He was a planter and livestock merchant in Chatham County, North Carolina, USA. The journalist Clarence Poe describes him as having been of medium height and weight, probably with brown hair.
His Y-chromosome haplotype appears to have been R1a1a (R-M512). This does not match any other groups of Poes (e.g.: those of German background in Pennsylvania or members of the family of Edgar A. Poe). There are close matches with members of the Suttles/Settles and Thomason/Thomasson families.[1]
1800 U.S. Census - Hillsborough, Chatham Co., NC; Series# M32; Roll# 31; p179; Image# 191; FHL# 337907 - transcription viewed on Ancestry.com.
Poe, Jesse - NC Land Grant# 1606; issued 04 Nov 1801 for 107 acres "on waters of Depp River", neighboring land which belonged to his father-in-law Gilbert Patterson - digital image viewed on www.nclandgrants.com.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63387214/jesse-poe: accessed March 2, 2024), memorial page for Jesse Poe Sr. (1760–15 Feb 1859), Find a Grave Memorial ID 63387214, citing Poe Family Cemetery, Gulf, Chatham County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by Gravefinder2 (contributor 49206655).
Acknowledgments
"The Poe Progeny Newsletter," April 1995.
JacobsCoen5.GED - imported on 02 Nov 2001.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Jesse 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 Jesse:
Notice to all descendants of Jesse Poe: I've been working on a book about this family, which I hope to have in print in about three years. (It's a massive undertaking, and I've already identified over 5600 relatives through blood or marriage.) Due to privacy concerns, data will only be included for deceased individuals. I'm not sure yet whether it'll be possible to include photographs, but I'm gathering pictures "just in case". If you have digital photos of any descendant of Jesse Poe which you'd be willing to donate, then please contact me to make arrangements. Thank you!
Poe-376 and Poe-1151 appear to represent the same person because: I think these two are the same person. His mother was often mistaken for Lucy Hubbard because she was married to Thomas Dowdy of Chatham county. However there are two very close in age Thomas Dowdy's. Jesse's mother was married to Thomas Dowdy jr. of Deep River, Chatham county. Her name is listed as Rebecca Poe, but also as Armstead. She was married to Jesse's father first and then remarried Dowdy jr. after Poe's
Birth: 1740
Death: 1818
Gulf
Chatham County
North Carolina, USA
REBECCA POE DOWDY
Some call her Lucy Hubbard Poe Dowdy.
Widow of (1) William Poe and (2) Thomas Dowdy of Deep River.
Dates are estimates only. She could have been born as early as 1720 or as late as 1745, more likely the latter.
In the 1960s, Dowdy family researchers wrote that "Mrs. Dowdy," widow of William Poe (d. 1760) and Thomas Dowdy of Deep River, was thought to be buried near the grave of her son Jesse Poe (c1760-1859) and very probably her second husband Thomas Dowdy (d. 1815) in what was then called the "Poe Cemetery." The Poe cemetery was also described as being located on the former Dowdy plantation, also called the Jesse Poe Cemetery. Some call it the John Poe Cemetery but may be confusing it with another site.
Some family researchers were calling her (or confusing her with) "Lucy Hubbard Poe Dowdy." See Lucy Hubbard Dowdy.
Dowdy family historians today say that there were two Thomas Dowdys in Chatham County, N.C., simultaneously, one Thomas Dowdy of Rocky River (d.1802) who married Lucy Hubbard from Sussex County, Virginia, and the other, Thomas Dowdy of Deep River (d.1815) who married first Elizabeth Parsons and second Mrs. Rebecca Poe, mother of Jesse Poe.
Some family trees show Rebecca Poe as a daughter of Simon Poe, so she may have married first to her cousin.
Some other family trees show the same Thomas Dowdy with three wives, Elizabeth Parsons, Lucy Hubbard, and Rebecca Poe.
Most family trees call him as Thomas Dowdy "Jr."
The name Lucy is handed down in both Thomas Dowdy families.
There were no readable markers for Jesse Poe, Mrs. Thomas Dowdy, nor Thomas Dowdy to be found there then as today.
The Tysors of Old Chatham (1972) by William Harold Broughton, p.4: Chatham County records show that Thomas Dowdy had married the widowed mother of Jesse Poe, Sr., probably as his 2nd wife. She is believed to have been the 2nd wife of William Poe.
Bob Farmers Genealogy (2014) shows her as Lucy Hubbard Poe and states: Lucy Poe Dowdy is believed to have been the first(sic?) wife of William Poe of Culpepper County, Virginia. This may explain the connection the Poes have to the old Dowdy place in Chatham Co, NC which contains what is now called the John Poe cemetery where one of the Thomas Dowdys is buried.
One Thomas Dowdy was in Sussex Co, VA by 1757 (court case) and married Lucy by 1760:
(Deed Book A-E, p. 112, 20 June 1760).
19 November 1761 (Sussex Co. Deed Book B, at p. 236): Etheldred Jelke and wife Phyllis (Hubbard), Matthew Hubbard and wife (Mary Sammons), and Thomas Dowdy and wife Lucy (Hubbard) Dowdy, conveyed to Nathan Northington of Sussex County, 215 acres on the north side of the Great Swamp, for 73 pounds, 19 shillings and 6 pence.
Thomas Dowdy and wife Lucy sold the land where they lived in Sussex County in 1771 and moved to Chatham County, N.C., sometime between then and 1778 when they are on record there. One "Lucy Dowday" died in Sussex Co., VA., in 1790 when a coffin for her was billed to the estate of Patrick Lashley. Perhaps this was a niece of Thomas Dowdy, unless his wife had returned to Virginia for some reason.
Birth: 1740 Death: 1818 Gulf Chatham County North Carolina, USA
REBECCA POE DOWDY Some call her Lucy Hubbard Poe Dowdy. Widow of (1) William Poe and (2) Thomas Dowdy of Deep River. Dates are estimates only. She could have been born as early as 1720 or as late as 1745, more likely the latter.
In the 1960s, Dowdy family researchers wrote that "Mrs. Dowdy," widow of William Poe (d. 1760) and Thomas Dowdy of Deep River, was thought to be buried near the grave of her son Jesse Poe (c1760-1859) and very probably her second husband Thomas Dowdy (d. 1815) in what was then called the "Poe Cemetery." The Poe cemetery was also described as being located on the former Dowdy plantation, also called the Jesse Poe Cemetery. Some call it the John Poe Cemetery but may be confusing it with another site.
Some family researchers were calling her (or confusing her with) "Lucy Hubbard Poe Dowdy." See Lucy Hubbard Dowdy. Dowdy family historians today say that there were two Thomas Dowdys in Chatham County, N.C., simultaneously, one Thomas Dowdy of Rocky River (d.1802) who married Lucy Hubbard from Sussex County, Virginia, and the other, Thomas Dowdy of Deep River (d.1815) who married first Elizabeth Parsons and second Mrs. Rebecca Poe, mother of Jesse Poe. Some family trees show Rebecca Poe as a daughter of Simon Poe, so she may have married first to her cousin. Some other family trees show the same Thomas Dowdy with three wives, Elizabeth Parsons, Lucy Hubbard, and Rebecca Poe. Most family trees call him as Thomas Dowdy "Jr." The name Lucy is handed down in both Thomas Dowdy families. There were no readable markers for Jesse Poe, Mrs. Thomas Dowdy, nor Thomas Dowdy to be found there then as today.
The Tysors of Old Chatham (1972) by William Harold Broughton, p.4: Chatham County records show that Thomas Dowdy had married the widowed mother of Jesse Poe, Sr., probably as his 2nd wife. She is believed to have been the 2nd wife of William Poe. Bob Farmers Genealogy (2014) shows her as Lucy Hubbard Poe and states: Lucy Poe Dowdy is believed to have been the first(sic?) wife of William Poe of Culpepper County, Virginia. This may explain the connection the Poes have to the old Dowdy place in Chatham Co, NC which contains what is now called the John Poe cemetery where one of the Thomas Dowdys is buried.
One Thomas Dowdy was in Sussex Co, VA by 1757 (court case) and married Lucy by 1760: (Deed Book A-E, p. 112, 20 June 1760). 19 November 1761 (Sussex Co. Deed Book B, at p. 236): Etheldred Jelke and wife Phyllis (Hubbard), Matthew Hubbard and wife (Mary Sammons), and Thomas Dowdy and wife Lucy (Hubbard) Dowdy, conveyed to Nathan Northington of Sussex County, 215 acres on the north side of the Great Swamp, for 73 pounds, 19 shillings and 6 pence.
Thomas Dowdy and wife Lucy sold the land where they lived in Sussex County in 1771 and moved to Chatham County, N.C., sometime between then and 1778 when they are on record there. One "Lucy Dowday" died in Sussex Co., VA., in 1790 when a coffin for her was billed to the estate of Patrick Lashley. Perhaps this was a niece of Thomas Dowdy, unless his wife had returned to Virginia for some reason.