Atkinson sold the remaining 265 acres on Howard’s Creek to Henry Harman on 23 January 1806 for five shillings.[13] On 28 August 1806, Henry Harman and his wife Susanna sold the land back to John Atkinson.[14] On the same day, John Atkinson and his wife Catherine sold the 265 acres on Howard’s Creek to Elias Ramley for £155.[15] It was then that John Atkinson moved to Kanawha County, Virginia.
John Atkinson first appears on the tax lists of Kanawha County, Virginia, in March of 1807. He paid tax on himself and one horse.[16] In an unrecorded deed, John Atkinson purchased 182 aces on the Kanawha River.[17] He then transferred the land to Allen Baxter who, on 12 September 1809, gave him a life interest in eighty-two acres of the tract.[18]
John Atkinson was enumerated as a head of household on the 1820 census of Kanawha County, Virginia, with a household consisting of one male over forty-five, one male between twenty-six and forty-five, one female between sixteen and twenty-six, three males under ten, and one female under ten.[19] Based on these numbers, it appears that his wife Catherine died before 1820, and one of his children and their family was living with him. He last paid taxes in Kanawha County, Virginia, on 11 April 1820.[20]
In many online trees, John Atkinson is shown, without sources, to have died 27 March 1827 while visiting family in Missouri. He was certainly dead by 14 May 1827 when Allen Baxter sold the eighty-two acres in which John Atkinson had a life interest.[21]
Research Notes
His birth year is estimated based on the birth year of his wife.
Added Pennsylvania as uncertain birth place based on residence of father.-as
Sources
↑ “Pennsylvania and New Jersey, U.S., Church and Town Records, 1669-2013,” database with images, Ancestry, Marriage of John Atkinson, Jr., and Catarine Diebin, 7 July 1764, (accessed 19 August 2021); citing Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. “Anno 1764…John Atkinson jun: & Catarine Diebin - 7 dito” (the previous entry is July).
↑ “Pennsylvania, U.S., Tax and Exoneration, 1768-1801,” database with images, Ancestry, John Akison, 1785, Guilford Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, (accessed 20 August 2021); citing Series No. 4.61; Records of the Office of the Comptroller General, RG-4, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
↑ “Pennsylvania, U.S., Tax and Exoneration, 1768-1801,” database with images, Ancestry, John Ackeson, 1786, Guilford Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, (accessed 20 August 2021); citing Series No. 4.61; Records of the Office of the Comptroller General, RG-4, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
↑ “Greenbrier County, West Virginia, Deeds, 1780-1901,” images, FamilySearch, Joseph and Ann Dixon to John Atkinson, 28 February 1797, (accessed 20 August 2021); citing Greenbrier County, West Virginia, Deed Book 1, page 608.
↑ “Greenbrier County, West Virginia, Deeds, 1780-1901,” images, FamilySearch, John and Cathrin Atkinson to Elias Remley, 27 June 1797, (accessed 20 August 2021); citing Greenbrier County, West Virginia, Deed Book 1, page 646.
↑ “Greenbrier County, West Virginia, Deeds, 1780-1901,” images, FamilySearch, John Atkenson to Henry Harman, 23 January 1806, (accessed 20 August 2021); citing Greenbrier County, West Virginia, Deed Book 3, page 340.
↑ “Kanawha County, West Virginia, Records of Deeds, 1790-1946,” images, FamilySearch, Allen Baxter to John Atkinson, 12 September 1809, (accessed 20 August 2021); citing Kanawha County, West Virginia, Deed Book C, page 366.
↑ “United States Census, 1820," database with images, FamilySearch, Household of John Atkinson, Kanawha County, Virginia, (accessed 20 August 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
↑ “Kanawha County, Virginia, Personal Property Tax Lists, 1792-1850,” images, FamilySearch, John Atkison, 1807, (accessed 19 August 2021).
↑ “Kanawha County, West Virginia, Records of Deeds, 1790-1946,” images, FamilySearch, Allen Baxter to Henry Baxter, 14 May 1827, (accessed 20 August 2021); citing Kanawha County, West Virginia, Deed Book G, page 169.
Is John your ancestor? Please don't go away! Login to collaborate or comment, or
contact
a profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com
DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with John:
I'm skeptical about Missouri, and I think there's some conflating between Adkinsons going on here, but that's no big deal and can be sorted out at any time. Great job on the bio.
I am also highly skeptical about Missouri. I suspect that he died in Kanawha County shortly after 1820. Is there a particular place you think I may have mixed in son Adkinson? Or particular Adkinson? Of course there was nothing like standard spelling in John Atkinson's life time and location, but I have usually found it either something really close to Atkinson or Atkisson. I do know that a grandson's death record has the name Adkinson, but his tombstone has Atkinson. Naturally, it was up to how the clerk decided to spell it. I grew up in the mounatins, and Atkisson, Atkinson, and Adkinson all sound the same...a rose by any other name, as The Bard wrote.
I'm skeptical about Missouri, and I think there's some conflating between Adkinsons going on here, but that's no big deal and can be sorted out at any time. Great job on the bio.