George L. Rudd ~ Deed of Gift Forwarding Stock

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Several years ago when I began to research my Rudd family I knew only three things; my grandfather who I had met once when I was about 12 years old was named Eulis Rudd, his father was named Walter Rudd and they both had lived in Gadsden County, FL. But I was very fortunate that many others who were researching the same Rudd family were generous in sharing with me information they had collected on our family.

One of the very first documents I received was this Deed of Gift from George Lounsdell Rudd to his four sons. I’m sure most of you have also seen this document. I was told it was the Last Will and Testament of George L. Rudd, Sr. but it didn’t read like a Last Will to me. Later I discovered it was a document that had been filed in the South Carolina State Papers under Wills. Evidently, it was filed as a result of George Lounsdell Rudd’s death. It’s strange that no other documents have been found relating to his death, so I guess we are left to assume whatever other property he had at the time had either been sold, distributed to his heirs, or left to his wife, Margaret.

The four sons listed in the South Carolina record led us to read them as George Jr., Ely, James and Luis. And since my ancestor line runs back through Elias David Rudd, most researchers leaned towards Ely as the designated son. I became curious why a son of an English colonial father would name a son Luis since it is clearly a Hispanic spelling of the name that in English would most likely be Lewis or Louis but not at all a very common English name for the time. I was also curious that a document that originated in Screven County, Georgia had surfaced in South Carolina. One day while I was at my genealogy library I looked through the Georgia Deed Book microfilm and to my surprise, there it was, registered on August 30, 1797. When I compared the two documents, you could clearly see the name believed to be Luis was actually Lias. Another noteworthy difference in the two records is that the record in South Carolina does not include the header, Deed of Gift Forwarding Stock. Therefore it was naturally assumed to be his Last Will.

Now this raises the question that I don’t think we will ever answer, why would GLR name a son Ely and another son Lias and what are their actual given names? Are they both Elias?

But getting back to the Deed, it’s clear that George Lounsdell Rudd’s intent was to distribute stock and moveable property he owned in Screven County, Georgia to four sons:

my stock of hogs with their increase, likewise any stock of cattle with their increase and two mares and one gelding and all my moveable property

You will notice GLR list cattle, horses and moveable property. It sounds very much like he was living on land in Screven Co., GA but there is no mention of the distribution of the land. I could find no record of the deeding of the land in the Georgia records. But those records are very lacking indeed. So did GLR sell his land in GA or was his land given to another son, perhaps his oldest son as was the tradition back then. And if so, perhaps that son is not listed in this document. That raises the questions ..

Did GLR have more than these four named sons? Was George Jr. as the oldest son given the land in Georgia? Did he live on this land and keep the stock there from 1797 to 1804 when the deed was filed as a probate of GLR’s estate?

Here’s another key part of the Deed:

appoint my son George Rudd and Ely Rudd to take in their possession all the property aforesaid and to keep it carefully until these two younger brothers become of age

I’ve asked many genealogy researchers, more knowledgeable than I, what would "become of age" mean in 1797 Georgia, including the archivist at State of Georgia. The consensus is that age would have been 21. So we can assume that in 1797 George Jr. and Ely are over 21 but James and Lias are not.

If we look to the available census data in trying to determine the ages of the four sons we can clearly see in the 1790 Fairfield census that GLR has three males under 16 years old. George Jr. is obviously alive and over 21 in 1797. If he is counted in this census then he is under 16 in 1790, but at least 22 in 1797 if the sons are listed in birth order and Ely is the second oldest. That would mean Lias is not yet born.



In the 1800 Charleston census GLR has 2 males listed as 26/45 years old. Is this an error in the transcription? Are these 2 males actually 16/26, and therefore, James and Lias? They can’t be under the age of 21 in 1797 and then be at least 26 years old 3 years later. It seems to be an error. If so, then that backs us up to the 1790 census again and places Lias in the household and George Jr. has left the house. If the 1800 census is James and Lias, then Ely has now left the household. I think this theory is supported by the evidence of a 1798 survey for 500 acres paid for by George Rudd and granted to Ely Rudd. Perhaps a wedding gift.

It gets very confusing when we look at the 1810 Charleston census. We see an Elias who is 26/45 with his oldest child, a male, 10/16 among his children. Then there’s Elijah with 2 males 16/26 and then there is O’riley who is 26/45 with his oldest child, a female, 16/26 and another child, a male, 10/16. Both Elias and O’riley have children old enough to indicate they would have been head of household in the 1800 census but they don’t show up. Either they were not counted in the census or they’re living in the 1790 Burlingham Rudd or George L. Rudd households because by this time this branch of the Rudd family has moved from Anson Co. NC to St. James Goose Creek in SC. Also by the 1810 census, GLR has died and most likely the household of Margaret 45+ years old listed in between Elijah and O’riley is his widow. So 1810 is no help in determining ages.

But in 1820 we see Eli, Burrel and James. If this is the same Ely in the Deed we can narrow down his birth year. He’s under 16 in 1790 so born between 1774 and 1790. The Deed indicates he is at least 21 in 1797 so born before August 30, 1776. In 1820 he says he’s 45+ so born by 1775. That would place his birth year between 1774 and 1775. If the birth order is correct in the Deed, then George Jr. is older than Ely by at least a year and that would place his birth year by 1773/4.

But where is George Jr.?

This analysis of Ely’s birth year is a key piece of information for descendants of Elias David Rudd when we add another key piece of information that surfaced later (thanks to Tim Inman); Elias David had a brother named George Washington. Of course, this also will add to the confusion since there is both a George, Ely/and Lias mentioned in the Deed. But my investigation of George Washington Rudd indicates he was born between 1780 and 1784 and that means he is too young to be of age in 1797. Therefore, he is not the George Jr. in the Deed. And since he is the brother of Elias David, neither the Ely nor the Lias in the Deed are Elias David. That brings us to the conclusion that George Lounsdell Rudd is NOT the father of Elias David Rudd or George Washington Rudd.

In Search of Elias David Rudd

I’ve come to realize that there were several reasons that contributed to the assumption that Elias David Rudd was the son of George Lounsdell Rudd. One of those reasons was due to the fact that George Lounsdell did have sons named Ely and Lias and both of those names appear in the Charleston District census. If you look at the 1820 Charleston census you will see Ely Rudd and, like I said before, there was an assumption that this Ely was our Elias David. This assumption was reinforced because Ely Rudd does not show up in Charleston after 1820, and we know that Elias Rudd surfaces in the 1830 Jefferson County, Florida census. The assumption was made that Elias David migrated from South Carolina to Florida after the 1820 census and before the 1830 census. That assumption was then reinforced by what we know about the reported birth location of his children.

Well, as it turns out the assumption about his migration is correct. He did migrate out of South Carolina to Florida after 1820 and before 1830, but he’s not the Ely in the Charleston District census. Before I go any further I want to also point out that there is also an Elias Rudd in the Charleston census who is alive in the 1840 census when Elias David is recorded in the Dale County, Alabama census.

Remember my telling you about some of the obstacles we have to overcome when depending on the census indexes and the interpretation of the name RUD and REED? Well, I’m now of the opinion that’s why our family researchers of the past couldn’t find Elias David in 1820 and assumed him to be in Charleston. But he was living in Beaufort County, South Carolina. In the index to that census he is listed as Elias Reed.



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Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, there is a Reed family in Barnwell, actually they might be Rud since sometimes their name clearly looks like Rud and sometimes it looks like Reed. They could be somehow related to our family, they’re not in our cluster of families, but they live nearby. I’ve done a good deal of investigation of the records concerning this family that includes Hugh, Samuel and John, but they never include an Elias.

Take a look at the 1813 land survey in Beaufort that list G. Rud as a land owner and taking note also of the other family names listed on the survey. Then compare that survey with the 1820 census and the cluster of names. Of course we have to allow for two variables. First, the survey and the census are 7 years apart. Second, the survey records the names of the land owners not necessarily the inhabitants. That’s one of the challenges in using land records, trying to determine what tract of land was the homestead. We’ll talk about that more when we identify George Washington Rudd in Barnwell.



Make note that on the survey you also see Absolom Breland. I’ve discovered a wonderful website for this Breland family and in a future post we’ll explore the origin of the name Fannie Breeland Tanner. Also make note of the Breland and Taner names on the 1820 census. It seems we have pretty strong circumstantial evidence that this is Elias David Rudd and he is living on land that is owned in 1813 by G. Rud. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find a grant or deed assigned to a G. Rud in Beaufort to determine who this is. It’s not a far stretch to guess the G stands for George. We can’t be certain this is George Washington Rudd, Elias David’s brother, but it’s a good guess!

Also note on the census that Elias Rud has 3 males and 2 females under the age of 10 years old. He and Fannie list their ages as between 26 and 45 years old. To determine the most likely birth year for Elias David Rudd, we have the War of 1812 Pension Application he filed on November 1, 1875 where he states he is eighty-seven years old, making his birth sometime between November 2, 1787 and October 31, 1788. Most census schedules we have available have insinuated his birth as January 1790. However, I feel his pension application in most likely more accurate than those census schedules. Therefore, in 1820, Elias David was 32 to 33 years old.

In addition, this discovery of 3 male children born before 1820 would support the idea that those males were: William Wesley, b. 1815; Seth Jackson, b. 1817; Elias Trowell, b. 1819. I’ll not tell you YET who I think the 2 female children are!

George W. Rudd, father of Burrel Rudd of Coffee Co., AL

A couple of years ago (my, how time has flown) my cousin Jacque Rudd and I had committed ourselves to take on a new intensive investigation into the parentage of William Wesley Rudd. Jacque’s husband, Michael Trent Rudd, descends from William Wesley by way of James Ervin, Sr. to James Elias to James Elvin to Michael Trent. William Wesley is such an enigma. It’s amazing how a man can live to be so old and have so many wives and children and still remain a mystery to most of his descendants.

But first a little background.

There is a belief among some family researchers that William Wesley of Dale Co., AL and Burrel of Coffee Co., AL were sons of James Rudd the son of George Lounsdell Rudd, Sr. This belief was intertwined with the belief that Elias David was also a son of George Lounsdell. As the story goes, James was married to Sarah Bowman and had two sons and one daughter. When James died, Sarah remarried George Poland and gave up her children to be raised by Elias David Rudd. Another version is that James and Sarah both died and left the children orphaned and they were taken-in by Elias David and Fannie who raised them as their own. The daughter is said to be Nancy Rudd who married her cousin Seth Jackson Rudd, son of Elias David and Fannie.

Then there's this conflicting belief that simply puts Burrel Rudd as the son of Elias David Rudd which would mean his mother was Fannie Breland Tanner.

Jacque and I decided the way to approach this investigation would be to first try and find documentation that would support this belief and to dig up all the information we both had about William Wesley Rudd. So I started looking for James and Sarah while Jacque took on William Wesley.

I remember when I got the phone call from a very excited Jacque.

"Lin! Didn't you say Burrel's mother is supposed to be named Sarah?"

I said, "Well, according to that story it should be."

Jacque said, "Well, I'm looking at the 1850 Coffee County census and there's an older female in Burrel's household whose last name is Rudd but it looks like her first name is SUSAN!"

I said, "Who is Susan Rudd?"

So we had the possibilities that Susan Rudd was either a Rudd widow or an unmarried Rudd female.

The next day while I was searching through the Rudd message board at GenForum.com I came across an old posting from Tim Inman that said he had information from an old letter written in the 1920’s by James Dallas Rudd, son of Burrel. The letter said that the father of Burrel was named George W. Rudd who came from North Carolina and settled in Georgia. Also that George W. Rudd had a brother named Elias Rudd.

Another William Wesley descendant, William Harry Rudd, had shared with me a copy of an 1811 land grant to a George Rudd in Barnwell County, South Carolina so I began to look for George in the 1810 census. The indexes to the census didn’t list him, so I began to look page by page for the name. I was very excited when I found a George Rudd in 1810.

We all knew that in the 1800 Barnwell census, there was Burlingham Rudd and a William Rudd but since no one had found any Rudd in the 1810 or 1820 census (that dang Rud/Reed problem with the indexes) it was said that the 1800 Burlingham in Barnwell was the same 1800 Burlingham in Charleston and for some reason William was never questioned. After all, the Elias David Rudd researchers knew EDR was in Jefferson County, FL in 1830 and based on the belief he was the son of George Lounsdell Rudd, Sr. there was no motivation to look back at Barnwell. And the existence of two Burlingham Rudd males reporting the same age that would put them in the second generation was unrealistic. That would indicate that Burlingham Rudd, Sr. had named two sons Burlingham.

Well, I’ll get back to this perplexing turn of events in a future posting but let me just state now that there do appear to be two Burlinghams in 1800 who report they were born by or before 1755. One must be Burlingham 2nd, born 1741, but who is the other one?

A search through the South Carolina land surveys turned up this 1811 land survey for George Rudd.

Notice that in the land grant says:

unto George Rudd his heirs and assigns, a plantation or tract of land containing One Hundred and Ninety Four Acres surveyed for him the 10th of January 1811. Situated in Barnwell District between Lower 3 Runs & Big Saltcatcher including a Pond called ( ? ) Pond on a Road from Ed Brown’s Mill to Barnwell Courthouse.

And the land survey says:

I do hereby certify for George Rud a tract of land containing One Hundred and ninety four acres surveyed for him the 20th of April 1811. Situated in Barnwell District between Lower Three Rivers and Big Saltketcher including a Pond called Persemmon Pond and on a road leading from Col. Brown’s Mill to Barnwell Courthouse. Bounded NE by land surveyed for Thos. Morris and on all sides by land supposed to be vacant.

So the land grant and the land survey seem to be for the same property. On the survey we have Thomas Morris identified as an owner of adjoining property. Looking at the 1810 census we see Thomas Morris.

A search of the South Carolina Archives turned up this 1831 land deed from George Rudd to Moses Sanders.

The land deed says:

one hundred and ninety-four acres more or less situated in the District and State aforesaid adjoining lands of the said Moses Sanders, John Barfield, Elijah Davis and William A. Peyton lying on the south side of the great Saltcatcher on the road leading from Barnwell Court House to Stinson Landing on Savannah River which land was granted to the said George Rudd on the Sixth day of December 1813.

This is the same property. George Rudd had the property surveyed in 1811 and it was granted to him in 1813. He sold the property in 1831.

Now look at the end of the land deed. It says:

I, James G. W. Duncan, one of the Justices of the Quorum do hereby certify unto all whom it may concern that Mrs. Susannah Rudd the wife of the within named George Rudd did this day appear before me and upon being privately and separately examined by me did disclose that she does freely and voluntarily without any compulsion, dread or fear of any person or reason whatsoever, renounce, release and forever relinquish unto the within named Moses Sanders all her right and claim of Dower of, in and to all and singular the premises within mentioned and released.

George Rudd had a wife named Susannah who waived her rights to Dower when the property was sold. This most likely was their homestead.

There is another land deed where George Rud sells land (originally granted to Thomas Morris) to Curtis Owens in 1822. That deed also bears the Waiver of Dower by Susannah Rud, wife of George Rud.

All this evidence seems to indicate that most likely the father of Burrel Rudd was George W. Rudd. That would dispel the theory that James Rudd, son of George Lounsdell Rudd, Sr., was the father of Burrel Rudd, as well as the theory that Elias David was his father.

I’m thankful to Tim Inman for posting the contents of the James Dallas letter that gave us the clue that Burrel’s father was George W. Rudd, to William Harry Rudd for sharing the 1811 Barnwell land grant with me that set me on the path back to Barnwell, and to Jacque Rudd for her discovery of Susan Rudd in Burrel’s house in the 1850 Coffee County, AL census. All these pieces of information led to this discovery. This is the reason I decided to start this blog. By working together and sharing information we can put this early Rudd family together.

Of course, we still don’t have definitive evidence to the parentage of William Wesley. But I think we can dispel the theory that James Rudd was his father. And the fact that Elias Rudd in 1820 Beaufort County, South Carolina has three males under the age of 10 years old moves us closer to the belief that William Wesley was a son of Elias David Rudd and Fannie.

Note that on the 1810 census, George Rud reports his age as 26/45 years old. This indicates he is born between 1765 and 1784. I’ll narrow down this birth year in a future posting. And remember that this George W. Rudd has a brother named Elias Rudd. So when I show you that this George W. Rudd isn’t old enough to be the George Jr. in the GLR Deed of Gift Forwarding Stock, son of GLR, that Elias David isn’t a son of George Lounsdell Rudd, Sr. either!

George Washington Rudd of Barnwell

In the previous posting George W. Rudd, father of Burrell Rudd of Coffee County, AL, we located George W. Rudd living in 1810 Barnwell County, SC.

When we look at the 1820 Barnwell census we see two clusters of Rud families.


One on page 17a shows a George Rud, Sr., George Rud, Jr. and Wm. Rud the other one shows George Rud on page 20b and a Rud who we can’t identify on page 20a. (Based on the space available for the given name of this Rud, I wonder if the name is Wm. Rud.) But for our purposes here it doesn’t really matter since both of these George Rud household say the head is 26/45 years old. In addition, it does appear that the 1820 census was transcribed by several different people and some of it is in alphabetical order, some of it appears to be in chronological order, so it is of no use to us as far as determining neighbors!

Based on the 1810 census we established George Rud with a wife named Susannah Rud was born between 1765 and 1784. In the 1820 census we can establish that both of the listed George Ruds are born between 1775 and 1794. That narrows down George W. Rudd’s birth year as 1775 and 1784.

Now we move to the 1830 census.

We see George Rud reporting his age as between 50 to 60.

That means he is born between 1770 and 1780. When we combine all these census records together we can now narrow down the birth year for George W. Rudd to be between 1780 and 1784.

Next we need to identify the George Rud in 1810 who we have determined to be the father of Burrell Rudd to be the same George Rud in 1830.

Looking back at the land records for the George Rud we have identified as the father of Burrell Rudd we see the names of his neighbors and landmarks.

The 1811 land grant says:

One Hundred and Ninety Four Acres surveyed for him the 10th of January 1811. Situated in Barnwell District between Lower 3 Runs & Big Saltcatcher including a Pond called ( ? ) Pond on a Road from Ed Brown’s Mill to Barnwell Courthouse.

The 1811 land survey says:

Situated in Barnwell District between Lower Three Rivers and Big Saltketcher including a Pond called Persemmon Pond and on a road leading from Col. Brown’s Mill to Barnwell Courthouse. Bounded NE by land surveyed for Thos. Morris and on all sides by land supposed to be vacant.

The 1831 deed of sale of his land says:

Tract of land containing one hundred and ninety-four acres more or less situated in the District and State aforesaid adjoining lands of the said Moses Sanders, John Barfield, Elijah Davis and William A. Peyton lying on the south side of the great Saltcatcher on the road leading from Barnwell Court House to Stinson Landing on Savannah River which land was granted to the said George Rudd on the Sixth day of December 1813.

Keeping in mind that the land records only list the names of the land owners and not the actual persons living on the land we can see that in the 1830 census we have George Rud with John Sanders, Sidney Davis and Nathan Davis on page 136.

On page 135 we see John Peyton and Talton Brown.

On page 137 we see what is most likely Bartlett Brown (not the Barrett Brown as transcribed).

Since the 1830 census appears to be transcribed based on the actual report of the Census Taker, we can conclude that it is reflective of the cluster of families.

When George Rud sold his land in 1831, the adjoining land was owned by Sanders, Davis and Peyton. His 1811 land grant and survey name Ed Brown and Col. Brown as owners adjoining land. This is of course circumstantial evidence, but it does indicate that the George Rud in the 1830 Barnwell census is our George W. Rudd.

In addition we have the Mill’s Atlas for Barnwell County surveyed in 1818.

George Rud’s land was located between the Big Saltcatcher and the Lower Three Runs/River on the road from Barnwell Courthouse to Stinson’s Landing/Bridge. Between the head of Cedar Branch and land owned by Talton Brown.



That brings me to the conclusion that George Washington Rudd of Barnwell County, SC, the father of Burrell Rudd was born between 1780 and 1784. He is too young to be of age in 1797 Screven County, GA (21 years old) to be the same George Jr. in the Deed of Gift by George Lounsdell Rudd, Sr. to his four named sons.

This George Washington Rudd would have been 13 to 17 years old in 1797.

Elias Rudd of St. James Goose Creek

Elias Rudd of St. James Goose Creek wrote his Last Will and Testament on May 13, 1847 and it was proved with testimony on February 29, 1848. He died within 9 months.

In his will he identifies the location of his several tracts of land.

I direct that my several tracts of land be divided by a line running as nearly as is practical in the center of a Branch known as the continuation of Partridge's Creek Water of Wasamasaw and extending through my said land in a nearly western direction

We know by the land grants and land surveys found in the South Carolina Archives that he did indeed have several tracts of land. You can view the land grants and land surveys here.

It’s difficult to determine just how many of those documents pertain to him because the use of the name Eli, Ely and Elias can be confusing when we try to follow the census. And at times it seems that the name Eli and Elias are interchangeable in the St. James Goose Creek census. Oh, if we only knew why George Lounsdell would name two sons with such similar names. It’s evident that Ely, son of George Lounsdell Rudd, Sr. also had land grants and land surveys.

Elias Rudd also names his heirs in his Will:

my son, George W. Rudd; wife, Elizabeth; daughter, Amelia Ann Rudd; daughter, Mary S. Rudd; daughter, Margaret Rudd; daughter, Tabitha Bradwell; daughter, Catherine Long

When we look to the 1840 Charleston census I think we can dentify the Elias Rudd with the St. James Goose Creek Will because his daughter Tabitha Rudd is living next to him.



It appears that by the time of his Will, daughter Tabitha has married, as has daughter Catherine. But at the time of this census, Tabitha was living separately which would indicate to me that she is living on one of the adjoining tracts of property that had been improved.

Based on the information in his Will, the households in 1840 might have looked like this:

1840 Census
Elias Rudd, Pg 155 Ln17
1m 10/15...George Washington, son
1m 20/30...Unknown male (possibly Catherine’s husband)
1m 50/60...Elias, head
1f 5/10.....Margaret ?, daughter
1f 15/20...Unknown female (possibly Catherine, daughter)
1f 40/50...Elizabeth, wife

Tabitha Rudd, Pg 155 Ln18
1f -5........Amelia ?, sister (Elias daughter)
1f 5/10.....Mary S. ?, sister (Elias daughter)
1f 20/30...Tabitha, head (Elias daughter)

Two thoughts. First, Catherine only receives 50 acres of the land while the other children receive 150 acres. That might indicate she had already received 100 acres between the 1840 census and the 1847 Will, maybe when she and her husband moved out to the home. Second, based on this census, Elias Rudd would have been born between 1780 and 1790.

In addition, when we look at the Eli and Elias households in 1820 and 1830 respectively it could appear that the 1840 Elias Rudd emerges as a son of Eli but we have already determined that Ely, son of GLR, was born between 1774-5, so if as indicated, Elias Rudd was born between 1780-90, it's very unlikely that Ely is his father. My impression is that at some point, Elias Rudd and his family were living in the Eli Rudd household, his brother.

In my research it is clear that the children of George Lounsdell Rudd, Sr. owned land in the area of Four Holes Swamp. Elias Rudd also had a tract at Four Holes Swamp, with additional tracts expanding out towards Cypress Swamp and Wassamassaw Swamp. The 1820 land survey not only identifies the Partridge Creek area but shows a survey for a third tract being added to two existing tracts.

Here is the general location of Elias Rudd's land. It appears to be near lands owned by a Burlingham Rudd based on land surveys identifying Rolling Road as a land mark.



A few years ago I found a listing for a George and Emily Rudd buried at Rudd Branch Cemetery. Based on the estate probate for George Rudd, he had a wife named Emily and a son named Charles W., two daughters named Mary Elizabeth and Martha Jane. Recently, I discovered a new tool for a topographical map locator and was pleased to locate not only Rudd Branch, but also Rudd Cemetary.



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Most likely the George and Emily Rudd buried beside each other at Rudd Branch Cemetery are the son and daughter-in-law of Elias Rudd of St. James Goose Creek.

I can’t be certain, but I do tend to believe that Elias Rudd with the Last Will and Testament in St. James Goose Creek is Lias, the son of George Lounsdell Rudd, Sr. identified in the Deed of Gift Forwarding Stock in Screven Co., GA.

In that 1797 Deed, Elias Rudd would have been 7-17 years olds and not yet of age.

Elias David Rudd ~ from Beaufort Co. SC to Jefferson Co. FL

Discovering the Two Unknown Daughters

I’ve always been fascinated by the courage it must have taken to pack up your family in a wagon, leave all you’ve known behind and set out for new land. What drove Elias David, and later George Washington, to such aspirations?

I can tell you that based on my research of the Rudd families in South Carolina after the Revolution, I have developed in my senses that we are looking at two distinct families that are bound by a common ancestor, but appear to have taken different paths, set different priorities. In Charleston, we have the George Lounsdell Rudd, Sr. clan who are land wealthy, live in what appears to be more of an affluent society, their neighbors are socially influential. In Barnwell and St. Peter’s Parish, Beaufort the family of Elias David and George Washington appear to be living rather modestly, out of the two brothers, only George appears to own land and the area is very rural as compared to the Four Hole Swamp area at St. James Goose Creek.

You can view the South Carolina land records that I have transcribed HERE. Soon I hope to have the North Carolina land records transcribed for your viewing. But I will tell you now, George Lounsdell appears to be very land wealthy in North Carolina too as compared to Burlingham 2nd.

In reading “The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Volume 1 1514-1861” I came across two interesting passages I want to share with you. In the first passage, the authors are describing the living conditions in St. Peter’s Parish as compared to the two other Parishes in the county. St. Peter’s was the “poorer” of the other two because most of Beaufort at the time was plantations for growing cotton and later rice with many absentee landlords that generally lived in Charleston. The plantations hadn’t yet spread to St. Peter’s Parish at the time when Elias David was living there. It might be that eventual push of large plantations to the Savannah River that made the Rudds feel they needed to move west.

Page 304-305
Even the wealthier of the resident families of upper St. Peter’s Parish lived plain and modest lives compared to the style of Charleston, Savannah, and Beaufort. In 1821, Charlotte Verstille, a New England schoolmistress who had moved to Robertville with her husband, Tristram Verstille, a headmaster and mistress of the Black Swamp Academy, described the homes of the more substantial planters of upper St. Peter’s Parish:

These buildings can boast neither of a cellar nor an upper story – all the rooms being on the surface of the ground. Glass windows are quite a rare luxury, light being admitted by throwing open a wooden door swung on hinges where the windows should be. When found necessary to guard against the cold, the light is sure to be excluded. It is surprising how many comforts these people of wealth will voluntarily deny themselves … the grand staple here is bacon – bacon and collards … you will find it on every table in every season.

I’ll remind you that Robertville and Black Swamp are the area of the 1813 land survey where we see land owned by G. Rud and the location of Elias David and Fannie on the 1820 Beaufort Co. census. We can imagine that if the wealthier residents of St. Peter’s Parish lived as such, so did Elias David and Fannie, if not with lesser.

This was a time when the United States was expanding. There had been the Louisiana Purchase in 1802, the Mississippi Migration out of St. Peter’s Parish began as early as 1806. Alabama Fever struck when Alabama became a territory in 1817.The Missouri Compromise in 1820, then in 1822 the Florida Territory was established. All of these probably created a yearning inside of Elias David to establish his own. It doesn’t appear that he owned his own land in South Carolina, or at least I’ve found no record of it. I feel certain though that the location of his residence in the 1820 census is land owned by G. Rudd, probably his brother.

I’m sure Elias David was a farmer, perhaps a planter, most likely cotton and rice. There is no record that either of the brothers owned slaves. That’s another big difference between the Charleston and Barnwell clans. And since they didn’t have any slaves, their farms were most likely small and the families were self-sustaining.

Now, let me share with you another interesting passage from “The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina”.

Page 325
In the chapter “Savannah River Rice Plantations” there is a reference to an 1852 hurricane that devastated the Savannah River area up to Augusta, GA. The Savannah newspaper noted, “The extent of the damage to the crop is impossible to estimate but known to be great.” Two years later (1854) another hurricane swept ashore. It was said to be “the most destructive storm since 1824,” Three-quarters of the rice crop on the Savannah River was destroyed by high water.

So according to this account, in 1824 there was a hurricane that hit Beaufort County that was a destructive storm and was only surpassed in it’s destruction by the storm of 1854. That probably contributed to Elias David’s motivation to move westward.

We know from the reporting of birth location of Elias David’s children that he left Beaufort Co., SC sometime after Rachel Delila was born in September 1826 and the birth of James C. B. in about 1830. And we know that Elias Rudd is listed in the 1830 Jefferson Co., FL census.

I’ve always been intrigued that the children all report they were born in Georgia until the last child, Sarah, who reports she was born in Florida in 1838. We had no record of Elias David in Georgia, but we know that the location in Jefferson Co. FL is on the border with Thomas Co. GA.

Maybe Elias David thought he was in Florida? Maybe when the time came for the birth of the children, Fannie traveled across the state line to a location in Georgia to give birth? However it happened, for years in the census records those children report they were born in Georgia, not Florida.

One thing I think is probably sure; Elias David and Fannie didn’t set out for Florida by themselves. When you look at the families in Beaufort and Barnwell counties, many of them followed the same migration into Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Some of them married into the Rudd family, but many more of them can be seen as neighbors in the new lands. Most likely they migrated out in groups and it’s likely that followed the Old Trading Path trail that ran from just across the old Barnwell and Beaufort area of South Carolina on the Savannah River and crossed Georgia somewhere around upper Thomas Co. GA heading west and crossing the Chattahoochee River at the junction of Jackson and Gadsden counties in Florida ending somewhere near Pensacola Bay.



Click for a larger view

Why Jefferson Co. FL? We will never really know why but here’s a little of the history of early Jefferson Co. FL.

The first Europeans to enter what was to become Jefferson County were the members of Panfilo de Narvaez's expedition. They passed through an Apalachee town in 1528. In the 17th century, the Franciscans administered five missions in the county along an east-west line near what would become U.S. Highway 27. These missions were destroyed at the beginning of the 18th century by the English governor of South Carolina in retaliation against Spanish depredations. When American settlers entered the county in the 19th century, the land was occupied not by the Apalachees, who had been dispersed when the missions were abandoned, but by Miccosukees, a branch of the Creeks who became part of the Seminole group.

Florida was ceded by Spain to America in 1818. Settlement of Jefferson County was spurred both by its proximity to Tallahassee, the newly selected capital, and by the suitability of its soil for cotton cultivation. Early settlers bought large tracts of virgin forest, or, if they could, the old fields of the Indians. They cleared this land to plant cotton.

Jefferson County was separated from Leon County in 1827. The county, named for Thomas Jefferson, was established January 6, 1827. Monticello, named for Jefferson's Virginia home, was named county seat before statehood, while Florida was a territory of the United States. Monticello remains the county's only incorporated city.

Robison's Post Office was named its county seat, superseding the older settlement of Waukeenah. The county seat was soon renamed Monticello. The county quickly acquired its first school, the Jefferson Academy, and a courthouse. Its prosperity suffered in the late 1830's when many of the settlers went to fight in the Seminole War. The failure of the Union Bank in Tallahassee also affected the county. In the 1850's, county residents who had been endeavoring to make the Wacissa and Aucilla Rivers navigable by canals adopted the railroad instead as their means of transportation. The arrival of the train at Station Number Two signaled the birth of Lloyd, which prospered with the railroads until the 1930's. The railroad also gave a boost to Aucilla, but Monticello was left stranded three miles north of the main track.

It’s believed that Elias David settled somewhere near Monticello which is approximately 10 miles for the Georgia state line. I’ll call your attention to this statement: “suffered in the late 1830's when many of the settlers went to fight in the Seminole War”. I’ve always thought that perhaps the reason Elias David left Jefferson Co. FL was because of the unrest with the Seminoles. I now think another reason he left was to join his brother George Washington’s family in the Stewart Co. GA area. I’ll tell you more about that in the next segment.

In the 1820 census we see that Elias David and Fannie have 5 children under the age of ten years old in their household, 2 females and 3 males. We know that those three males are mostly likely William Wesley born 1815, Seth Jackson born 1818, and Elias Trowell born 1819. Now, if it was the case that Fannie was a widow when she married Elias David it could be that one of the female children is from her previous marriage. But we know that she was married to Elias David in 1810, ten years earlier, and that William Wesley was born in 1815, five years into the marriage, so my educated guess is that these female children are both the daughters of Elias David and Fannie.

A few years ago, before I discovered these two female children in their household, I had stumbled upon a marriage listed for Martha Rudd and James Carter (misspelled as Catrer) in Jefferson Co. FL on January 8, 1835.


We have evidence of Elias Rudd in the 1830 Jefferson Co. FL census on page 162, the last line. On page 165, line nine is Joseph Carter and on line ten is Jacob Carter. Also in the 1830 Madison Co. FL census (which is the adjacent country) is Elizabeth Carter, in 1840 she appears in the Jefferson Co. FL census. In 1840 Thomas Co. GA, census at Thomasville (which is adjacent Jefferson Co. FL across the state line) we see James Carter, 20-30 years old with two children under 10. And in the 1840 Stewart Co. GA census is a Jacob Carter. He’s no longer listed in the Jefferson Co. FL census. This is all circumstantial evidence, and the name Carter is very common. But there is no disputing the evidence that a Martha Rudd married a James Carter in Jefferson Co. FL in 1835 and there is no evidence there is any other Rudd family neither in Jefferson Co., FL or adjacent counties, nor in all of Florida before or during the time that Elias David was there.

Then…

A couple years later, I received an email inquiry from a Peak family researcher who was looking for the Rebecca Rudd who married Thomas Peak. He was aware that in the 1850 Stewart Co. GA census there is his Thomas Peak living near Seth Rudd. This researcher was working off of old research done by a member of his family and passed to his father. His goal was to identify this mystery Rebecca Rudd as a gift to his father. He knew his Thomas Peak had come out of upper St. Peter’s Parish, Beaufort Co. SC but he couldn’t find a Rudd there. (Of course not! Elias is listed in the index as Reed!) I was very surprised when I received the family group sheet for Thomas Peak and Rebecca Rudd and it listed their marriage in 1833 Jefferson Co. FL! Surely the person who originally did this Peak family research could not pull something like this out of the air. Especially since there is no evidence that this Peak family was ever in Jefferson Co. FL. As a matter of fact, the person I was communicating with asked me if I thought that was a mistake and it was actually Jefferson Co. GA since that county is adjacent to Burke which is across the Savannah River from the St. Peter’s Parish area in Beaufort Co., SC where Thomas Peak’s family came from. Well, that might be possible, but I don’t think it’s likely. He was under the impression that perhaps Rebecca was a Rudd living in that part of Georgia. To my knowledge, there is no Rudd in Jefferson Co. GA in the 1830. There is a Rud in Richmond in 1830 which is adjacent to Jefferson Co. and Burke Co., but I just think that when you add in the evidence that both the Peak family and Elias David were living in upper St. Peter’s Parish at the same time, add to that this old Peak research lists Thomas and Rebecca married in Jefferson Co., FL and in 1850 both Thomas with Rebecca and Seth Jackson Rudd (son of Elias David) with Nancy are living in Stewart Co., GA very near each other. And here’s another interesting fact. In 2002 when Jacque Rudd and I visited Seth’s grave, there were descendants of Thomas Peak buried in the same graveyard, Rehoboth Church Cemetery, Randolph Co. GA. And Thomas Peak’s Last Will and Testament was filed in Randolph Co. GA where he died as did Seth and wife, Nancy. There is obviously a relationship between Seth Jackson and Rebecca Rudd, wife of Thomas Peak.

So I’m going to propose that the household of Elias David and Fannie in 1820 Beaufort Co. SC looked like this:
3m -10 ..... William Wesley, Seth Jackson, Elias Trowell
1m 26/45 .. Elias David
2f -10 ...... Martha and Rebecca
1f 26/45 ... Fannie

Now it is possible these two females are the daughters of George Washington Rudd, Elias David’s brother. But I’ve never found any evidence of George Washington Rudd in Jefferson Co., FL. And let’s recall what the James Dallas letter said about his grandfather George W. Rudd:

"My grandfather Rudd's name was Geo. W. Rudd. He came from N.C. & settled in GA. He had a brother Elias Rudd.”

Before I live this, let me tell you what I think about the 1830 Jefferson Co. FL census because I think it has contributed to so much confusion about the parentage of William Wesley.

The household looks like this: Elias and Fannie, with 4 boys and 3 girls.
1m -5
1m 5/10
2m 10/15
1m 30/40
1f -5
1f 5/10
1f 10/15
1f 20/30

And the children born at the time look like this: Elias and Fannie, 5 boys and 4 girls.
1811 c. ......... Martha
1813 c. ......... Rebecca
1815 Mar 22 ... William Wesley
1818 ............ Seth Jackson
1819 Feb 28 ... Elias Trowell
1822/3 c. ...... Mary
1824 May 2 .... Samuel A.
1826 c. ........ Joshua
1826 Sept ..... Rachel

First, let’s keep in mind that census records aren’t always reliable and we don’t know the circumstances of the recording of this information. Did someone give the information? If so, we don’t know who. Did the census taker just guess at it based on who he saw at the time? Was it properly transcribed? One thing that I’ve already pointed out is that Fannie’s age is recorded incorrectly. She and Elias David were married in 1810, they have now been married 20 years, therefore, and she is NOT 20/30 years old! She’s most likely somewhere between 36 and 40 years old.

There has been speculation that Fannie and Elias David had a son named Joshua born about 1826. I don’t doubt that Elias David and Fannie had a son named Joshua. I tend the believe that information came from a source that had that knowledge, perhaps an old family bible that has been lost, perhaps it was Mallie Croft Erickson’s interviews with Harriett Finn and Mary Sadberry in 1930 and 1938.

When I began the Rudd family research, many people shared information with me and everyone included a son named Joshua living in the 1830 census but not listed in the 1840 census, nor is there any estimated death date, no family story of how he died. In 1840 he would not have been old enough to be on his own and if he was, he surely would have shown up in the census somewhere because we can see how clannish the Rudds are. So I have to assume that someone years ago was told that Elias David and Fannie had a son named Joshua that died as a child and they could give no more information or surely it would have also been recorded just as his name was.

Therefore, I think we have to give consideration that he might not have been living in the 1830 census. If Joshua was born in 1828 and died before 1930 he wouldn’t be reflected in the 1830 census. And giving a one year adjustment for the ages of Elias Trowell and Samuel A. the 1830 household could look like this:

1m -5 ...... Samuel A.
1m 5/10 ... Elias Trowell
2m 10/15 .. Seth Jackson and William Wesley
1m 30/40 .. Elias David
1f -5 ........ Rachel
1f 5/10 .... Mary
1f 10/15 ... Rebecca age 17 or Martha age 19
1f 20/30 ... Fannie (Fannie married in 1810, she is 30/40)

Yes, that does still leave the problem that we’ve got one too many daughters to account for who aren’t yet married, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are living in the household.

I’ll propose another scenairo.

Joshua is living in the house and William Wesley is absent. And the 20/30 year old female isn’t Fannie, it’s one of the unknown daughters, perhaps Martha who would be about 19 years old. Because Fannie is about to give birth to James C. B. who was born about 1830 and Wesley has taken her to Georgia.

My point is that, we can’t make judgements based on one census. We have to look at the big picture and take into consideration all the clues that are presented to us.

The Elias David and George Washington Reunion in Georgia

Short of having personal writings from our ancestors such as diaries and letters it’s not possible for us to know what motivated them to migrate to new territory. But when I relate it to the number of times I’ve moved in my lifetime, it was always motivated by a quest to improve my conditions. Sometimes even going into the unknown held out a better promise than what you had. Sometimes the motivation is to give to your children a better opportunity than you thought they could have if you stayed where you were. Sometimes it’s the feeling of being smothered by urban sprawl. Sometimes it’s just an adventurous spirit. I think it must have been the same for our Rudd ancestors.

I’m not sure what was going on in Barnwell Co., SC in the mid to late 1830’s but in my reading about Beaufort County, the large plantations were moving towards the Savannah River. Rice had been introduced as a commercial crop that required fewer slaves. So I tend to think the smaller farmers were being squeezed by the larger plantations.

And we know that many of Elias David and George Washington Rudd’s neighbors had already left during the Mississippi Migrations and when Alabama Fever struck. Creek Nation Lands in Georgia were being ceded and Georgia had already completed several Land Lotteries by 1830. A new land was opening up to the West and without a doubt, both Elias David and George Washington knew the value of fertile land. The closer to a river, the better!

But whatever the reason, Elias David Rudd packed up his family and left Beaufort Co. SC and ventured into the forest of Jefferson Co., FL where he built a home and then left it behind to join his brother. Here is what I’ve discovered about their migration and my theory of how and when it happened.

From the census records where the children of Elias David report the State of their birth it appears that Elias David left Beaufort Co., SC after his daughter, Rachel, was born in September 1826 and was residing in Jefferson Co., FL for the 1830 census. All of his children born after Rachel will eventually say they were born in Georgia with the exception of the last child Sarah who says she was born in Florida about 1838. But we know from the 1840 Dale Co., AL census for Elias David and Fannie that Sarah was born in AL.

Other than these two censuses, 1830 and 1840, we only have two other documents during this time period that provide us with some insight into the migration of Elias David’s family, marriage records for William Wesley to Christiana Williamson, and Seth Jackson to Nancy A. Rudd, that surfaced in Stewart Co., GA thanks again to those who came before us and laid the ground work for research of the Rudd family or we may never have found them without some personal knowledge of who to be looking for because both are wrongly transcribed.

William Rudd not Reed, this is William Wesley Rudd



S. J. Rudd not T. F. Rudd, this is Seth Jackson Rudd



Because two of Elias David’s sons were married in Stewart Co., GA I always wondered if Elias David and Fannie had moved their family to that area and when. It would appear they made a detour through Stewart Co., GA on their way to Dale Co., AL. As I proposed in the previous posting, one of the reasons I think Elias David might have left that area of Florida was the Second Creek War which began around 1835. But why Stewart Co., GA? The answer to that question might be tied to when his brother, George Washington Rudd, left Barnwell Co., SC.

Let’s look back at the statement that James Dallas makes in his letter about his grandfather, George Washington Rudd.

"My grandfather Rudd's name was Geo. W. Rudd. He came from N.C. & settled in GA.”

There are two distinct clues in that statement. One, that George Washington was born in North Carolina which based on his likely birth years indicate he was born shortly before his Rudd line leaves North Carolina, and second, he eventually settled in Georgia. Curious that James Dallas doesn’t mention that George Washington lived in Barnwell Co., SC for most of his life. But I assume the word “settled” indicates the last place that George Washington lived. From this, we do know that George Washington did in fact leave Barnwell and migrated to Georgia.

It’s still not definite whether Arthur and David Rudd are the sons of George Washington and brothers to Burrell of Coffee Co., AL because we don’t have any clear evidence and perhaps never will. But what we do know is that back in 1830 Barnwell Co., SC not only is George Washington listed in the census, but as I have shown you, we can identify him as the brother of Elias David using the census records and the land survey with the land grants and deeds of sale for the land.

The only other Rudd we can identify in the 1830 Barnwell Co., SC census is Arthur Rudd. And in future censuses we will see Arthur and David Rudd’s migration pattern mirror that of our Elias David Rudd clan. So let’s go with the assumption that even if Arthur and David aren’t his sons, at least they all migrate together out of Barnwell and into Georgia.

We should assume that David Rudd and Charlotte were married previous to the birth of their first documented child, Thomas, in Georgia about 1835. There could have been other children who did not survive but we know from this that by about 1835 they were in Georgia. And once we develop a listing of the children for Arthur with their reported birth year and place we see child # 5, Rebecca A. Rudd, born about 1835 in South Carolina and child # 6, Mary J. Rudd, born about 1837 in Decatur County, Georgia. Allowing for the margin of one year, 1834 to 1836 seems to be the year of migration for the George Washington Rudd family out of Barnwell.

Now, let’s go one step further and add to this that William Rudd and Christiana Williamson, who says she was born in Georgia, were married on January 20, 1835 in Stewart Co., GA. Now, it’s possible that William Wesley who had been living in Jefferson Co., FL could have met Christiana Williamson who perhaps might have been living across the Florida/Georgia border, but why would they then travel to Stewart Co., GA to get married? Personally, through my research of our families in Barnwell and Beaufort, I’ve developed a belief that Christiana Williamson is from the Williamson clan who are early residents of Barnwell Co., SC. The family eventually expands to Screven Co., GA and they have large holdings in Beaufort Co., SC. I think it’s likely when Christiana says she was born in Georgia, it was Screven Co., GA which is directly across the Savannah River from the Lower Three Runs where George Washington Rudd lived in Barnwell. My impression is that Christiana Williamson and perhaps other members of her family migrated with George Washington Rudd’s family into Georgia and eventually into Dale Co., AL. I believe shortly after George Washington Rudd arrived in Stewart Co., GA, William Wesley and Christiana were married on January 20, 1835. Perhaps they were informally married eariler and only legally registered their marriage when they arrived in Stewart Co., GA. That surely wasn't unusual for the times. This leads me to my third hypothesis as to why William Wesley may not be reflected in the 1830 Jefferson Co., FL census with the Elias David Rudd family; he stayed behind in South Carolina and came to Georgia with his uncle, George Washington.

Going back to Elias David in Jefferson Co., FL and his two unknown daughters, in my previous posting I proposed those daughters were Martha Rudd who married James Carter on January 8, 1835 and Rebecca Rudd who married Thomas Peak about 1833. I’m surely more certain about Rebecca than I am of Martha because of Rebecca and Thomas Peak’s close proximity to Seth Jackson in the Stewart Co., GA census. But if we assume Martha is Elias David’s daughter, then she married James Carter about two weeks before William Wesley married Christiana Williamson in Stewart Co., GA. This could indicate the time frame for Elias David and Fannie’s migration from Jefferson Co., FL to Stewart Co., GA.

The next record we have is Seth Jackson Rudd, Elias David’s son, married Nancy A. Rudd on August 5, 1838 in Stewart Co., GA. So this begs the question, was Elias David in the area of Stewart Co., GA between 1835 and 1838 based on these records? Well, two additional pieces of evidence have emerged.

Jacque Rudd and I visited Stewart Co., GA during the genealogy research trip we took to Georgia, Alabama and Florida in the summer of 2002. Perhaps one day Jacque and I will collaborate on a posting about our week of adventure looking for Rudds in courthouses and graveyards from Stewart to Dale to Decatur to Gadsden, down roads that seemed to be taking us nowhere, never really knowing where we would be at the end of the day. It was Jacque's first time to visit Old Friendship where Elias David and Fannie are thought to be buried. But it was a first for both of us to visit Seth Jackson's grave. Words can not express the feelings we both felt standing at the site of Seth's final resting place. It's sadly deteriorating and we do worry that within the next few years Seth's ancestors may not be able to identify his final resting place.

During our adventure we discovered some very interesting things. One of them was a book, “The History of Stewart County, Georgia, Section I”, by Helen Eliza Terrill, that held the following entries:

In December 1836 Elias Rudd is listed as a buyer at Estate Auction of John Benton, Stewart Co., GA.

In March 1839 Elias Rudd is listed as a buyer at Estate Auction of Samuel Williams, Stewart Co., GA.

Yeah, it was most definitely a whoohoo moment!

This seems to indicate that Elias David was indeed living in the Stewart Co., GA area. And if he wasn’t in Stewart by the time his son William Wesley married Christiana Williamson on January 20, 1835, he was there shortly after and remained in the area until at least March of 1839.

Now this brings me to my theory that when George Washington Rudd left Barnwell, he went to Stewart Co., GA and reunited with his brother, Elias David. And this is why Elias David went to Stewart Co., GA. There was a well used migration trail out of Augusta, GA that ran across the State of Georgia to Montgomery, AL known as the Macon-Montgomery Trail. It passes just north of Stewart County as it heads through Columbus, GA on the way to Montgomery, AL.
Click for larger view of trails.

Given the fact that in 1835 the Creek Indians were once again on the warpath in the area of the Georgia/Florida border where the Old Trading Path Trail ran, it’s doubtful that George Washington would have used that trail for migration into Georgia. This is one of the reasons why I don’t believe George Washington was ever in Jefferson Co., FL. The other reason is that it's evident that Elias David left Jefferson Co., FL around the time that George Washington left Barnwell Co., SC. Therefore, neither Martha Rudd nor Rebecca Rudd were his daughters.

George Washington Rudd was between 51 and 55 years old when he migrated with his family out of Barnwell to “settle in Georgia” as James Dallas writes in his letter. It’s most probable that James Dallas never knew his grandfather, George Washington, because he appears to have died within 5 years of leaving Barnwell. He does not appear in the 1840 Decatur Co., GA census. Remember that James Dallas was telling a history that had been told to him by people who knew his grandfather. He was surrounded by uncles and aunts, cousins and others who probably also migrated into Georgia from South Carolina. He was getting to be an old man and wanted to pass on what he knew about his family history. That’s why he wrote the letter.

I’m so thankful he did. He left us a wonderful gift. A treasure trove of information in just a few words.

The Rudd Triangle

The Rudd Triangle begins to form in Stewart Co., GA. where two sons of Elias David and Fannie Rudd were married; William Wesley to Christiana Williamson on January 20, 1835 and Seth Jackson to Nancy A. Rudd on August 5, 1838. William Wesley and Christiana’s third son, William Elias (known to his family as Uncle Bill) was born on February 23, 1840 in Dale Co., AL. And in the book, The History of Stewart County, Georgia, Volume 1, we have Elias David recorded as a buyer at an estate sale for Samuel Williams in that county in March 1839. So it would appear that Elias David, William Wesley and Seth Jackson took their families and migrated out of Stewart Co., GA between March 1839 and February 1840 because they all appear in the 1840 Dale Co., AL census. But Elias David and Fannie’s daughter, Rebecca Rudd who married Thomas Peak, remained behind and they are recorded in the 1840 Stewart Co., GA census.

As I proposed in The Elias David and George Washington Reunion, I believe that George Washington and his family, including Burrell, David and Arthur, as well as other families from the Barnwell Co., SC area migrated into Georgia about 1835 and most likely took the Macon-Montgomery Trail which ran north of Stewart Co., GA instead of the Old Trading Path Trail even though that trail runs through Decatur Co., GA. One reason being in 1835 the Second Creek Indian War was in early stages along parts of that Trail and the other reason being Elias David had relocated to Stewart Co., GA by 1835. But regardless of how they got to Georgia, it appears that when James Dallas writes in his letter that his grandfather, George Washington, “settled in Georgia”, that place was most likely in Decatur County.

We see by the 1840 Decatur Co., GA census, Arthur Rudd with Rachel and David Rudd with Charlotte have also migrated. We don’t have much evidence of when they relocated to Decatur, but if we accept the birth place put forth for Arthur and Rachel’s sixth child, Mary J. Rudd, they were in Decatur Co., GA about 1837.

This lays out the beginning of The Rudd Triangle. One road leads to Dale Co., Alabama and the other road leads to Decatur Co., Georgia.

You’ll notice in Arthur’s household there is a female child that’s not accounted for among those thought to be Arthur’s children. And there’s an older female that appears to be someone’s mother. My guess is that the child is Arthur’s sister and the older woman is Arthur’s mother, Susannah Rudd. This appears to be the same women, named Susan Rudd in the 1850 Coffee Co., AL census living in Burrell Rudd’s household. Sadly, George Washington Rudd has died by the 1840 census.

Now, if we look back at the 1830 Barnwell Co., SC census for George Washington Rudd, we see there are four female children in his household; 1f 5/10, 2f 10/15 and 1f 15/20. It is likely five years later, in 1835 when the family migrated, that some of these female children migrated into Georgia with their parents or with their own new families. Also back in 1820 Barnwell Co., SC there is an unknown Rud who I can’t account for. The household doesn’t appear in the 1830 census anywhere. There are a lot of children in that household. It’s hard to determine what the relationship is with the 1820 George Rud household by the location on the census because this is one of those census that appear to be in part organized by placing all the R’s together, however not entirely throughout the entire census, but appears more according to be intervals so in this cluster of R’s this “unknown Rud” is on page 20a, line 32 and our George Rud is on page 20b, line 17. That’s pretty close to each other. Another interesting thing about this “unknown Rud” is that he list 2 involved in manufacturing which brings to mind the reported occupations of several of our Rudds, including blacksmith and shoemaker. There are probably descendants of more Rudds than we are aware of living in the Rudd Triangle today.

In the 1850 census we see these families on the move again with the exception of William Wesley who stays in Dale Co., AL. This move will connect the dots on the Rudd Triangle in what is a very interesting move.

By the 1850 census Arthur has moved from Decatur Co., GA to Coffee Co., AL. About 1844 Burrell, his brother, had married Frances Clay in Georgia and we can see by the reported birth locations of their children that the move was made after January 1845 and before August 1846. Burrell and his new family are documented in the 1850 Coffee Co., AL census.

Child # 1: James Dallas RUDD b: January 11, 1845 in Decatur Co., GA
Child #2: Martha Jane RUDD b: August 15, 1846 in Clintonville, Coffee Co., AL

By 1850 Elias David and Fannie have moved from Dale Co., AL to Gadsden Co., FL. Based on the reported birthdates and locations of two of their children they make their move to Gadsden Co., FL between April 29, 1847 which is the birthdate of Elias Trowell’s second child, Frances Caroline, and February 8, 1849, the birthdate of Samuel A.’s second child, Thersey Ann. They will spend the rest of their lives in Gadsden Co., FL.

At about the same time David and Charlotte leave Decatur Co., GA and move to Gadsden Co., FL.

It would appear that at the time of the 1850 census, none of the Rudds are living in Decatur Co., GA but I’m not so sure about that because as I pointed out in the 1840 census, there is an unknown female in Arthur’s household that appears to be his sister. Hopefully, one day we’ll find out who she is and who she married and just how many more Rudd descendants came from her.

The Rudd Triangle now reaches from Stewart Co., GA to Decatur Co., GA and Dale Co., AL then to Gadsden Co., FL and it was traveled again as recorded in the 1860 census when Arthur moves from Coffee Co., AL back to Decatur Co., GA, but his son, Raymond moves from Coffee Co., AL to Gadsden Co., FL, while Seth finally shows up in Webster Co., GA (which was carved out of Steward Co./Randoloh Co., GA). Seth has been lost in The Rudd Triangle for the last 20 years! Based on the reported birth locations of his children, he’s been bouncing around between Alabama and Georgia or he’s been living in Webster Co., GA all this time and his wife has been moving around when she is about to give birth, or the children are just confused on where they were born! It’s a very strange looking situation. But nonetheless in 1860, Seth Rudd is living in dwelling # 493 and Thomas Peak, widower of Rebecca Rudd, is living in dwelling # 483 with his new wife. Yes, Rebecca has died. She must have been less than 47 years old. By the 1860 census Fannie Rudd has also died. My information places her death on August 14, 1855; she was about 65 to 69 years old.

The only other move we see of this group of Rudds in the 1870 census is when Charlotte, widow of David, moves from Gadsden Co., FL to Decatur Co., GA. David has died by this census and it appears that Charlotte returns to David’s family in Decatur, namely Arthur Rudd. And Arthur's son, Raymond, moves from Gadsden Co., FL to Decatur Co., GA.

One thing that this Rudd Triangle tells us is that the family while each of them established their own homesteads, all remained in close proximity to each other. No doubt the roads in the Rudd Triangle were traveled often and I like to think that there were places along the way from one end to the other end where other family members or friends lived. So that when Fannie wanted to go visit her daughter, Rebecca, or her son, Seth, in Stewart Co., GA the trip was made easier by stopping along the way to visit or stay the night or have a meal with friends or family. I think this proximity and the mingling of the first cousins such as Burrell in Coffee Co., AL and Wesley in Dale Co., AL with Elias David leaving Dale Co., AL to Gadsden Co., FL also, unfortunately, contributed to the assumption that Burrell and Wesley were brothers. It also contributed to the belief that Elias David was Burrell’s father. We know now he wasn’t, but I do believe that after George Washington Rudd died, Uncle Elias did fill that “father void” for Burrell, just like he did for David. Elias David became the Rudd Family Patriarch.

You know how during the research process you collect little pieces of information, you don’t understand the significance but you can just feel there is a relationship somewhere, so you store that information away in the back of your mind. Then one day, without warning, WHAM!! There it is, the connection is revealed! You’re overwhelmed with excitement ... you’ve just got to tell somebody!

Well, that’s what happened for me when I discovered George Washington Rudd. During my search for the Elias David Rudd’s family, I had found Arthur and David Rudd in 1840 Decatur and then noted their movement in 1850; Arthur to Burrell and David to Elias David. I knew there had to be some connection but I didn’t understand it until George Washington Rudd was added to the picture. I just had to tell somebody that would understand the significance and be just as excited as I was. So I told my cousin Jacque Rudd and she understood. I’m so fortunate to have someone who shares the adventure with me and gets as much thrill from discover as I do.

By linking the two Rudd brothers, George Washington to Elias David, so much has been learned about the makeup, migration and connections with these families.

And in that light, there is just one other thing I want to put in the back of your mind, so to speak. It’s just a little thing that I noticed in the 1850 Coffee Co., AL census for Arthur Rudd and Rachel Spears. You see how Ramen Rudd is listed as the first child but the name Rudd is written again. Many times in my experience this indicated the person living in the household, even though they may have the same surname, they are not a member of the immediate family. And in this case, perhaps Ramen is Arthur’s child but not Rachel’s child? Or Ramen is not a child of either? This census doesn’t record relationships to the head of household. I’ve just got a feeling that this notation indicates something other than a son of Arthur and Rachel.

Let's just keep that in the back of our mind.

The Fannie Breland Tanner Mystery

What MYSTERY.. you ask?

Well, I’ll tell you.

Like most of us I think, when I heard the name Fannie Breland Tanner, I assumed Fannie’s middle name was indicative of her mother’s family’s surname. Thus, her mother was born a Breland and her father was born a Tanner.

But let’s look back at what Mallie Croft Erickson documented for us more or less 70 years ago. From her notes:

The following information was given to me by Harriette Ann Finn, wife of Ellison James Rudd, and Mary Sadberry, 2nd wife of Elias Trowell Rudd, in 1930 and 1939 respectively; Elias had a sister who married a Kitterer or Kittarer. Each also confirmed that his wife was Fannie Tanner.

I have learned that his wife in one place is referred to as Fannie Breeland. Could it possibly be that he married a widow? If so which of the names is the maiden name? Oh well, such are the problems confronting genealogy research. Who is she, where did she come from, who are her people, etc, etc.

Now for those of you who are not aware of the Elias Trowell Rudd line. Elias Trowell was the son of Elias David and Fannie. He had a son named Ellison James who was the husband of Harriette Ann Finn, Thus, she is Fannie’s granddaughter-in-law. Mary Sadberry was Elias Trowell’s 2nd wife and therefore, Fannie’s daughter-in-law. So in 1930 Harriette and in 1939 Mary both told Mallie that Fannie was a Tanner. I take this to mean that Fannie was a Tanner by birth. Or at least, her father was a Tanner.

Now Mallie also says “that his wife in one place is referred to as Fannie Breeland.” Well, I believe she was referring to Elias David’s response in his War of 1812 Pension Application:


Elias says his wife’s name is Frances Breland and they were married in Beaufort County, SC in 1810.

This seems to indicate that at the time of their marriage Fannie’s last name was Breland. Not Tanner. I don’t think that Mallie had actually seen Elias David’s War of 1812 Pension Application, but it sounds like someone told her about it because she refers to Fannie instead of Frances and she spells Breeland with a double e.

First, let’s determine Fannie’s birth year by looking at what is reported in the census records:
1820 Beaufort Co., SC census 26/45 ... born: 1775-1794
1830 Jefferson Co., FL census 20/30 .. born: 1800-1810
1840 Dale Co., AL census 40/50 ........ born: 1790-1800
1850 Gadsden Co., SC census 60 ....... born: 1790

Since Elias David says he and Fannie were married in 1810, then she most definitely was born before 1800. We can throw out that 1830 report! If we take all the various ages reported on the other censuses for Fannie, I think we can determine she was born between 1790 and 1794.

Also note that Elias David filed this application on November 1, 1875 and says that he is 87 years old making his birth date sometime between November 2, 1787 and October 31, 1788.

Based on the mystery at hand .. How can Fannie be both a Breland and a Tanner? .. I set out on my mission to try and solve this mystery by investigating the Breland and the Tanner families in the same area of South Carolina as our Rudd families. I discovered that both the Breland and the Tanner families were long time residence of the South Carolina Low Country, with the Brelands more clearly defined and living at Boggy Gut in St. Peter’s Parish, Beaufort Co.

Looking for Tanner in the census is much like looking for Rud in the early days. The transcription of the spelling of the name is very difficult to identify. I was quite surprised, however, when I was searching the South Carolina Archives for land records and I kept turning up Robert Tanner as the surveyor of numerous tracts of land. The Tanners date back to the early 1730’s in the same area that was back then called Granville District, specifically around Purrysburg which is located in St. Peter’s Parish, Beaufort Co.

In addition I found in the South Carolina Archives a 1793 land grant to Captain Robert Tanner for 820 acres located in the District of Beaufort, St. Peter’s Parish, situated on Carter’s Branch, a prong of the Great Swamp, the waters of New River. On the 1825 map of Beaufort this area appears to be slightly northeast of the town of Purysburgh and southeast of Boggy Gut. Boggy Gut is the location of the 1813 land survey showing Absolom Breland and G. Rud land. You can view the general area HERE.

But the Tanners aren’t as clearly defined as a family as the Brelands. I found a wonderful Breland Family website which clearly identifies how the Brelands in Beaufort are related to each other. The patriarch is Abraham Breland. Sr. The Absolom Breland on the 1813 land survey that bears the name G. Rud appears to be Abraham Sr.’s son Absolom Breland, Sr. And this Absolom Sr. appears to be the same Absolom Breland in the 1820 census that also list Elias Rudd (and William and John Tanner).

On that census you’ll see Elias Rudd with Fannie both aged 26/45. Two lines up is William Taner, age 16/26 and at the bottom of the page we see John S. Taner, age 26/45. These two Taner male head of households are perhaps her brothers, maybe cousins. Note Absolom Breland and son Jessy Breland are nearby. This most likely is Absolom Breland, Sr, son of Abraham Breland, Sr.

We have clear evidence that members of the Breland and Tanner families, and Elias Rudd all lived in the same general area of St. Peter’s Parish at the same time. I’ll tell you now that I’ve not been able to solve the mystery, but I have narrowed it down to some possibilities and I’ve also discovered some very interesting connections that I want to share with you.

First the possibilities.

Was Fannie a Breland by birth?

Based on the available information at the Breland Family Website and based on Fannie’s estimated birth year, she could be a child of one of Abraham Breland, Sr’s children, she fits in that generation. There are about a half dozen possibilities of females that haven’t yet been defined by name. But there are no females listed as married to Elias David Rudd.

Was Fannie at one time married to and then divorced from a Breland male?

I’ve not found any record of this but I don’t think it’s likely for the time period.

Was she a Breland widow?

Based on her birth year and based on the information at the website, there is one possibility, Samuel Breland born about 1789 and son of Absolom Breland, Sr. The same Absolom Sr. that appears to be the owner of the land on the 1813 land survey and the same Absolom Sr. that appears on the 1820 census. There is no additional information on this Samuel Breland but I am in contact with the website owner and hope he can shed some more information on Samuel.

Was she an illegitimate child of a female Breland that was fathered by a Tanner?

This of course is possible and we have an example of the confusion that this type of parentage can create with Harriet Finn, wife of Ellison James Rudd. Based the information on the website and her birth year, there appears to be one possibility, Patience Breland born about 1774 in Boggy Gut, daughter of Abraham Breland, Sr. but there is no other information on her.

Like I mentioned before, the Tanner family is not that easy to analyze. I can’t tell how they relate to each other. It’s difficult to even identify all the Tanners in the area using the census. There appear to be several based on the land records but land records only indicate who owned the land not who was living there. So it’s not possible to identify which Tanner could be Fannie’s father. But I don’t think that she became Fannie Breland Tanner because she had married first a man named Tanner. Both Harriette Finn and Mary Sadberry said Fannie was a Tanner.

As I was working with the Breland website, I noticed that most of Abraham Breland, Sr.'s extended family died in Mississippi. Now let me tell you about the interesting connections I discovered.

While I was reading up on the history of Beaufort in a great resource book: “The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Volume 1, 1514-1861” by Lawrence S. Rowland, Alexander Moore and George C. Rogers, Jr., I discovered on page 302 and 303:

In 1806, ninety-seven settlers from upper St. Peter’s Parish, led by Robert Tanner and Reverend Moses Hadley of Pipe Creek Church, abandoned their farms, packed their belongings, gathered up their families, and set out in ox-driven wagons for Mississippi. When they reached the Tennessee River they boarded flatboats and floated down the river to the Ohio river, and then down the Mississippi River to Fort Adams. Near Fort Adams they founded the town of Woodyville, Mississippi. Many members of the Grimball and Robert families were part of this first Mississippi Migration.

Two years later, Seth Stafford, the youngest brother of Colonel William Stafford who had moved from North Carolina in 1766, took his family as well as some Cheney, Robert, and Maner relatives on the long trek to Mississippi. Ten years later, in 1818, many of this group moved across the Mississippi River to Louisiana where William Fendon Cheney founded Cheneyville.

In 1811, a third group from St. Peter’s Parish joined the Mississippi Migration. Led by Alexander Scott, John Stafford, and John Audibert, this group included Reverend Howell Wall of the Black Swamp (Robertville) Church, John Tison, David McKenzie, William H. Tuten, Namaan and Seth Smart, Robert Chisolm, Joseph Tanner, Benjamin T. D. Lawton, and Allen and Morris Sweat. Not all of these pioneers, however, found success in Mississippi. Benjamin and Joseph Lawton, Namaan and Seth Smart, and Allen and Morris Sweat all returned with their families to their ancestral homes in upper St. Peter’s Parish.

So according to this information, Robert Tanner, most likely Robert Tanner, Jr., was involved in the 1806 migration to Mississippi and in 1811 Joseph Tanner also left for Mississippi.

I had posted an inquiry on a Tanner message board and received a response from a Tanner researcher who provided me with the forward to a book about a descendant of this Robert Tanner, Jr. line. Here is the relevant part:


You can read the forward HERE and HERE.

As is stated in the forward at the links I've provided, Robert Tanner came to Cheneyville, Louisiana by way of Woodyville, Mississippi. My contact kindly searched the book for me and determined that of the list of names of the children of Robert Tanner, Jr., none of them are unaccounted for and none of them list Elias David Rudd as a spouse. In addition all the females died in Cheneyville.

Bummer huh!!

What grabbed my attention was the statement that Robert Tanner, Jr. had a father named Robert Tanner, Sr. Also in “The History of Beaufort” above, we note that there was a third migration led by a Joseph Tanner. Those migrations by the way are probably how members of the Breland family show up in Mississippi. Maybe Fannie’s father was Joseph Tanner. Perhaps Robert Tanner, Sr. had other sons and one of them was her father.

Here’s another interesting piece of this mystery related to Gadsden/Jackson County, Florida area.

In the booklet “From Mount Vernon to Chattahoochee, A history of Mt. Vernon, River Junction, Chattahoochee and vicinity” by Grady Turnage, on page 1 it says:

The First Whites

It must have looked a lot like the view from Washington’s home on the Potomac River in Virginia as John Tanner stood on the heights in 1821, and gazed at the point where the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers merged to form the Apalachicola River on the Georgia/Spanish Florida boundary. So they called it Mount Vernon when Tanner and his family, the first whites to settle that corner of the new United States Territory, homesteaded in Section 33 of the remote frontier lands of West Florida. Another attraction of the area could have been the rich soil or the forest of rare, sharp-needled, evergreen gopher wood trees that covered the slopes above the river.

John Tanner might have been one of “Old Hickory” Jackson’s Tennesseans or Georgians who stormed into Spanish Florida from Fort Scott on the Flint River in 1818, wiping out Seminole villages all the way to the Suwannee river and Saint Marks. Maybe he liked what he saw in the swamps here. Although Tanner was the first white man to settle in what is now Chattahoochee, William Stuart Pope, kin of the Tanners, William Ellis, and John Collins settled on the land along the Apalachicola River prior to July 27, 1821.

When I read this passage years ago after this booklet was given to me as a gift from James Owen Rudd in Chattahoochee, he and I talked about the possibility that Fannie was related to this John Tanner but I had no information to work with as to where this John Tanner had migrated from. So I went back to read the section and noticed the name William Stuart Pope. Since I had read the passage the first time, I had pursued a great deal of research in both the Barnwell and Beaufort records, so when I read the passage again the name Pope and the statement “kin of the Tanners” raised a flag for me.

I did a search to see if I could find any William Stuart Pope researchers and the following is an example of what I turned up:

POPE:
My 2X gt-gdfather WILLIAM STUART POPE 1789-1837 settled in Jackson County, FL about 1823. He likely went to FL from a home in Beaufort Co. SC (I note with great interest that there is a Pope Cemetery in Beaufort) and is likely also to have had at least 3 siblings: a Col. John Pope, a sister ? Elizabeth Pope Tanner (both settled in FL?) and a brother named Green Pope who went to TX in the 1820s. My lineal ancestors from William Stuart Pope 1789-1837 to present all are buried in Sneads, FL (or have graves reserved there!) but William Stuart, thought to have gone from Beaufort to Jackson Co. FL is my "brick wall" tracing backward.

Hummm .. it does appear that William Stuart Pope was from Beaufort and he had a sister who evidently married a Tanner. My guess is that Tanner was from Beaufort also and the John Tanner in Chattahoochee “being kin” to this William Stuart Pope is also from the Tanner clan in Beaufort.

Unfortunately, the Fannie Breland Tanner mystery is not solved, and perhaps it never will be. I leave the evidence that I discovered in my mission to learn more about Fannie for the readers to decide. One thing I do think is clearer now is that we can’t assume that Fannie Breland Tanner was her actual name. It very well could have been Frances Tanner Breland Rudd. But either way, the three families are tied together.

My records show that Fannie died on August 14, 1855, somewhere between the age of 61-65 years old. I’m sure that date was passed to me by another researcher and perhaps comes by way of the family information compiled by Mallie Croft Erickson. We truly are indebted to her for all the work she did gathering information for us that surely would have been lost forever.

Over the course of about 27 years, Fannie and Elias David had 13 children. Elias went on to live for about 21 more years. He was somewhere around 90 years old when he died. He had filed for a War of 1812 Pension only three years earlier.

Before I close this posting I want to share just one more curious discovery for those of the Elias Trowell Rudd line. Some of us have always wondered where the name Trowell came from as it does not appear in the family previous to Elias Trowell, who was the son of Elias David and Fannie. Take a look HERE on this 1810 Beaufort census. You’ll see among the Breland names, who appear to be the sons of Abraham Breland, Sr. … Joseph Trowell. It’s hard to say but it’s probably the case that this Joseph Trowell is Elias Trowell Rudd's namesake. If we only knew why.

Sounds like a new mission!

Sidneh Rosine (Brown) and George Fleming

Soon after I began this “addiction” called family genealogy research I came to realize that there were many things about the process of discovery that contributed to my obsession. But I think for me, the most rewarding part is when I find stories about my ancestors, especially those of personal triumph against foes and odds, be they of man or of nature. These are two such stories of two remarkable people who I and so many others of us share DNA. At times in my life when I meet challenges along the way, I find strength in my ancestors, even my 6th great grandparents!

First, here’s the descendant line: It migrates from Chester Co. SC to Gadsden Co. FL.

George Fleming married Sidneh Rosine, who was the widow Brown. Their daughter, Sidnah Fleming married Matthew W. McClintock. Their daughter, Jane McClintock married Alexander P. Clark. Their son, David Clark married Mary Alice McKeown. Their daughter, Sidnah Clark married Robert V. Suber. Their daughter, Annie Lee Suber married Walter Washington Rudd, my great grandfather Rudd.

That’s how this line of Rosine, Fleming, McClintock, Clark, McKeown, and Suber blood become one with my Rudd blood. And that’s really the way I like to look at it. All that DNA is mixed up in me. I strive to be worthy of it!

George Fleming

George Fleming, a native of England, sailed from Ireland for America with a gentleman named Kelso. They were men of wealth and George Fleming belonged to the aristocracy, his family crest being a gauntleted hand and a flaming sword. The ship they sailed on was wrecked three miles from the American coast (where about is not known).

A day or two before the wreck, a boy on the ship said he was troubled about a dream he had had the night before -- he dreamt that a rat bit off his big toe. During a terrific storm the vessel was driven on the rocks. The boat's crew tore up planks and made a raft and put off, leaving the passengers to their fate. George Fleming and his friend emptied their chests and their gold (a large amount) overboard and lashed their chests together and, tying a rope to them, heaved them overboard. They asked the boy who had had the dream to jump into one of the chests but could not prevail on him to try, but he said, "I'll hold the rope for your." Fleming jumped and caught the chests, although he was large and heavy. Kelso, the more active of the two, jumped and missed them and sank to rise no more. The boy went down with the wreck. Fleming floated to shore as the tide was coming in. One good swimmer swam to shore. One woman with two children drifted to shore on the quarterdeck. One of the children was dead. Only one of them was her own. The long-boat had been lost on the voyage. When the storm arose, the Captain sent out a boat for a Pilot but it was never heard from again.

George Fleming went first to Charlestown, South Carolina, and afterwards to Virginia, where he bought convicts from England. In Virginia he became acquainted with and married a Mrs. Brown, whose husband and child had been killed by Indians. She was Sidneh Rosine. George Fleming was a widower, with one son named James, when he met Mrs. Brown

Sidneh Rosine (Brown)

During Sidneh Rosine's first marriage, while living with her husband, Brown, and a little son, a party of six Indians and one Frenchman, disguised as an Indian, came to the house one day as the snow was falling at the commencement of winter and knocked on the door. One of them said, "Who keeps house?" Brown, deceived by the English words, opened the door and they rushed in and attacked the family. Brown killed one Indian with a sickle. The rest emptied their rifles into him and he fell dead. They then took the two year old boy from his cradle and dashed his brains out against the jamb. They tied Mrs. Brown, set fire to the barn where the cattle were and burned them. She said the moans and cries of the burning beasts were terrible to hear. They then took what clothing they wanted. They caught up a feather bed, cut it open and shook the feathers out in the storm, laughing and yelling like demons to see the feathers fly. They then started with Sidneh Rosine Brown, a prisoner, her house a desolation and her dead lying unburied, to meet some stronger parties of Indians who were going to Canada.

After some days their provisions gave out. One night, when they were almost perishing with hunger, a young Indian roasted a skin shot-pouch and, dividing it, offered some of it to all the rest. All took some, except one old Indian and the captive woman, Sidneh. When she refused to eat of it, the old Indian patted her on the back in approval of her power of endurance. She one day asked the Frenchman how he could be so cruel, saying she knew he was a white man and a Frenchman. "How do you know that?" he said. She replied, "I know you are white by the color of your eyes. No Indian ever has blue eyes."

They crossed the Ohio River high up at a narrow point on a raft and one of the Indians shot a buffalo across the river, which was considered by them a good shot. Sidneh Brown gave birth to a son on the wearisome journey. The Indians broke the ice on a stream and after plunging him in the water, returned him to his mother. Afterward, having performed the entire journey on foot, they arrived at Quebec and sold her to the French for five French crowns. (One crown = $1.06 1/2).

The French Governor kindly invited her to stay with his family, which she did. She was always grateful for their kindness. They were Catholics. The daughter of the house, having by some means obtained a Protestant Bible, asked Mrs. Brown to read it to her as she could not read English.

In the year 1759 Mrs. Brown was exchanged and tried to start home on foot, but one of her feet had been badly injured with cold and the long journey on foot, she gave out one day. At the same time General Wolfe's army came up on their way to Quebec and General Phillip Schyler, moved with noble generosity, took her back and told General Wolfe to send a surgeon to her. The surgeon sent an apprentice. Schyler would not be put off but told General Wolfe her history and insisted that the surgeon must come himself. The surgeon was sent immediately and she was taken to a hotel for English officers, where she remained until she was well. Then she started home again and, as she said, "back to the old desolation."

She was still young and, as stated before, became acquainted with and married George Fleming, an Englishman and a high churchman (Episcopalian). He had a brother in England whose name was Richard. In conformity with English custom, he wore a wig. He belonged to the nobility and his family crest was a gauntleted hand and a flaming sword. His grandfather owned a war horse and a coat of mail and had been a soldier in some of the English wars.

George Fleming and his wife settled near Bull's Run, Virginia, and at the close of the Revolutionary War they moved to Winsborough, South Carolina. Two daughters were born to them, Margaret and Sidneh. Margaret Fleming was married to Robert Stuart Coulter, and Sidneh Fleming was married to Matthew McClintock. George Fleming and his wife died and were buried at Winsborough, South Carolina. Her son, young Brown, who was born during her captivity, lived to become an Indian fighter of note. He determined to go into Governor Dunsmore's war with "Cornstalk". His mother opposed, but he hid an old gun in the woods and went although he was only a boy. In battle he was so rash and incautious that the soldiers, on several occasions, jerked him back out of danger. No more is known of him except that he married a widow and went to live away from his own people.

They had the following children:

Margaret FLEMING, female, born in 1764 and died in 1835.

Sidneh FLEMING, female, born before 1772 and died January 20, 1839.

George and Sidneh Fleming were buried in Winsborough, South Carolina.

Did you notice the irony in the story of George Fleming? He first went to Charleston, SC and later to Virginia where he BOUGHT CONVICTS FROM ENGLAND!

I want to thank my fellow researcher who shared this story with me. I apologize that I’m not certain I can recall who it was. I believe it was a couple of people. And if you are reading this posting and it was you, please let me know so I can express my appreciation publicly. Like I’ve said before, we are all so much richer in our research when we work together and share information.

And if you’re reading this and recognize any of these names but you don’t know if you’re connected, email me. Maybe I can help. I’m always looking for more cousins!!