Henry Cheatham Sr (abt. 1739 - abt. 1790)

Born about 1739 in Chesterfield County, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Elam) Cheatham — married [date unknown] in Chesterfield County, Virginia

Descendants

Descendants of Thomas Cheatham of Chesterfield County, Virginia

By Lucille Cheatham Moseley

Chapter IV

Our line of the family descends next through Henry Cheatham, Sr., one of the two sons of Francis. Although we don not know the exact year of Henry's birth we can assume that he was about twenty-five years of age when his first child was born in 1769,^[1] making his birth date around 1739-1744.

As a young man he married a girl named Elizabeth Elam, daughter of William Elam.^[2] They reared twelve children, namely: Henry, Jr., Pheby, Elizabeth (or Betsey), Abijah, Pleasant, Matthew, Daniel, Richard, Francis, Michal, Anne, and Mary.^[3] Two of these children married into the Lockett family and two others into the Elam family. It is recorded that Henry, Jr. married Mary Lockett and his sister Phebe, married Elam Lockett. Also, Michal (Michel) married William Branch Elam and her sister, Mary, married an Elam also, although his first name is unknown.

During the Revolutionary War Henry served as Captain of a company in the Chesterfield Militia, taking his oath on August 1, 1777.^[4] The county auditor's account of 1779 records that he received 115.6 lbs. from the county to pay his troops' wages. He further supported the cause of America's independence by selling a horse,^[5] 575 lbs. of beef, and 60 bu. of wheat to the Continental Army in 1781,^[6] perhaps his contribution to the Training Depot and General Rendez-vous for recruits from all over Virginia stationed at Chesterfield Courthouse under the command of General von Steuben.

By this fourth generation of our family there were now many descendants from our original immigrant, Thomas. In the first census of the United States taken after we became a new nation, there were listed thirty-five heads of families bearing the Cheatham name in Virginia. Most of these families resided in Chesterfield County, but some had migrated to Amelia, Albemarle, Charlotte, Halifax and Mecklenburg Counties. Henry's large family is recorded in Chesterfield in 1783 when he listed ten whites and twelve slaves in his household.^[7]

He died in the spring of 1790 sometime before the seventeenth of May when a court case in which he was to have been executor of the estate of his father, Francis, notes that he himself was deceased when Francis' will was probated on that date.^[8] His widow and son, Henry, Jr. were granted administration of his estate on 9 September 1790.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ Cheatham Family Bible
2. ↑ Chesterfield Will Book 3, p. 493.
3. ↑ Chesterfield Order Book 12, p. 460.
4. ↑ Gwathmey, John H.; Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution; The Dietz Press, 1938; p. 146
5. ↑ Commissioner's Book II, p. 23.
6. ↑ Court Booklet, p. 15.
7. ↑ Bureau of Census, Heads of Families, Virginia, 1782-1785; Government Printing Office, 1908; p. 51.
8. ↑ Chesterfield Order Book 8, 1787-1791, p. 430.
9. ↑ Chesterfield Order Book 8, 1787-1791, p. 483.