Samuel Bumpass Sr. (abt. 1763 - abt. 1831)

Born about 1763 in Halifax, North Carolina [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1831 at about age 68 in Montgomery, Tennessee, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Ronald Bumpers [send private message]

Biography

Samuel Bumpass Sr. was born about 1763 (unsourced from the original creator of this profile) in North Carolina^[1] to Robert Bumpas and Sarah Tompkins (unsourced). Sarah Tompkins was the first wife of Robert Bumpas. Samuel Sr. relocated with his family from North Carolina to Montgomery County, Tennessee sometime prior to 1805 (see research note regarding arrival in Montgomery County).

He married Jemimah (last name at birth unknown)^[2]. Date and place of marriage unknown but before 1780. The couple had at least 12 children (not necessarily listed in order of birth):

"Robin^[2] or "Robert"^[3]

"John"^[2][3]

"Tompkins"^[2]

"Samuel Jr."^[2][3][1]

"William"^[2]

"Patsey"^[2]

"Nancy"^[2]

"Anne"^[2]

"Polly"^[2]

"Jemimah Jr.^[2]

"Sally"^[2] and

"Besty"^[2].

The exact date and place of death of Samuel Sr. is unsourced but presumably in Montgomery County, Tennessee between 29 Nov 1830 and 18 Oct 1831 (see research note regarding date of death).

Research Notes

1. Spelling of the family name: Samuel Sr. was presumably illiterate as he signed his will^[2] with an "x".  The family name is used several times in the will and whomever wrote the will for Samuel used two different spellings for the family name: "B-u-m-p-a-long-s-s" and "B-u-m-p-a-s".  Turner^[1] used the spelling "Bumpus".  The original creator of this profile used the spelling "Bumpass" and that has not been changed.
2. Date of birth: Samuel Sr. was born prior to 1765 - the 1786 North Carolina state census^[4] shows that he was older than 21 y. o. in 1786.  Samuel was born after 1760 - the 1830 census^[5] shows he was 60-69 y. o. (b. 1761-1790).  An estimated birth year of 1763 has been used.  This is somewhat confirmed by the fact that he paid a poll tax in 1784^[6] and it is assumed that he would not have been taxed had he not been 21 y. o. at the time.  It is unknown where Samuel was born.
3. Date of death: Samuel Sr. died in late 1830 or in 1831, after the date that the will was signed (31 Mar 1830)^[2] and presumably after the 1830 census was completed on 29 Nov 1830^[5] but before Samuel's son Robert signed the executor bond on 18 October 1831^[7].  An estimated year of death of 1831 has been used.
4. The 1790 census: source^[8] does not have an entry for Samuel Sr.'s father.  Robert Bumpas is thought to have moved his family from Halifax County, North Carolina to Cumberland County, North Carolina in late 1780s to early 1790s but the two oldest sons, having established their own households in Halifax County stayed behind.  The Samuel Bumpus family appears in the 1800 census source^[9] in Halifax County and must have relocated to Tennessee after 1800 (in which case some of the birth places of the children are recorded incorrectly).  There is an element of speculation in some of these assumptions.
5. Samuel married a woman named "Jemimah" at an unknown date but probably a year or two prior to the birth of their first son Robin Bumpass (aft.1781-1871) in about 1784.  The last name at birth of the wife of Samuel Sr. is unknown.  No sources have been found.
6. The birth date of the wife of Samuel Sr. is unknown, possibly 1771 or 1772 but certainly between 1756 and 1774^[9]. She must have married Samuel Sr. very young as her first children started appearing in the mid 1780s.  The old census records make it very difficult to pinpoint the dates of birth of either Jemimah or her children.  Other than census records, no other sources of birth dates have been found.
7. The assertion in the Turner Publishing book^[1] that Samuel Sr. arrived in Montgomery County prior to 1805 is confirmed by minute book 1 of the Montgomery County Court^[10] and a land purchase transaction dated 15 Aug 1805^[11].

Sources

^{[1] [6] [4] [8] [9] [11] [12] [10] [3] [5] [2] [7]}

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} "Montgomery County Tennessee Family History Book 2000", Turner Publishing Company, Apr 3, 2000, page 149. This book contains an entry for the "Andrew Jackson Bumpus Sr." family. The book is still under copyright protection. It references some original sources but it has not been possible to access all of them so it is difficult to give an estimate of the reliability of the facts presented. The salient assertions for this profile are :

   Andrew Jackson Bumpus Sr. was born in Montgomery County in 1834

   his parents were Samuel Bumpus Jr. and Elizabeth Albright Smith Bumpus.

   Samuel Jr. was the son of Samuel Bumpus Sr.

   Samuel Sr. came to Montgomery County from North Carolina and was listed as being on a jury (in Montgomery County) in 1805.

2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15} Tennessee Probate Court Books As recorded in the probate court books of Montgomery County, Tennessee, Wills, 1829-1834, Vol. F, page 199b. The image of the handwritten will is number 185 in the series of 346.)
   Transscription of the Will of Samuel Bumpass Sr. (commas added for readability)
   Quote
   In the name of God amen. I Samuel Bumpas being of sound mind and memory, calling to mind the uncertainty of life, having thought Proper to make this my last will and testament in form and manner following to witt: It is my will and pleasure that my beloved wife Jemimah Bumpass have the use of all my property both real and personal of every kind and description for and during the time of her natural life and after her death I give and Bequeath to my children Robin, John, Tompkins, Samuel, William, Patsey, Nancy, Anne, Polly, Jemimah, Sally and Besty Bumpas all my Estate both real and personal to be divided equally amongst them, share and share like, the advances made of a horse & saddle to each of my four sons Robin, John, Tompkins and Samuel and the property heretofore given to my three daughters Patsey, Nancy and Anne of a bed and furniture and cow and calf to each of them to be taken into consideration at the division of the estate to them, their heirs and assigne forever. It is my will and pleasure that my son William have a good horse and saddle in order that he may be made equal in propertyto my other sons. I hereby ordain, constitute and appoint my wife Jemimah Bumpas executrise and my son Robin Bumpass executor of this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all other wills and testaments by me heretofore made. In testimony whence of I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 31st day of March, AD 1830. Signed, sealed, published and declared to be the last will & testament of the said Samuel Bumpass in the presense of us subscribing (1 word not clear).
   (signed) A. M. Rogins(s) (signed) Samuel Bumpass
   (signed) Arthur Harris
   A codicil or suplement to my last will and testament: I have thought proper to make as follows, viz: It is my will and pleasure that all my daughters as long as they remain single or unmarried have their home or residence at my mansion house with their(?) mother(?) and after(?) her(?) death the are still to have their(?) home their as long as they live provided they continue single or unmarried. In testimony whereof of I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 31st March, AD 1830. Signed, sealed, published and declared to be the last will & testament of the said Samuel Bumpass in the presense of us subscribing entirely thereto.
   (signed) Samuel Bumpass
   (signed) A. M. Rogers(?) (signed) Arthur Harris
   (3 words unclear) 1831
   Unquote.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} United States Census, 1820 database with images, FamilySearch (accessed 10 September 2019), Samuel Bumpass, Montgomery, Tennessee, United States; citing p. 243, NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 122; FHL microfilm 193,684. This was enumerated on 8 Dec 1820 in Montgomery County, Tennessee. Line 13 on image 33 shows a "Samuel Bumpass" (age 18-26), which may be Samuel Bumpass Jr., (son of Samuel Sr.). Line 14 on image 33 shows a "Samuel Bumpass" which may be Samuel Bumpass Sr. (age >45). Line 15 on image 33 shows a "John Bumpass" (age 26-45) which may be John Bumpass (son of Samuel Sr.).
   Line 14, which may be Samuel Bumpus Sr., shows :

   1 male child 0-10 y.o. (b. 1811-1820) - ?

   1 male age >44 y.o. (b. before 1795) - presumably Samuel Sr. (b ~1763)

   2 female children age 10-14 (b. 1804-1810) - ?

   3 females 16-25 y.o. (b. 1794-1804 - ?

   1 female age >44 born before 1774 - presumably wife Jemimah (b. ~1771).

   Also to be noted is that line 3 of image 32 of the same microfilm roll shows a "Robert Bumpass" (age 26-45) which may be Robert Bumpass (son of Samuel Sr.).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} [1] Book : "State census of North Carolina, 1784-1787" from records in the North Carolina Department of Archives and History, transcribed and indexed. Author: Register, Alvaretta K. (Alvaretta Kenan), 1907-1985 (Main Author). Microfilm of original published: Norfolk, Va. : [s. n., 1971]. 240 p. are available at the Family History Library, Film 897274, DGS 7989231 [2]. (Note that there are at least two books on this roll and the census book starts at image 324.) The image for Robert Bumpass is # 392 of the set of 641 images, Page 71. This was enumerated in 1786 and shows that "Robert Bumpess" was the head of a household in District 16, Halifax County, North Carolina. Members of the household :

   1 white males 21-60 y.o. - presumably Robert

   2 white males younger or older than the previous range

   4 white females

   no slaves

   In the same district and page is the household of "Samuel Bumpuss" with :

   1 white male 21-60 - presumably Samuel

   1 white male younger or older than the previous range - presumably Robin

   1 white female - presumably Jemimah

   no slaves

5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} United States Census, 1830 database with images, FamilySearch (7 September 2017), Saml Bumpass, Montgomery, Tennessee, United States; citing 8, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 179; FHL microfilm 24,537. This is image 9 of the filmstrip and was enumerated in Montgomery County, Tennessee. The enumeration was completed on 29 Nov 1830. It has been assumed that this is the entry for Samuel Bumpass Sr. It shows that the household had :

   1 male 60 to 69 y.o. (b. 1761-1790) - presumably Samuel Sr. (~1763)

   1 male child 0-4 y.o. (b. 1826-1830) - unknown (may not be a son)

   1 male 15-19 y.o. (b. 1816-1820) - unknown, possibly William (b. ~1810)

   3 females 20-29 y.o. (b. 1801-1810) - unknown

   1 female 50-59 y.o. (b. 1771-1780) - presumably wife Jemimah (b. ~1771).

6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Halifax County Taxables-1784 found in District 16 on TNGENWEB. These show that both "Robert Bumpass" and his son "Saml. Bumpass" paid a poll tax in Halifax County, North Carolina in 1784 but neither man had any owned acreage reported.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Tennessee Probate Court Books, 1795-1927, Montgomery County As recorded in Wills, 1829-1834, Vol. F, bottom of page 255, image 163 of 346; county courthouses, Tennessee. This shows that on 18 Oct 1831, Robert Bumpass made bond for his duties as executor of the estate of Samuel Bumpass (Sr.) deceased. Security for the bond was given by John Bumpass and John Cleyatt(?). The bond was acknowledged in open court of Montgomery County during the October term.
   Note that the aforementioned Robert and John Bumpass were sons of Samuel Bumpass Sr.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} United States Census, 1790 database with images, FamilySearch (accessed 22 July 2018), Samuel Bumpass, Edgecombe, Halifax, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 481, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 7; FHL microfilm 568,147. This shows that a "Samuel Bumpass", in 1790 was enumerated in Edgecombe, Halifax, North Carolina, United States. It is assumed that this is for our Samuel Sr. The attached image shows that the household had "

   1 male child under 16

   2 males over 16 (presumably Samuel Bumpass Sr. and ?

   2 females.

9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} United States Census, 1800 database with images, FamilySearch (accessed 15 July 2021), Saml Bumpus, Hallifax, Halifax, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 288, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 30; FHL microfilm 337,906. This shows on images 5 & 6 "Bumpus, Saml" :

   4 males age <10

   1 male age 10-15

   1 male age 26-44 - probably Samuel

   3 females under 10

   1 female 26-44 - probably Jemimah

   4 other free persons

   no slaves

10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} The "Montgomery County (Tennessee) Genealogical Journal" has published a transcript of the minute book 1 of the Montgomery County Court over several of their issues. In Volume I No. 1 published September 1971 they cite on Page 12 (top of page) an entry from the minutes listing a grand jury called on 2 Dec 1805. Listed among others: "Samuel Bumpass".
    In Volume II No. 3 published March 1973 they cite on Page 61 (mid page) an entry from the minutes listing lists Jurors for the September Term 1806. Listed among others "Samuel Bumpess".
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} FamilySearch History Library Montgomery County, Tennessee - Deeds Book A-B 1789-1805 page 751, film # 320857, image # 666. This shows that "Samuel Bumpes" purchased for $200 from Alexander and Ellender Faith a rectangular shaped tract of land of 134 poles by 75 poles (estimated at 62 acres) on Hurricane Creek, South of the Cumberland River.
12. ↑ The will of Samuel Sr.'s father can be viewed in the father's profile.