Dear Cousin Catherine in Denver.
Thanks for getting back to me on Samuel Birchfield. I still have
lots of doubts about the connection of Samuel to Thomas, et al, as I
see nothing that proves that connection.
I especially have doubts about Samuel's connection to Frances Riggs.
Riggs died two years after he arrived in Maryland at the age of 28
in 1664. I also doubt that Riggs was a banker as a banking system
did not exist in the colonies at the time. Court records relating to
Riggs' estate identify him as a "merchant". His estate was sued
several times for large sums because he did not deliver goods,
mostly tobacco, he had sold and had collected the money before his
death.
I have not turned up any record of an indenture for Samuel. If
Samuel was indentured to Riggs and Riggs' estate sold the indenture
to John Watkine there should be several different records readily
visible. The Maryland Hall of Records is a big place. We need
references to specific documents to be able to find them especially
since they do not seem to be on the usual indexes. By the way, an
indenture contract is more like a loan contract. It was paid off,
usually by labor, over a period of years. It could also be paid off
with cash. It was not as if the person was incarcerated and was
released when the time was served. The indentured person was usually
called a "bond servant".
The 50 acre land grant to Samuel appears to be a head right grant.
The problem is under normal circumstances it is indicating that
Samuel was living alone at the time; that is, without a wife or
children. He would been entitled to 50 acres for each if he was
entitled a head right grant for himself. BUT . . . such a grant to
Samuel conflicts a bit with the indenture. If Riggs or Wathine held
the head rights for paying for Samuel to come to Maryland, and
Samuel was indentured to pay the money back, then they, Riggs or
Watkine, would get the fifty acres, not Samuel. It would also be
nice to know where that 50 acres was located. The grant should give
a specific location.
Another really big problem is that far too many years pass between
the apparent end of the reported indenture (1662+ 5= 1667) and the
birth of Thomas (1683). Sixteen years is a very long wait between
taking up homestead land and starting a family. Neither has any
official record of Samuel's two reported marriages been identified.
Neither has the mother of the four apparent four sons been
identified. (Big time gaps, lots of time for daughters between the
sons.)
Happy hunting.
Larry StallcupDear Cat,
I will try to make you a copy of my Birchfield booklet. Will need a
mailing address. It has a lot of information about other NC and TN
family members you probably are not interested in.
My Birchfield connection is by my grandmother, Mary Roxanna
Birchfield Stallcup. She married my grandfather, Charlie Stallcup,
in 1900. Some generations farther back I have another grandmother,
Mary Birchfield Hyatt, wife of Hezekiah Hyatt, married in Maryland,
1769. I have never found her parents but I suspect they are Robert
and Ann Clark Birchfield. Hezekiah and Mary Birchfield Hyatt's
daughter, Mary Hyatt, married William Stallcup, 1808 Burke Co. NC,
also in my direct line.
I suggest a better course would be to simply to delete the unproved
connections from the web site. Add them back when proof is found. It
has been my experience every time someone tries to add comments or
different information it just seems to magnify the confusion. Most
people visiting the site do not really understand what they are
looking at and just take everything they see to be the absolute
truth no matter how many flags of caution you put up.
Could not afford to travel all over the country. Made one trip a
year to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Looked at
miles and miles of microfilm. Everything in every courthouse is on
microfilm. Lot easier that dealing with county clerks.
Happy hunting.
Larry
Dear Cat,
I have gone back and looked at some of my notes, re: 'Sally'. I
never identified any of the daughters of Robert, Sr. and Ann Clark
or Elizabeth Justice Birchfield. My guess is that there is time for
at least three, possibly four, daughters between Nathan and Meshack.
One of these could possibly be the Mary that married Hezekiah Hyatt.
There is a possibility that 'Sally' may be a late child born after
John. I don't think there is time for her to fit in between Meshack
and John.
Do you have a firm date of birth for Sally? Does it fit in between
the apparent birthdates of the sons? If she was born after the
family left for North Carolina finding any indication of her birth
may be difficult. Since nearly all of the pre Civil War records of
Burke County were destroyed it may never be possible to find record
of the Trosper marriage if it took place in North Carolina. The
surviving marriage bonds of Burke County only has one 1824
Burchfield marriage, and not one for Nicholas Trosper or for Sally
Burchfield.
Did a Google search on the name of Nicholas Trosper. One site, Clark
Family, said his wife was Sallye Gunner. Identified five children:
Elijah, James, Nicholas Livingston, John and William B. Could not
get anymore information without paying money to Ancestry, Inc. Do
you know about this family?
Found another, Hail Family, site that said:
Nicholas Strausbaugh Trosper was born 1755 in Hagerstown, Fredrick,
Maryland. He died 1822 in Knox, Kentucky. Nicholas married Sallye
Burchfield.
Sallye Burchfield was born 1750. She died 1817. Sallye married
Nicholas Strausbaugh Trosper.
Are these two the same Nicholas Trosper? If the Sallye Burchfield
information is correct she would have been born in Maryland and she
should appear in the church records along with her brothers. This
site also had this information:
Robert Burchfield was born Feb 27 1708/1709 in St. George's Parish,
Frederick, Maryland. He died about Mar 17 1783 in Burke, North
Carolina. Robert married Elizabeth Justice.
Elizabeth Justice was born about 1729 in Frederick, Maryland. She
died 1801 in Burke, North Carolina. Elizabeth married Robert
Burchfield.
Said they had the following children:
Sallye Burchfield was born 1750 and died 1817.
John Burchfield was born Jun 6 1765 and died Dec 28 1849.
Notice that there is 15 years between Sallye and John. Also it would
appear that if Sallye's identity and birthdate are correct she
likely would be the daughter of Ann Clark rather than Elizabeth
Justice.
Perhaps some heavy duty reading of Trosper land records may cast
some light on this problem. That and stray court records are about
all that is left to search.
Happy hunting.
Larry
Dear Cat,
Yes, I am familiar with the Kalmar Nyckel. Peter Craig and I
participated in some of the early discussions way back when the
building project was first proposed and we were among the invited
guest when she was launched. Both of us have ancestors that sailed
on the original ship.
There is another book project nearing completion that may be quite
inviting to you. This is the translation and assembly of all of the
Gloria Dei Church records. This is the church that the Johan
Gustafasson family likely attended as his plantation was very
nearby. This church was the second of the Swedish churches and is
still there in Philadelphia and still in regular use. As I recall
either Peter or Rev. Kim-Eric Williams mentioned there will be seven
volumes of records published by the Swedish Colonial Society. It
will include not only the church records but also several of the
ministers diaries and a lot of back and forth correspondence.
Kim-Eric on this side and my cousin Hans Ling in Sweden have been
doing a lot of the research work and translations. Peter has been
doing the assembly and editing work.
The English and Lord Da la War were very late comers to the South
River but as they say the victors write the history books and gets
to rename everything, including towns and rivers. They did a real
bang-up job of it.
Happy hunting,
Larry
Cat,
Looked again at the ships. There were more than just the KALMAR
NYCKEL involved.
Måns Andersson arrived 1640 on the ship KALMAR NYCKEL.
Brita Månsdotter likely arrived 1640 on the ship KALMAR NYCKEL.
Johan Gustafasson arrived 1643 on the ship SWAN.
Johan Andersson Stålkofta (Stalcop) arrived 1641 on the ship
CHARITAS.
Christina Carlsdotter arrived with her parents 1656 on the ship
MERCURIUS.
As I recall there were 14 expeditions to New Sweden involving about
21(?) ships. All but two ships arrived. One ship was wrecked in the
Caribbean and most of it's passengers died there. The other ship was
captured by the Dutch when it sailed into the wrong river. Some of
it's passengers made their way overland to New Sweden but others
stayed in New Amsterdam.
Are you ready for this? Below is my impression of how Johan
Andersson Stålkofta (Stalcop) may have appeared at some events. His
shirt and wide lace collar would have been replaced by something
less fancy at most other times. The armour is likely the source of
his nickname. Since he was a soldier he would have been carrying a
large number of weapons and accessories.
Johan Gustafasson and Måns Andersson probably would have dressed
similarly but without the armour. Johan Gustafasson also served as a
soldier.
Hi Dennis,
Afraid I cannot be of much help to you. I could not and did not
chase down every family line. This is a very large family and one
that is quite difficult to sort out.
Meshack disappears from the Burke County, NC records in late 1799.
In his pension application he stated that he moved to South Carolina
and lived in that state for about a dozed years before moving on.
His half-brother John apparently moved to SC with him. I never
identified all the children of either Meshack, Thomas or John. I
think both Meshack and John moved to northeastern TN for a while
before moving on west. Both seem to have left children in the
general area of eastern TN and eastern KY. John may have left his
entire first family in South Carolina. John married at age 47 and
started a family. That sure seems to make it appear as if he was
married earlier. Common practice for that era when a wife died
leaving a large number of children was for the father to leave the
younger children in the care of the older children, remarry, move
away and start fresh.
There are very few "Williams" in this family. There was a William
who married Elizabeth Carver in Stokes County, NC in 1822. I think
it likely he was a descendant of the southeastern VA group of
Burchfield brothers. Stokes County is very far east of where Meshack
was then living.
There was a later William in eastern TN (Blount Co., Cades Cove)
that is too young to be the one you are seeking. There was also a
Willis and a Wilson. All three are descendants of Meshack's brother
Nathan killed by Indians in 1783, Burke County. The name
abbreviation for Willis or Wilson may appear the same as for
William. These are the closest to Bledsoe County I know.
Sorry to say but I think there are likely numerous other
possibilities, especially for someone coming into Bledsoe County by
way of South Carolina. Good luck!
Happy hunting.
Larry Stallcup
1436 Lakeview Drive
Virginia Beach, VA 23455
757-464-4974
Stalcop@aol.com |
