Joshua Ewing (1733 - 1810)

Born 1733 in Chester, Province of Pennsylvania, British America

Ancestors

Husband of Eleanor (Unknown) Ewing — married about 1759 in Bath, Virginia

Descendants

Died 4 Dec 1810 at about age 77 in Bath, Virginia, United States

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Biography

Joshua was born in 1733. He was the son of John Ewing and Sarah Jenkins.

He married Eleanor Ewing. She may be the daugther of Henry Ewing, but this is uncertain..

Joshua settled in the Greenbrier River Valley the late 1700s. This remote country of high altitude and short growing season which may have contributed to the Ewing family departure in the early 1800s; some of the Ewings went to Vinton Co., Ohio, others to Kentucky and Tennessee. Pocahontas Co., WV still remains a remote and sparsely populated area. [Information from Edward A. Ewing, 1995.]

Land Records

In 1774, Joshua is recorded in Botetourt County, Virginia with 270 acres on the North side of the Greenbrier River^[1]

In 1780, in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, the early survey records record Joshua Ewing^[2]

Tithing in March and April of 1775, records Joshua Ewing, William and John^[3]

From 1782-1799, Property Taxes were recorded as Joshua Ewing: 1 tithes, 9 horses, 17 cows^[4]

In 1783, Joshua has 250 acres at Locust Creek. By 1792, he is listed in Greenbriar and in 1797 at Bath.^[5]

In 1784, 100 acres were recorded with said Ewing at a place called Locust Bottom^[6]

In 1810, he is living in Bath, Virginia^[7]

Death

A power of attorney issued by Joshua Ewing on March 9, 1810 to his son Moses to receive from Elijah Ewing and others all money and property of the estate of "my son Joshua". Wit: Robert Rhea, David Hannah, and Anthony Collison^[8]

Joshua willed one acre of land to be used for a cemetery.

"... I Joshua Ewing fellow citizen in the little levels of Bath County in the state of Virginia...I give an bequeath to my wife Elonor Ewing one hundred and one acres of land to be legally runn off of the upper end of ____ ____ I now live on joining John Colans (one acre of this reserved for the public for a burying you) and after the death of me and my wife this hundred acres ....^[9]

He passed away 4 Dec 1810 aged 77 years and is buried in the family cemetery, also known as the Ewing Cemetery, Locust Creek, West Virginia.

Prior to 1988 the cemetery, donated by Joshua, was over run by livestock. People from the Bath county Historical Society assisted in getting it fenced. It is East of the Denmar correctional facility and one quarter mile from the Greenbrier River. An abandoned church is across the road from the cemetery. The cemetery is close to the mouth of Locust Creek on the Wet side of the Greenbrier River. The cemetery is now fenced and cattle and horses no longer run through it. There is a stone deep in the sod with only a foot or less exposed. This stone faces the river in the area where the earliest burials were made. It reads: J.E. died 4 Dec 1810 aged 77 years. ^[10]

His estate was in probate in April 1811 in Bath Co., VA (located in present-day Pocahontas Co., WV on the Greenbrier River).^[11]

The inventory of Joshua Ewing; submitted Sept. 18, 1811 by Thomas Poage, John Waddill, Jonathan McNeill and Aron More; horse 1, cattle 3, hogs 5, sheep 1, iron tools and castings, household furniture, bell, bonds and accounts of Samuel Curry and John Collins^[12]

Will Text

Will dated 14 April 1804

Bath County, Virginia

April Court 1811

[Deciphered from a copy of the will by Debi Ewing French, January, 1983. Verified and corrected by James R. McMichael, February 2006]

In the Name of God amen, I Joshua Ewing fellow Citizen in the little levels of Bath County in the State of Virginia Revoking all others appoint this to be my last will and Testament. Item I give and bequeath to my wife Elonor Ewing all my plantation that I now live on to be at her disposal as long as she lives. I also bequeath her all my moveable property bonds and bills to be at her disposal as long as she lives and to give to who she pleases at her death. Item I give and bequeath to my wife Elonor Ewing one hundred and one acres of land to be legally run off of the upper end of the said tract I now live on joining John Collans (one acre of this reserved for the public for a burying yard) & after the death of me and my wife this hundred acres of land I bequeath to my wife to be at her disposal to give to whom she pleases at her death

Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Rebecak Ewing the remaining part of the aforesaid tract of land to her and her heirs forever after the death of me and my wife. Herein I give and bequeath to my daughter Elonor Hawks fifty acres of land being a third part of the tract known by the name of the Collins place to be run off of the southwest end by a straight line to her and her heirs forever. Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Mary Curry of the last mentioned tract joining to that of my daughter Elonor Hawks. Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Hannah Collins thirty five pounds worth of property to be paid by my Executors to her and her heirs. Item I give and bequeath to my son Aaron Ewing fifteen pounds worth of property to him and his heirs to be paid by my executors. Item I give and bequeath to my son John Ewing five shillings to be paid by my executors. Item I give and bequeath to my son Elijah Ewing five shillings to be paid by my executors. Item I give and bequeath to my son Joshua Ewing five shillings to be paid by my executors. Item I give and bequeath to my son Moses Ewing five shillings to be paid by my executors. Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah Stevenson five shillings to be paid by my executor. Item I give and bequeath to my daughter Agness Stevenson five shillings to be paid by my executors. Item I allow my executors to pay the aforesaid legacies out of a debt that Samuel Curry owes to me for fifty acres of land that he purchased of me for which land I allow my executors to make ____ a right. Item I allow my executors to make a right to Robert Rhea for thirteen acres of land that he purchases of me.

Lastly, I appoint my wife Elonor Ewing and James Hawk & Robert Rhea to be my executors of this my last will and Testament. Witness my hand and seal this fourteenth day of April one thousand eight hundred and four

Joshua Ewing signed with his mark that looks like a big 8

Robert Rhea

Isaac Hawk

Aaron ____

Bath County April Court 1811: This last will and testament of Joshua Ewing decd was presented in court and proved by the oaths of Robert Rhea, Isaac Hawk and Aaron ____ and ordered to be recorded.

Sources

1. ↑ Botetourt County, VA. Book of Surveys, Vol 1, Pg 11. 1774 Survey of 270 acres for Joshua Ewing on the North side of the Greenbrier River
2. ↑ Shuck, Larry. Greenbrier County, West Virginia Records 1780, Vol 1 – Early Survey Records/Early Court Records p.2 Joshua Ewing 250 ac Little Levels adj Wm Idings, by settlement assignee James Ewing
3. ↑ Stinson, Helen. Tithables in Greenbrier Co 1775 in Botetourt Co Va Records March & April 1775, Little Levels: Joshua Ewing, William Ewing, John Ewing
4. ↑ Shuck, Larry. Greenbrier County, West Virginia Records, Vol II – Property Tax Lists 1782/3, 1786/7, 1792, 1796, 1799 1782/3 Greenbrier Co Va Tax List 1783 Joshua Ewing: 1 tithes, 9 horses, 17 cows
5. ↑ Sims, Edgar. Index to Land Grants in West Virginia, Greenbrier Co, WV (Ewing, Joshua 250 ac Little Levels 1783 Greenbrier, Ewing, Joshua 250 ac Locust Creek 1792 Greenbrier, Ewing, Joshua 150 ac Little Levels 1797 Bath)
6. ↑ Stinson, Helen. Land Entry Book 1780-1786 – Greenbrier Co, WV, p.93 1784 Joshua Ewing, assignee of James Clerk, enters 100 acres adj land of the said Ewing at a place called Locust Bottom
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH23-T35 : accessed 4 February 2021), Joshua Ewing, Bath, Virginia, United States; citing p. 428, NARA microfilm publication M252 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 66; FHL microfilm 181,426.
8. ↑ Abstracts of the Wills and Inventories of Bath County, Virginia, 1791-1842: Books 1-4, p. 452
9. ↑ Bath County Records ID: File: Joshua Ewing (c1733-1810), April Court 1811.
10. ↑ 22 Jan 1999 from Jean McClure
11. ↑ Abstracts of the Wills and Inventories of Bath County, Virginia, 1791-1842: Book 1, p. 471
12. ↑ Abstracts of the Wills and Inventories of Bath County, Virginia, 1791-1842: Books 1-4, p. 486

See also:

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 18 June 2018, 03:33), entry for Joshua Ewing Sr.(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:2Z6W-PYH); contributed by various users.
• Our Ewing Heritage, with Related Families by Betty J. Durbin Carson and Doris M. Durbin Wooley (1995) Vol.1 p. 247, 350
• Nancy Hanks Ewing, James Ewing - Pioneer Volume III (Unpublished, Compiled by Barbara Ewing Powell, 1995), page 1181.
• From Jerry D. Warren home page.