Zachariah Austin (1763 - 1830)

Born 20 Jan 1763 in Prince George Parish, Prince George's, Maryland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1830 at about age 66 in Ohio, Kentucky, United States

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Biography

Zachariah was born in 1763.^[1]

BIRTH-DEATH-SPOUSE-CHILDREN-RESIDENCE: "The Austin Family - Montgomery County, Maryland and Ohio County, Kentucky with Related Lines" compiled by Jeane Austin King Galau, 1978. A copy in AFAOA Southern Austin Manuscripts # 1, pages 1-123. Page 74-80.

BIRTH-DEATH-SPOUSE-CHILDREN-RESIDENCE: "THE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN AND CHARITY KENDRICK AUSTIN OF FREDERICK COUNTY, MARYLAND" by Jeane Austin King Galau, published in the Austins of America Quarterly, Feb 1982, page 34 +.

MILITARY-MARRIAGE-MIGRATION: "Zachariah Austin of Prince George's Parish, Frederick County, Maryland" by Arthur Clement Austin. Austins of America Quarterly, Feb 1983, pp 65-66.

"In 1780 Zachariah was a private in 2nd Company, Class one, of the Lower Battalion of Montgomery County, MD. Baruch Odle (first husband of Margaret Odle) was in class seven of same.

During the Whiskey Rebellion, Zachariah enlisted in 1794 as an Ensign, was a Captain when he resigned in Oct 1795. During the War of 1812, witnessed the burning of Washington, D.C."

"Baruch Odle's will 1788/1789 left his plantation "Grubby Thicket" to his wife Margaret and their 6 daughters. In June of 1790, the census taker at "Grubby Thicket" listed Zachariah Austin, 3 males under 16 (?brothers? ), 7 females. Later two of Zechariah's brothers would marry two of Margaret's daughters.

By late 1815, Zachariah, after buying from Margaret's daughters their 2/3 rights to "Grubby Thicket" sold it to George Bohrer of Georgetown for $2960. The author speculates that if the Austins-Offutts-Odles who settled in KY all left together, they would have formed a "formidable" caravan.

In 1816 bought 800 acres on Rough Creek for $1589."

CENSUS: 1790 MD, Montgomery Co.; 1800 MD, Montgomery, p 144: 5 m <10 ,1 m 26-45, 2 f 10-16, 1 f 16-26, 1 f 26-45, 10 slaves; 1820 KY, Ohio Co. Zachariah, 2 m 10-16, m 16-18, 2 m 18-26, 1 m over 45; 1 f over 45; 1830 KY, Ohio Zachariah Austin, 1 m 15-20, 1 m 60-70, 0 females, 9 slaves.

"If all the Austins-Offutts-Odles who settled in Kentucky at this time moved in a group by ox-cart and mules, they formed a formidable caravan, The family likely travelled through the Shenandoah Valley and through the Cumberland Gap into the Kentucky heartland. Remember, we have documented that Zachariah purchased about 800 acres of land on Rough Creek in Ohio County in 1816. The initial segment of the Cumberland Road, also known as the National Road, between Cumberland, MD and Wheeling, VA (now WV) didn't open until 1818 and was therefore unavailable for the Austin migration at the time. It was the Valley Road of Virginia that offered the path of least resistance to those Americans crossing the Appalachians in 1816-1817. According to recently published work from the University of Virginia, the Valley Road served as a primary wagon route west to burgeoning frontiers in Tennessee, Kentucky, and along the Ohio River until about 1820 when traffic finally diverted to the National Road and other western routes. The Shenandoah Valley experienced a town-building boom that accelerated the growth of communities along the wagon road after the American Revolution. Fifteen new towns and villages were platted in the Valley between 1785 and 1800. By the time the Austin clan headed west, they would have encountered towns spaced about two to twelve miles apart in the northern Valley and twenty-two to thirty miles apart in the less-populated southern Valley. All along this route the family would have had access to blacksmiths for wagon repairs or shoeing of horses and to country shopkeepers for surplus apples and salt pork or to grain mills for wheat or corn.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Prince George's Parish Records, Rock Creek, Frederick County until 1776/Montgomery County, Maryland. Now on file at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C. and other places.
2. ↑ The Great Valley Road of Virginia, edited by Warren R. Hofstra and Karl Raitz, University of Virginia Press, 2010.

• Profile of Zachariah Austin

• Zachariah Austin on Find A Grave: Memorial #134362894 retrieved 6/11/2019