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David Dinsmore. Born in 1750 in Northern Ireland.  All of my information on the Dinsmore line came from my cousin Bill Lindsey, to whom I am very grateful.  David married Margaret unknown. Born in 1747 in Northern Ireland. Margaret died in Wayne Co., Kentucky aft 21 Apr 1806, she was 59.

They had the following children:
 
i Mary Dinsmore
ii John Dinsmore (1774-1858)
iii Mary Jane (1779-1853)

 

Margaret Dinsmore's year and place of birth are implied on the list of passengers who emigrated to S.C. on the ship Earl of Donegal on 22 Dec. 1767 in the S.C. Council Journals; for specifics, see notes for David Dinsmore RIN 167.

Unless she is the Peggy Dunmore who m. James Hail/Hale in 1819 in Wayne Co., KY (see file of son John), the last record I have found for Margaret Dinsmore is her entry on the 1806 tax list in Wayne Co., Kentucky, where she was taxed beside her son John on 21 April for 200 acres of #3 land on Otter Creek, a white male over 21, and 6 horses. Otter Creek runs from south to north towards the Cumberland River in the extreme western portion of Wayne Co., not far from the Clinton Co. line. Note that Otter Creek is just a few miles west of Cooper, Bethesda Methodist cemetery, and Shearer Valley, where the Brooks family appears to have lived; see file of Thomas M. Brooks for details.

Note, however, that the front end-paper map in Harriett Simpson Arnow, SEEDTIME ON THE CUMBERLAND (NY: Macmillan, 1960), which is a reproduction of the 1802 A. Arrowsmith of London, shows Otter Creek running south, and not west, of Beaver.

After 1806, she disappears from Wayne Co. records. In fact, the following year, her son John was taxed for her 100 acres, with a notation in the tax book that this was land that Margaret Dinsmore had entered. On this, see John Dinsmore's file. This suggests to me that Margaret had died in 1806-7, and that John had inherited her land. I am not sure who the male in her household was in 1806; I suspect that she farmed together with her son, so that he would perhpas have been the male in the household. Or, is it possible that Margaret relinquished her land to her son, moving with his family in 1806? If so, is she the Peggy Dunmore who m. James Hail/Hale in Wayne Co., KY, on 26 Feb. 1819?

After her 1767 appearance on the Earl of Donegal ship list, the next record I find for Margaret Dinsmore is her entry on the 1790 census in 96 District in Spartanburg Co., South Carolina. On the census, she is clearly the head of the household, which indicates that her husband had died by that date (on this, see David Dinsmore file). In the household were also a white male of over 16 years--evidently her son John, who was born in 1774--and five females. One of these is evidently her daughter Mary Jane. The other would be Margaret herself. The others would apparently be three more daughters, bringing the total of her children to five, the number given in her husband's Loyalist claim in Nova Scotia..

For proof that John and Mary Jane Dinsmore are children of David and Margaret, see each of their files.

A 19 Nov. 1799 deed of Jane McClurkin to Paul Castleberry, both of Spbg. Co., for land on Jamey's Creek, notes that the land bordered Margaret Dunmore on the east. The land was bordered n. by John King, s. by Teseor Kirk, w. by Charles Bragg. Wit. were James Allen and Samuel Woodruff. Deed pr. 15 Jan. 1801 by Samuel Woodruff, rec. 22 Jan. 1801 (Spbg. DB G, pp. 159-161; Pruitt, p. 199).

The next record I find for Margaret Dinsmore is her deed with John Dinsmore of 82 acres in Spartanburg Co. to Nathaniel Woodruff on 28 Aug. 1800 (Spbg DB L, pp. 95-6, as cited in Pruitt, p. 351; for this source, see D. Dinsmore). The land is part of a tract of 250 acres that David Dinsmore had bought from John Kissler in 1774 (see David Dinsmore file on this). This land sale was evidently taking place in 1800 because Margaret was preparing to move to Wayne Co., Ky., with her son John, since they both begin to appear in Wayne Co. records in 1801.

In the Sept., 1801, court record recorded in Wayne Co. Order Bk. A, 1802-22, p. 19, an entry for Margaret Dinsmore appears, stating, "At the motion of Margaret Dinsmore, satisfactory proof being made to the court, the court is of opinion she is entitled to 100 acres of land." Note that MD's son John seems to have patented 200 acres in July of the same year. This is evidently the land for which Margaret was taxed in 1806, the final record I can find of her. Note that the land must have been patented under the Headright Claims act of 21 Dec. 1795, though technically that act restricted patents to men over 21 with families--see file of Mark Lindsey.


Second Generation

Mary Dinsmore married Nathaniel Woodruff. Born in 1766 in Surry Co., North Carolina. Nathaniel died in Hopkins Co., Kentucky in 1844, he was 78.  It is unclear whether Mary died in South Carolina before Nathaniel came to KY or after.

They had the following children:

i William Woodruff
ii Hiram Woodruff
iii David Woodruff, Born BET. 1789 - 1790 in Spartanburg Co., South Carolina. David died in Hopkins Co., Kentucky? bet 5 Oct 1841, he was 52. David married Elizabeth Jones.
iv Mary K. Woodruff, born on Dec 18 1792 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina
v John Willis Woodruff Born on 4 Aug 1793 in Spartanburg Co., South Carolina. John Willis died in Hopkins Co., Kentucky on 15 Sep 1864, he was 71. John Willis married Frances Davis.

 

I received the information on the Dinsmore line from my cousin William "Bill" Lindsy who has done extensive research on this line and he can be reached at: wdlindsy@swbell.net

The notes below are also from my cousin Bill above.

The information sheet of William Lewis Dinsmore for his biography in Owens (see file of WLD for details) states that his great-grandfather came to the U.S. from Scotland. It is unclear whether this statement refers to David Dinsmore or a Kyle ancestor. However, since the biography focuses on WLD's paternal line, the information may be a lead to David Dinsmore's ancestry. (The handwritten information notes are followed by a typed copy, which implies that it was David and Margaret Dinsmore who came to SC from Scotland).

Note that the Loyalist claim of DD cited below says he came to America in 1765. If so, and if his 1767 ship's record has a correct age for him, he would have been only 15 at the time, and would apparently have returned to Ireland, to return again in 1767.

David and Margaret Dinsmore arrived in Charleston, SC, on 10 Dec. 1767 aboard the ship Earl of Donegal, piloted by Duncan Ferguson. The ship had sailed from Belfast. Their ages are given on the ship's passenger list as recorded in SC Council Journal, 22 Dec. 1767. The S.C. GAZETTE, vol. 33, #1681, 14 Dec. 1767, has a notice of the ship's arrival. In early records, the family name is spelled Dunsmore; since it was probably pronounced with a Scottish accent that made it appear to be Dinsmore, the American spelling conformed to pronunciation in David Dinsmore's lifetime. J. Revill, A COMPILATION OF ORIGINAL LISTS OF PROTESTANT IMMIGRANTS TO SOUTH CAROLINA, 1763-1775 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publ. Co., 1968) gives a transcript of the record for the Earl of Donegal containing David and Margaret Dinsmore's names; but the names are spelled Dunnaman in Revill's transcript.

The SC Council Journal for 22 Dec. 1767 (vol. 8, pp. 312f) states that "the Clerk reported to the Board that in pursuance of His Excellency the Governors directions he had been on board the Ship Earl of Donegal Duncan Fergusson Master and had Sworn the Irish Passengers arrived in her to their being Protestants and having come over on the encouragement and bounty given by the Act of the General Assembly passed the 25th day of July 1761...."

According to Stewart (stewart@@writeme.com), who has a webpage at donegal.homepage.com devoted to the passengers on the Earl of Donegal, a Rev. Wm. Knox, b. abt. 1743, accompanied the passengers, and may have brought an entire congregation to America, as Rev. Wm. Martin is known to have done. Stewart notes that he has Stewart and White ancestors who were aboard the ship, who are said to have come from Broughshane in Co. Antrim.

According to R.J. Dickson, ULSTER EMIGRATION TO COLONIAL AMERICA, 1718-1775 (London: Rouledge and Kegan Paul), p. 55, 1766-7 were the peak years of emigration from Northern Ireland during the decade 1760-70. Emigration was spurred by rising rents for small landholders, and by food shortage, particularly after grain crops failed in the fall of 1765, producing widespread hunger in the winter of 1765-6.

The attraction of South Carolina for these emigrants was, Dickson says, its offer of bounty lands. By 1760, Indian attacks were mounting in South Carolina, particularly on the upcountry frontier. To alleviate this, and to increase the number of white citizens in the colony, the state levied a duty on the importation of Negro slaves and used the proceeds to pay the passage of Protestant immigrants from Europe and to give each immigrant 40 shillings to purchase tools and provisions (p. 56). "Immigrants were to be exempt from taxes for ten years and the head of every family was to be granted one hundred acres of land, together with fifty acres for each member of his family" (ibid.).

Note, too, that around 1768, Lord Donegal, absentee landlord of the land around Ballymoney in Co. Antrim, where many Dinsmores lived, raised rents so high that people began to emigrate in large numbers, including several shiploads to SC bringing a Presbyterian congregation under Rev. Wm. Martin (see Jean Stephenson, SCOTCH-IRISH MIGRATION TO SC, 1772 [Washington, D.C., 1971], p. 2). Stephenson notes that Dickson's ULSTER EMIGRATION shows that the Earl of Donegal canceled leases on his Co. Antrim estates by 1770, resulting in widespread disturbances and evictions because of his attempt to raise large sums through renewing the leases at high rents (p. 5, citing Dickson, pp. 74-5). Note that James Sloan, who took land beside DD in 1773 (see below) was a member of the Martin congregation, who came on the Lord Dunluce with Martin (see Stephenson, p. 56).

On the day in which the SC Council Journals list the passengers aboard the ship Earl of Donegal (see above), they also note that the passengers had petitioned for their bounty land, and that DD had been granted 150 acres in Long Cane or Craven Co. (p. 323). On the same day (22 Dec. 1767), the SC Colonial Plats Book, vol. 14, #510, record a precept for David Dinsmore's survey of 150 acres in Craven Co., south of the Tyger River, bounded on the north by the river and by vacant land on all other sides. The survey map shows that the tract had a stream whose name appears on the map only as "a small branch" running through it from northeast to southwest, and that a spring branch feeding Jamey's Creek originated in the south part of the tract. The land was certified to David Dinsmore on 27 February 1768, with William Wofford issuing the certificate.

It seems evident that David Dinsmore was already living on this land by 1773, since his name appears in a precept on 6 Jan. 1773 to James Sloan, who took up 250 acres on a small branch of the waters of the Tyger River, bounded on the south by John McCrory, on the west of John Raynard, David Dinsmore, and Jacob Earnest, and on the east by John White and William Dunlap (S.C. Colonial Plats, vol. 19, #517).

David Dinsmore also received a land grant from the state of South Carolina on 13 May 1768 (Royal Grant Book, Vol. 17, #257; SC Council Journal, p. 137, 13 May 1768), which is recorded as well in the Memorial Grant Books, Vol. 8, p. 191 on 2 Sept. 1768. This 100-acre grant was also in Craven Co. The 13 May grant describes the land as bounty land, and states that David Dinsmore (spelled Dunsmar here) had received 100 acres in Craven Co. on the south side of Tyger River, bounded on the northeast by the river and on all other sides by vacant land. The memorial record states that the land had been surveyed on 27 Feb. 1768. I am not sure how David Dinsmore came to receive two bounty grants. Could he have brought with him two other persons, perhaps relatives of his wife's, who were members of his household? Would this have entitled him to an extra 100 acres?

At some point, David Dinsmore seems to have sold this tract of land to John Langston, since Langston's deed of the land to James Beard on 27 Jan. 1789 (Spartanburg Co. DB B, pp. 233-4) notes that the land was out of the tract granted to David Dunaman on 13 May 1768. (For Spartanburg Co. Dinsmore deeds, I am citing Albert Bruce Pruitt, ed. and comp., SPARTANBURG COUNTY/DISTRICT, SOUTH CAROLINA, DEED ABSTRACTS, BOOKS A-T, 1785-1827 [1752-1827] [Easley, SC: Southern Hist. Press, 1988]--in the index to this volume, David Dinsmore's name appears under the spellings Densmore, Dunaman, Dunamore, and Dunsmore, but never as Dinsmore!).

On 10 Dec. 1774, David Dinsmore bought 250 acres in Craven Co. from John and Hannah Kissler. The land was on Jamey's Creek of Tyger River--obviously in the vicinity of his original bounty grant in the county (Spbg. DB B, 452-5, as cited in Pruitt, 51). This land is later mentioned in William Pearson's deed of 99 acres on Jamey's Creek to William Shackelford on 16 Feb. 1809; see below).

Note that a 10 July 1792 deed of James Wofford [or Woodruff?) to Nathaniel Woodruff, Spbg. Co., identifies John Kissler as John Keighler. The name appears as Meighler in DD's Loyalist claim cited below, and as Kiehler when John and Margaret Densmore sold 82 acres of the 250-acre tract in 1800--see files of John and Margaret.

A 5 Oct. 1797 deed of John Jackson of Knox Co., TN, to Zachariah Leatherwood of Spbg. Co. for land on Jamey's Creek says that the land bordered on the east John Kighler. Other neighbors were Nathaniel Woodruff and Richard Chesney. The land was out of a 1773 grant to Joseph Brown, whose heir Wm. Brown sold it to Jackson, as well out of a grant to Nathaniel Woodruff (Spbg. DB G, pp. 135-6; Pruitt, p. 197). On Zachariah Leatherwood's land, see 15 Sept. 1807 deed to John Lindsey (d. 1808), Spartanburg Co.--see file of John Lindsey.

In 1775, DD joined the British Army. His claim, dated 19 Apr. 1786, at Halifax for land in Nova Scotia provides details of his military service. It is transcribed in the book Alx. Fraser, 2ND REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ARCHIVES (Toronto, 1904), pp. 171-2 (#100), as follows:

"He (David Dunsmore) is a native of Ireland & went to America in 1765, and in 1775 was settled in 96 district, S. Carolina. He took arms under Gen. Cunningham in 1775, & joined Col. Campbell in Georgia. Says he never served with the Rebels, but was obliged to take an Oath to them. He has been with the British Army ever since, excepting 5 months he was a prisoner. At the Evacuation of C. Town he came to this Province, and is now settled in Rawdon.

250 acres of land on James Creek. He bought it from John Meighler about three years before the War. He gave a negro wench & 100 pounds S. Car. Cury for it. After he bought it he made considerable improvements on it.

He had 47 acres cleared, and a House and Barn. He thinks the land & improvts. was worth 300 pounds sterling.

Says he was offered 2 Negroes for it soon after the purchase. He cannot say in whose Possession it is, but his 5 children are in S. Carolina taken care of by Rebels, & believes they are not in Possession.

Stock, 12 horses at 15 pounds 180.0.0; 12 head of Cattle at 30 sh. 18.0.0; 28 head hogs 14.0.0; 7 sheep 8.10.0; furniture & tools 30.0.0.; 200 bushels Corn, growing 15.0.0; 260 pounds 10.0.

Witness Robt. Alexander, Sworn:

Says Claimt. went into the Country & has always remained with the settlers at Rawdon. He was ever a good Loyal subject & never joined the Americans. He knows his farm on James Creek. Believes he had 250 acres. It was remarkable good land. He had a considerable stock on it. His children are in the Country but the House was destroied and all the improvemts. to prevent his enjoying it. He thinks it is all lost to him."

On 19 July 1786, DD refiled the new claim, which was paid the same day. The re-filed claim gives essentially the same information (Audit Office, Am. Loyalist Claims, Am. Series 12/49/87-90. Though DD had claimed 600 pounds 10 shillings, he was granted 90 lbs. for his 250 acres and 30 lbs. for his personal property (Audit Office, Am. Loyalist Claims, Am. Series 12/68/33--I have a copy of the original.

Note that Rawdon is north of Halifax. John Victor Duncanson, RAWDON AND DOUGLAS: TWO LOYALIST TOWNSHIPS IN NOVA SCOTIA (Belleville, Ontario: Mika, 1989) (p. 177) thinks that DD may not have come to Rawdon with its first settlers in 1784, but in 1787 after filing his Loyalist claim. According to Duncanson, he was granted 100 acres in the southeast section of the twp. in Brushy Hills. Duncanson says that DD's name is not in the 1795 Rawdon assessment, and he may be the DD who m. Hezekiah Cogswell of Cornwallis, NS, as mentioned in Eaton's KING COUNTY, p. 610. (But note that Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton, THE HISTORY OF KINGS CO. [Salem, MA: Salem Press Co., 1910], p. 610, says only that Martha, a dau. of Hezekiah Cogswell, m. a Densmore. Martha appears to have been b. in the mid to late 1740s.)

Like DD, Robt. Alexander settled at Rawdon. RAWDON AND DOUGLAS, p. 75, says that he was b. in Ireland abt. 1757, son of John, d. 2 May 1838 at Maitland, Nova Scotia. He came to America in 1773 and settled in 96 with his parents in 1775.

DD appears on a pay abstract #63 in Lieut. Col. Zachariah Gibbs Reg. Spartanburg Militia, Ninety Six Brigade, Soldier's Certification for those who came to Orangeburgh with L. Col. John H. Cruger at the evacuation of Ninety Six for 6 months pay from 13 June to 14 Dec. 1780 paid by Capt. John Cunningham, late pay Master of Militia on 18 Sept 1781 (see Murtie June Clark, LOYALISTS IN THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN, vol. 1 [Baltimore: Geneal. Publ. Co., 1981], p. 277, 280).

The preceding documents indicate that DD was involved in the backcountry campaign to win GA and the Carolinas for Britain. According to Robert Stansbury Lambert, SC LOYALISTS IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (Columbia: Univ. of SC P., 1987), in early 1779, Col. Archibald Campbell seized coastal GA for the British (p. 66). He had arrived from Jamaica off Savannah in Dec. 1778, taking that city in the same month (p. 81). He then moved to Augusta to establish a base for backcountry Loyalists participating in Boyd's rebellion, occupying Augusta on 1 Feb. 1779. At this point, troops raised by Zacharias Gibbs joined him (p. 82).

Gibbs was a Virginian who settled on Fair Forest creek a few years before the war. When war threatened, he recruited troops for Boyd's Uprising, who marched through 96 Dist. across Savannah into GA in early 1779 (pp. 82-3). On 17 Feb., many of these were captured by GA militia and Col. Andrew Pickens at Kettle Creek (ibid.). ZG was condemned to be hanged and moved to Orangeburgh, but later released (p. 84). In 1780, ZG mustered 150 men for the Spartan or Upper Regiment (p. 111). He brought about 100 of these to the battle at King's Mtn. (p. 141), where he estimated that about 100 men from his regiments were killed or captured (p. 142). He was instrumental in the battle of Fort 96, and instrumental in relocating loyalist families from there, with Cruger and Cunningham, when the fort fell (pp. 145-6). On 18 Apr. 1782, ZG was among Loyalists signing a petition to the king which claimed that large number of
Loyalists had been murdered by Whigs--perhaps as many as 300--with the majority of these in 96 Dist.

After the evacuation of Charleston, ZG went to East FL, then to Jamaica, finally settling at Rawdon (p. 272). In the spring of 1786, he filed a loyalist claim in England for his Nova Scotia land (p. 273).

John Harris Cruger commanded the British post at 96 until it was abandoned in the summer of 1781after a month-long siege (pp. 100, 171-2). With him were men raised from the upcountry by Moses Kirkland and others in 1780 (p. 146). The fort was also defended by troops Rawdon brought in June 1781 (p. 172).

Lambert says that after Rawdon abandoned Camden in May 1780, Loyalist families were encouraged to move with the British troops toward Charleston with Cruger (p. 170). He also notes that more families were moved to Orangeburgh after the fall of Ft. 96 (p. 173). Following the battle of Hobkirk's Hill, these Loyalist families retreated to Charleston with Rawdon (pp. 217-8). The largest number of refugees in Charleston were from 96 Dist. (p. 229).

By mid-Aug. 1782, 4200 Loyalists had registered to leave SC, including nearly 2500 women and children. 7200 blacks were to accompany them (p. 254). Ships began leaving for E FL in Sept. and Oct. Lambert notes that a fleet set sail for Nova Scotia in late Oct., heading for Halifax with 500 Loyalists, including 50 blacks, under Col. Saml. Campbell of NC (p. 255). Lambert indicates that more than 20 families and as may single men from SC settled at Rawdon (p. 271, citing Great Britain, Hist. MS Commission, REPORT ON AM. MS. IN THE ROYAL INSTITUTION [London, 1904-9], III, p. 179; and Marion Gilroy, LOYALISTS AND LAND SETTLEMENT IN NOVA SCOTIA [Halifax, 1937], 43-54, 60-1).

According to Neil MacKinnon, THIS UNFRIENDLY SOIL: THE LOYALIST EXPERIENCE IN NOVA SCOTIA 1783-1791 (Kingston/Montreal: McGill-Queen's Univ. P., 1986) (p. 16), in the winter of 1782 (a particularly cold winter), 500 refugees came from SC to Halifax after the evacuation of Charleston, "coming almost naked from the burning Lands of South Carolina to the frozen coast of Nova Scotia" (citing Gov. John Parr to Evan Nepean). MacKinnon notes that the majority who came to Nova Scotia were "true loyalists," supporters of a losing cause who had to give up their homes because of their commitment to the cause. They included a number of North Carolinians who fought at Moore's Creek Bridge early in the war, and were then imprisoned or forced to go into hiding, and/or had their property confiscated (p. 57).

MacKinnon notes that Nova Scotia had a high proportion of Southern settlers, with SC disproportionately represented (p. 59-60). Research of Carol Troxler indicates that at least 15% of Nova Scotia loyalists were from the South. When the black colonists are figured in, the total is even higher (see Carol W. Troxler, "The Migration of Carolina and GA Loyalists to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick" [Ph.D. diss., Univ. NC, 1974], p. 1). Troxler also notes that of the Carolina-GA loyalists traced by Troxler, 72% came from Scotland, Germany and Ireland (p. 61, citing Troxler, p. 1). Troxler has also written a number of articles on the Rawdon settlement, including "Origins of the Rawdon Loyalist Settlement," NOVA SCOTIA HIST. REV. 8,1 (1988), 63-76; and "Community and Cohesion in the Rawdon Loyalist Settlement," in ibid., 12,1 (1992), 41-66.

Troxler, "Origins," notes that by 1788, 74 Southern backcountry men and their widows had grants at Rawdon; they constituted the virtual entirety of the settlement (p. 64). Troxler says that almost all the first settlers were from southwestern 96 Dist. The bulk of the settlers at Rawdon were Scotch-Irish (65).

Lambert also ntoes that many SC Loyalists were relatively recent immigrants immersed in pioneering, perhaps reluctant to defy the authority from which they had gained their land (p. 28). Lambert notes that many of these had arrived in SC after the Cherokee War (pp. 48-9). (See also p. 307, noting that many of the Loyalists in the upcountry were from Northern Ireland and Germany). Lambert notes that when Alexander Chesney filed his loyalist claim, he had affidavits from Zacharias Gibbs, John Phillips, James Miller, and Saml. McKee, all except ZG having come from Ireland within 5 years of the Revolution (p. 278).

Note that A. Chesney kept a journal that has been published by E. Alfred Jones in OHIO STATE UNIV. BULLETIN 26,4 (Oct. 1921).

According to Lambert, in SC, the Revolution was a virtual civil war, esp. in the upcountry (p. 183). Lambert notes that the war divided families--e.g., Elizabeth Bowers, d/o German immigrants on Hard Labour Creek, was sent away by her husband for supporting the British. She went to live with her parents, her father being beaten after the fall of 96, and taken with his daughter to Charleston (p. 234). Wm. Meek and his wife of the upcountry became refugees in Charleston and then in Canada, while her siblings remained in SC (ibid.). Lambert mentions the case of David Dunsmore as another case of a divided family (p. 273). Lambert indicates that the civil strife was especially bitter in 96 Dist., where the largest concentration of Loyalists lived (p. 300).

David Dunsmore appears on a list of SC Loyalists, 1783, compiled by Paul Sarrett, Jr., and published on the SCGenweb Internet site.

Several published sources suggest that DD returned to SC (see below, Troxler and Moss). Evidence supporting this is in Hants Co., Nova Scotia, DB 4, 526-7: on 9 Jan. 1787, DD deeded his 100 acres at Rawdon to Thomas Parker, Zach. Gibbs and Richd. Fenton wit. ZG pr. the deed on 3 June 1788, when it was rec. (Hants, Nova Scotia, DB 4, 526-7). The deed leaves DD's residence blank ("of the Province of ---). Note that on the same day, a deed of Wm. Densmore to Saml. and James Densmore was registered, and appears beside the deed of DD in the Hants 4 DB (527-9).

However, it is possible that DD simply moved to another location within Nova Scotia. On 24 Aug. 1786, he seems to have bought from Wm. Densmore of Hants Co. 300 acres out of a tract of 1500 acres granted to James Densmore (ibid., 535-6). This deed was registered 2 Aug. 1788, a day prior ot the deeds mentioned above. The deed indicates that Wm. Densmore was of Newport and had wife Elizabeth. On this family, see notes of /Dinsmore, DD's father.

1790 census: DD's wife Margaret appears as head of household in Spartanburg Co.--see her file for details. This suggests that DD was in Nova Scotia at this time.

The 19 Nov. 1799 deed of Jane McClurkin to Paul Castelberry, Spbg. Co., says that the land was bordered on east by Margaret Dunmore. This suggests that DD was still in Nova Scotia by that date. See file of Margaret Dinsmore for details. If so, note that he was not on the 1795 assessment at Rawdon--see above, Duncanson.

A 7 Oct. 1807 deed of Longshore Lamb to Christopher Bell, both Spbg. Co., for 250 acres on a branch of the Tyger River, says that the land was bordered on w. by David Dunsmore, Jacob Earnest (Spbg. DB N, pp. 284-5; Pruitt, p. 471). Note that this does not refer to the land as formerly DD's. Does this mean he had returned to SC from Nova Scotia at this date? If so, did wife Margaret come back from KY to live with him, and did they both die in SC?

Note that, according to MacKinnon (p. 62), many of the Carolinians who came to Nova Scotia drifted away, and there is a great deal of evidence that many of those who came as loyalists to Nova Scotia returned to the U.S. This was noted as early as 1784. See also Lambert, pp. 274-5, who notes that the 1785 provost marshall's report says that many Carolina loyalists had abandoned their land. According to Lambert, in 1791, the tax assessment in Rawdon indicates that less than half of the families who had come from Charleston were still there; e.g., John and Wm. Bryson of Laurens Co., SC had gone back there. In 1791, Zacharias Gibbs gave notice that his 2 farms at Rawdon were for sale, and he planned to leave in spring.

According to Lambert, many 96 Dist. Loyalists, in particular, came back to SC after some years in exile. He cites the case of Patrick Cunningham, who reclaimed his lands (having gone to Nova Scotia), and in 1790, was elected to the SC House (pp. 300-302). According to Lambert, in 1775,m perhaps a fifth of the free population of SC were Loyalists (p. 306).

Bobby Gilmer Moss, THE LOYALISTS IN THE SIEGE OF FORT NINETY SIX (Blacksburg, SC: Scotia-Hibernia, 1999), p. 41, suggests that DD did apparently return to SC. Troxler, "Community," says that the last reference found for DD in Nova Scotia is 1787 (p. 57). Troxler thinks, in fact, that DD returned to SC because of his wife and 5 children, and notes that his property had not been confiscated (64, citing Audit Office 12, 49, 88-90; Fraser, 2nd REPORT, 172; Pub. Archives Nova Scotia RG 20, series A, John Sterling et al. 1787; and Hants DB 4, 320, 526).

A 14 Feb. 1808 deed of Isaac Crow to Joseph Wofford for 100 acres, south side Tyger, notes that the land was, in part (apparently), from a grant to DD (Spbg. DB, pp. 114-5; Pruitt, p. 584). The deed also mentions a grant to Delaney Carroll. Note that DD and wife Margaret are listed beside a Carroll family on their 1767 ship's list cited above.

A 16 Feb. 1809 Spartanburg Co. deed of Wm. Pearson to Wm. Shackelford, both of Spbg. Co., refers to DD's 250-acre tract as "formerly owned by David Densmore." The deed is for 99 acres on Jamey's Creek of Tyger River. Jonathan Moore and Wm. L. Allen wit. The deed was pr. by Wm. L. Allen on 5 Feb. 1810 and rec. 5 Feb. 1810 (Spbg. DB M, pp. 185-6; Pruitt, 412). Note that Wm. L. Allen m. Mary, widow of Dennis Lindsey, and probable father of Mark Lindsey who m. DD's daughter Mary Jane.

A 19 Aug. 1809 deed from Christopher Bell to Richard Chesney, of a tract on a branch of the Tyger River, mentions David Dinsmore's and Jacob Earnest's land bordering it on the west (Spbg. DB N, pp. 280-1, as cited, Pruitt, p. 470). The tract had been previously sold by Longshore Lamb to Christopher Bell (see above).

I don't find a listing of DD's name in the index to Spartanburg Co. estates, nor is he in the index to the census for Spbg. Co. for 1800-20.

John and Mary Jane Dinsmore are the two known children of David and Margaret Dinsmore. Note that DD's Loyalist claim cited above indicates he had five children. The 1790 census indicates that there was a daughter in addition to Mary Jane--see file of Margaret Dinsmore.

A James Dinsmore who was born 1770-80 shows up in Morgan Co., Alabama, on the 1840 census (p. 23, 39th Regiment). I cannot place him. Could he have been another child of David and Margaret Dinsmore? Or is he James, son of Adam and Elizabeth, who also went to Morgan Co.? But note that this James Dinsmore is said to have died in 1837. And, if Margaret and Mary Jane are two of the three females in the household in 1790, who is the other? There seems to be a "lost" daughter of David and Margaret Dinsmore as well.

This lost daughter could be a Mary Dinsmore who married Samuel Nathaniel Woodruff in Spartanburg Co., SC. According to descendant Denise Gaines of Weatherford, TX, SNW was b. in 1766 and d. in 1844 in Hopkins Co., KY. Gaines says that it is believed that SNW and Mary Dinsmore had 5-6 children, who may include Mary K. Woodruff, b. 18 Dec. 1792, Spbg. Co., SC, m. Joseph Woodruff; John Willis Woodruff, b. 4 Aug. 1793, Spbg. Co., SC, d. 15 Sept. 1864, Hopkins Co., KY (m. Frances Davis); David Woodruff, b. 1789-90, d. May-Oct. 1841 (m. Elizabeth Jones); Virginia Woodruff, b. 1800, Hopkins Co., KY (m. John Keyser); William Woodruff; and Hiram Woodruff. Notice the name John Keyser; is this a relative (or son?) of the John and Hannah Kissler/Keighler who sold land to David Dinsmore?

Dickson (ULSTER EMIGRATION; see above) notes that emigrants from Northern Ireland usually left from ports nearby their place of residence. For example, those living in counties Down, Armagh, and Antrim usually booked passage from Belfast, where those living in Counties Tyrone, Londonderry, and Donegal sailed from Londonderry more often. The fact that David Dinsmore and his wife Margaret left Ireland via the port of Belfast would appear to suggest that they came from somewhere in the former cluster of counties. This would place them in a different locale than Adam and Elizabeth Dinsmore (discussed in file of DD's father), who were from the far western county of Donegal.

Ballymoney, the township in which John Dinsmore (supposedly the progenitor of the Irish Dinsmores--see file of DD's father) and his descendants lived, is about equidistant from Belfast and Londonderry, so, conceivably, those living in this area of Co. Antrim could have left from either port. Dickson's book includes a map that shows that Ballymoney had agents for emigrant shipping from both Londonderry and Portrush.

Frank Scott's article cited in file of Wm. Lindsey (d. 1796) says that the Cathcart, Alexander and Crow families, all of whom settled on Tyger River in Spartanburg Co., SC, had Irish origins.

The "Internet Family Tree" of James J. Hughes at changesurfer.com states that Wm. Martindale, who was b. near Philadelphia in 1723, acquired 150 acres from DD after Martindale moved to SC in 1762. This land was evidently on the Enoree near Cross Keys in present Union Co.

Margaret Dinsmore's year and place of birth are implied on the list of passengers who emigrated to S.C. on the ship Earl of Donegal on 22 Dec. 1767 in the S.C. Council Journals; for specifics, see notes for David Dinsmore RIN 167.

Unless she is the Peggy Dunmore who m. James Hail/Hale in 1819 in Wayne Co., KY (see file of son John), the last record I have found for Margaret Dinsmore is her entry on the 1806 tax list in Wayne Co., Kentucky, where she was taxed beside her son John on 21 April for 200 acres of #3 land on Otter Creek, a white male over 21, and 6 horses. Otter Creek runs from south to north towards the Cumberland River in the extreme western portion of Wayne Co., not far from the Clinton Co. line. Note that Otter Creek is just a few miles west of Cooper, Bethesda Methodist cemetery, and Shearer Valley, where the Brooks family appears to have lived; see file of Thomas M. Brooks for details.

Note, however, that the front end-paper map in Harriett Simpson Arnow, SEEDTIME ON THE CUMBERLAND (NY: Macmillan, 1960), which is a reproduction of the 1802 A. Arrowsmith of London, shows Otter Creek running south, and not west, of Beaver.

After 1806, she disappears from Wayne Co. records. In fact, the following year, her son John was taxed for her 100 acres, with a notation in the tax book that this was land that Margaret Dinsmore had entered. On this, see John Dinsmore's file. This suggests to me that Margaret had died in 1806-7, and that John had inherited her land. I am not sure who the male in her household was in 1806; I suspect that she farmed together with her son, so that he would perhaps have been the male in the household. Or, is it possible that Margaret relinquished her land to her son, moving with his family in 1806? If so, is she the Peggy Dunmore who m. James Hail/Hale in Wayne Co., KY, on 26 Feb. 1819?

After her 1767 appearance on the Earl of Donegal ship list, the next record I find for Margaret Dinsmore is her entry on the 1790 census in 96 District in Spartanburg Co., South Carolina. On the census, she is clearly the head of the household, which indicates that her husband had died by that date (on this, see David Dinsmore file). In the household were also a white male of over 16 years--evidently her son John, who was born in 1774--and five females. One of these is evidently her daughter Mary Jane. The other would be Margaret herself. The others would apparently be three more daughters, bringing the total of her children to five, the number given in her husband's Loyalist claim in Nova Scotia..

For proof that John and Mary Jane Dinsmore are children of David and Margaret, see each of their files.

A 19 Nov. 1799 deed of Jane McClurkin to Paul Castleberry, both of Spbg. Co., for land on Jamey's Creek, notes that the land bordered Margaret Dunmore on the east. The land was bordered n. by John King, s. by Teseor Kirk, w. by Charles Bragg. Wit. were James Allen and Samuel Woodruff. Deed pr. 15 Jan. 1801 by Samuel Woodruff, rec. 22 Jan. 1801 (Spbg. DB G, pp. 159-161; Pruitt, p. 199).

The next record I find for Margaret Dinsmore is her deed with John Dinsmore of 82 acres in Spartanburg Co. to Nathaniel Woodruff on 28 Aug. 1800 (Spbg DB L, pp. 95-6, as cited in Pruitt, p. 351; for this source, see D. Dinsmore). The land is part of a tract of 250 acres that David Dinsmore had bought from John Kissler in 1774 (see David Dinsmore file on this). This land sale was evidently taking place in 1800 because Margaret was preparing to move to Wayne Co., Ky., with her son John, since they both begin to appear in Wayne Co. records in 1801.

In the Sept., 1801, court record recorded in Wayne Co. Order Bk. A, 1802-22, p. 19, an entry for Margaret Dinsmore appears, stating, "At the motion of Margaret Dinsmore, satisfactory proof being made to the court, the court is of opinion she is entitled to 100 acres of land." Note that MD's son John seems to have patented 200 acres in July of the same year. This is evidently the land for which Margaret was taxed in 1806, the final record I can find of her. Note that the land must have been patented under the Headright Claims act of 21 Dec. 1795, though technically that act restricted patents to men over 21 with families--see file of Mark Lindsey.