I can search Uncle Don’s DNA matches for just about any county in southern Virginia and find hundreds of matches who have family trees with ancestors who lived in Brunswick, Sussex, Prince George, Dinwiddie, Amelia, Nottoway, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Halifax, Charlotte, Prince Edward, Campbell, and Bedford counties (to name a few) but the matches themselves live in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. A lot of those matches have surnames that are commonly found in old Anson (now Montgomery) County, and Moore County, North Carolina.
So, there was no surprise when I found in the trees of DNA matches the name Deaton, a family that migrated from Virginia to North Carolina. Several of the matches show they descend from Captain William “the Tory” Deaton, supposedly the son of Thomas Deaton Sr. who died in Henrico, Virginia about 1761. Captain William Deaton’s son, Burwell (or Burrell) Deaton lived in Moore County, North Carolina, the same place my Williams family is from so if I dig deep enough, I might find some connection there to attribute the DNA to.
Other DNA matches show descent from Thomas Deaton Jr. and a few from some of the other children (listed below).
I have spent a month researching the Deaton family and could probably write several thousand more words about them and their collateral lines. Below just scratches the surface.
Most researchers believe Thomas Deaton Sr. is the same man listed in "CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS, ABSTRACTS OF VIRGINIA LEGAL PATENTS AND GRANTS," composed by Nell Marion Nugen (Volume 3, Virginia State Library, 1695-1757, Richmond, 1974) where there is a record of a land transaction in 1701 indirectly involving Thomas.
From Geni:
It took me some time, but I finally found the original record on Family Search.
Land Patents Book 9, 1687-1706, State of Virginia page 376
My first notice was that this record is for New Kent County, Virginia which is not Henrico County, Virginia where Thomas Deaton Sr. was found living some years later. So, maybe he moved after his Indenture was completed. That is a possibility.
The second thing I noticed is that this Winston family was part of the “New Light” religious dissenter movement begun by Samuel Morris of Hanover County, Virginia. Anthony Winston and his son, Isaac, who was fined alongside Samuel Morris for allowing John Roan to preach at his house in Oct 1745, were wealthy, prosperous, freeholders in western New Kent County, Virginia and held 1,079 acres in New Kent County (the same land grant that Thomas Deaton is mentioned in), but these lands were included in Hanover County when it was carved out of New Kent in 1720. Winston patented an additional 1,736 acres in Hanover in 1732 and purchased 940 acres in Henrico in three separate transactions. (New Light in Hanover County: Evangelical Dissent in Piedmont Virginia, 1740-1755 by Rodger M. Payne)
The Winston deeds in Henrico County are all for land on the south side of Chickahominy Swamp, near the same place dissenters Samuel Morris and Aaron Trueheart had lived. The Chickahominy Swamp/wetlands are located along the Chickahominy River in eastern central Virginia, spanning areas of Charles City, James City, and New Kent counties. The wetlands, including the Chickahominy Wildlife Management Area, extend along the river between Richmond and its confluence with the James River, near Williamsburg.
Digging deeper for other records on Thomas Deaton, I found what looks like Thomas Deaton (shown as Tho: Deaton) dated 1675 listed as part of a land grant for headrights for Edward Hatcher who was granted 1,300 acres of land on the North side of the James River in Henrico County, Virginia. Edward Hatcher paid for the passage of these people who most likely became indentured servants.
Wiki Tree profile for Edward Hatcher transcribes the record as follows. Note: Lilley Valley and Cornelius Creek are shown on above map.
Edwd Hatcher, 1300 acs; Henrico Co., N side James Riv, 6 Oct 1675, p 570. Next to Lilley Valley; nigh Cornelius' Cr, over Mr Beauchamps path, &c. Trans. of 26 pers; Jno Scutfeild (or Stutfeild), Mary Gage, Eliz Richards, Jno Smith, Eliz Haward, Jno Cleer, Samil Greene, Hopkin Powell, Susa Wilshire, Marg Browneing, Jno Hosock, Tho Filbrough, And Martin, Ben Salt, Eliz Curtin, Peter South (or Souch), Morris Mathews, Tho Watson, Jno White, Kath Fossett, Gen Croker, Jno Hosock, Cha White, Benja Salt, Tho Deacon, Peter Souch (?), Morris Mathew, HEN HATCHER.
I have included a blow up of the section of the name. It is difficult to tell if it is Deacon or Deaton as the J in the above name has been extended to cut off the a or t in Deacon or Deaton. To be fair, I did find a Thomas Deacon in Cumberland County, Virginia in the 1700s but none in Henrico County.
I’ll leave it to others who are Deaton descendants to investigate the records further. Just know that there are other possibilities, even in other Virginia counties. I also found Thomas Deaton’s for the same era in Isle of Wight County and York County.
An online record that is accepted as being Thomas Deaton Sr. in Henrico County is in Order Book, 1737-1746, Henrico, Virginia Nov. Court 1741.
The action of trespass on the case between James Thompson plaintiff and Thomas Deaton defendant is dismissed by consent of the parties.
James Thompson may have been the man noted as “Doctor” in Colonial Henrico records. Perhaps Thomas Deaton owed money to James for his services. James Thompson named his son-in-law, Isham Randolph, as executor to his will.
I found two transcribed records (called Abstracts), see below. The first being misunderstood by a Wiki Tree author with the “Dr” in a record as meaning “drunk” when it really means “debtor.”
The “Dr.” record can be understood as follows:
Dr. (Debtor): Indicates that the person named was in debt to the estate, merchant, or individual keeping the record.
1736 (Year): The year the transaction took place.
1 Levy (Tax): Refers to a single tax assessment. In the colonial period, levies were a tax imposed, per head poll tax, often to pay for parish expenses (Tithable) or county fees.
pd by (Paid By): Indicates that the tax/debt was paid on behalf of the debtor by another individual, often a plantation owner, employer, or head of household.
This entry typically appears in a ledger or court record and should be read as: Thomas Deaton is a debtor to Col. Kennon who paid his tax in the year 1736.
Col. Kennon paid several more taxes for others as shown in colonial records and it may be that these men were employed by him or perhaps the men just borrowed money from him to pay their tax. The Kennon’s owned thousands of acres of land in Henrico, Virginia, including the “Brick House” in Conjurer’s Neck. The Kennon’s had close ties to the Worsham, Isham, Bolling, Eppes, Royall, and Archer families.
Virginia Colonial Abstracts Vol. XXI, 1677-1744, Henrico County, Virginia
Virginia Colonial Abstracts, 1637-1774, Henrico County, Virginia
There may be other online and offline records for Thomas Deaton Sr. that I am not aware of and do not have access to without visiting Virginia. If you know of any records, leave a comment on what they are and where they can be found.
Children that I have seen attributed (but not necessarily proven) to Thomas Deaton Sr. are as follows. Note I have seen many different dates of birth for these children. The below being what I mostly saw on Ancestry.
Thomas Jr b. 1710 m. unknown daughter of John Gibbs (more on “Mary Gibbs” below)
Elizabeth b. 1711 m. Thomas Hallum
James “the Pioneer” b. 1713 m. Obedience Jackson
Elijah b. 1720
John b. 1720 m. Mary or Martha Rowlett
William “the Tory” b. 1725 m. Sarah Jackson
Jabez b. 1727 (also seen as Jaby or Jabe)
George b. 1733 m. Temperance Claybrook (most trees show Temperance Jackson)
Matthew b. 1734
Nathan b. 1736
I have built the family tree on Ancestry and am working to find records that connect the family together.
Thomas Deaton Jr. (b. 1710) married an unknown daughter of John Gibbs Sr. Yes, I know it is overwhelmingly accepted that Thomas married Mary Gibbs and she was a daughter of John Gibbs Sr., but John Gibbs’ will named his daughter Mary Dance, so, Thomas could not have married Mary as she was married to someone else.
In the will of John Gibbs Sr. dated 23 Jul 1773 in Chesterfield County, Virginia I found the children and some grandchildren of John Gibbs Sr. who names Thomas Deaton as his son- in-law, so, we can be sure that Thomas did marry a daughter of John Gibbs Sr. However, daughter Mary is listed as Mary Dance, and we can assume that her husband is named son-in-law, Nall Dance. No daughter or grandchildren are listed with a surname Deaton, so it appears that Thomas Deaton’s wife has died by 1773. There were no Deaton grandchildren named.
In the name of God Amen, I John Gibbs of County of Chesterfield...
Wife - not named
Sons, Matthew and William
Grandson – John, son of William
Grandson - Michall
Granddaughter - Elizabeth, daughter of Matthew
Daughter - Mary Dance (likely wife of Nall Dance, son-in-law)
Son-in-law, Thos Rowlett (no wife mentioned so she likely died before 1773)
Daughter - Agnes Worsham (no husband mentioned so he likely died before 1773)
Son-in-law - Nall Dance (likely husband of Mary Gibbs)
Son-in-law - Thos Deaton (no wife mentioned so she likely died before 1773)
Daughter - Lucy Gibbs
Daughter-in-law - Mary Gibbs (Mary Webster who married John Gibbs Jr)
Daughter - Susannah Gibbs
In a 1757 Chancery suit in Amelia County, Virginia, John Gibbs (Jr) & WIFE (Mary Webster) vs. Peter Webster ETC.
Some surnames mentioned in the case file are:
Belcher, Bevil, Cousens, Cousins, Couszins, Couzens, Cuzzins, Deaton, Dyer, Garrott, Gibbs, Martin, Old, Perkinson, Purkinson, Traylor, Webster, Worsham
The case is mainly about Mary Webster Gibbs, the wife of John Gibbs Jr, whose father, Thomas Webster, had died in Henrico County, Virginia and the parties were asking the court to settle the issue of land inheritance. It is interesting to note that a man named R. Kennon signed as witness to some of the depositions.
Note: Kennon was the surname of the man who paid the tax for Thomas Deaton Sr. in 1736.
On page 29 of the court file is found the deposition of Thomas Deaton. After being legally sworn, Thomas proceeds to tell the court that he had heard some conversation between Thomas Webster and John Gibbs who was at that time courting the daughter of the said Thomas Webster concerning the tract of land adjoining John Gibbs and that Thomas Webster had offered the land to John Gibbs or another tract of land in Chesterfield County as a portion for marrying the daughter of said Thomas Webster. After the marriage of John Gibbs Jr. and Mary Webster took place, Thomas Deaton and his wife (unfortunately not named) were called on to witness the second gift of land and John chose the land adjoining himself and Thomas Webster said he would make a conveyance of the land in Amelia County to John Gibbs.
It is obvious, based on the deposition, that Thomas Deaton Jr. had a close relationship with the Gibbs and Webster families and considering he made a deposition for John Gibbs Jr. it is likely he married a sister of John Gibbs Jr., and the Chancery case only adds to the evidence that is piling up.
Children that have been attributed to Thomas Deaton Jr. and his Gibbs wife are:
Levi b. 1748 m. Martha Vasser d. 1799 Amelia County, Virginia
John b. 1755
Joseph b. 1755 m. Catherine Jordan d. 1832 Montgomery County, North Carolina
Dyson b. 1756 d. 1840 Alabama
Elias b. 1757
Isaac b. unknown
Jacob b. unknown
Thomas b. unknown
Levi (sometimes seen as Levy) Deaton, son of Thomas Deaton Jr. and the unknown daughter of John Gibbs, was born about 1748. He married Martha Vasser, probably in Amelia County, Virginia.
Levi and Martha had two children who intermarried with a Pollard/Morris family in Amelia County, Virginia. Researching the Pollard/Morris line is how I found the Deaton’s and this blog post was born. Elijah Deaton and James Deaton married sisters, Nancy Pollard and Elizabeth Pollard whose parents were Joseph Pollard and Leah Morris.
If you have spent any time reading through this blog you know that I am researching my Morris line trying to find the parents of Uncle Don’s 2nd great grandparents John Jacky Morris and his wife Amelia. Two things caught my eye.
1. The Deaton family intermarried with the Morris family. I am researching Morris across Virginia, so this is timely.
2. The Morris family intermarried with the Pollard family. Uncle Don has a YDNA match who may descend from a Pollard family. The YDNA match goes back to Allen Thomasson, the son of Nelly Thomasson of Granville, North Carolina, who may have had Allen Thomasson out of wedlock with a Morris male who is probably a son John Morris Sr. and Phebe Tudor. Several other YDNA matches descend from John Sr. Allen Thomasson had a close relationship with Phebe Tudor Morris even living with her in the late 1830s and is mentioned repeatedly in her estate file. Nelly Thomasson's parents are unknown, but she probably descends from a son of George and Mary Pollard Thomasson of Louisa, Virginia. Two of their sons, Richard and Thomas, moved to Granville, North Carolina and lived close to John Morris and Phebe Tudor. I am now working to see if Joseph Pollard of Amelia, Virginia has any connection to George Pollard of Louisa, Virginia.
Leah Morris Pollard, the mother of Nancy and Elizabeth who married brothers Elijah and James Deaton, is the daughter of Isaac and Mary Morris of Amelia County, Virginia. I won’t go into detail here on this family; only to say that Isaac Morris’ will names his children as Elizabeth Harris, Leah Pollard, Moses, Sylvanus, Zachariah, Isaac, Tabitha, Rhoda Beadles, and Oney Beadles.
Levi Deaton is found in many family records as being associated with the unincorporated community of Deatonville in Amelia, Virginia which looks to have been founded as Thompson's Tavern in the early 1800s but was renamed Deatonville in 1812 after the Deaton family, specifically from Deaton's Ordinary that was owned by Levi Deaton who had purchased it from Josiah Jackson in July of 1783 for ten thousand pounds tobacco. The Ordinary was located on the James River above City Point.
The deed reads in part as:
“Josiah Jackson is justly indebted to Levi Deaton and honestly desirable to secure the payment … Josiah Jackson hath granted bargained sold & confirmed by these presents ... to Levi Deaton his heirs and assigns forever one certain tract of parcel of land about forty acres called Hendrick’s Ordinary and all the right & title unto the land I hold called Vasser’s tract ... and if any money should arise after the above sum is paid to return to the said Jackson or his heirs the sale of the said lands by each party to be sold the first day of March next except that should be on a Sunday.” Witness: William Craddock, Jas. C. Mitchell, Garner Mayes (Amelia, VA, Deed Book 16:356)
William “the Tory” Deaton fought on the side of the British in the Revolutionary War and was probably killed at the Battle of Lindley's Mill on September 13, 1781, leaving wife, Sarah, to fight for the estate in court against creditors. I am not sure yet if property was seized by the newly formed American government due to William fighting for the crown but am still reading through the estate file and hope to find that out.
William and Sarah look to have lived close to the Randolph County line and owned property in both Chatham and Randolph counties. As noted above, some of his descendants lived in Moore County, North Carolina and most of the DNA matches in Uncle Don’s match list show descent from this line of Deaton’s.
Uncle Don has Williams’s ancestors in Moore County so I will need to dig deeper to see if the shared DNA can be attributed to Williams as we do not descend from the Deaton family that I am aware of.
Obedience Jackson, sister of Sarah, married James Deaton, the brother of William. James and Obedience also lived in Chatham County, North Carolina with James dying there about 1806. His will names wife, Obedience, and children, John, and unnamed daughter who married Robert Hardin, Zadock, Claiborne, Thomas, Matthew, James, Mary Murry, Jackson, and William.
George Deaton, also the child of Thomas Deaton Sr. of Henrico County, Virginia is the last to be covered here. Most family trees have him married to Temperance Jackson, shown as a sister of Sarah and Obedience Jackson, but their father’s will does not name a daughter Temperance. However, Peter Claybrook’s estate file does name a daughter as Temperance Deaton. Peter wrote his will in January 1798 in Amelia County, Virginia, naming his wife and children. I believe there is a copy error as whoever translated his will to the courthouse file named Temperance as “Imperan Deaton” and has caused a lot of confusion for 228 years. Literally, every tree I found on Ancestry has her listed this way.
I have made the correction to her name at Ancestry and added a comment to see additional estate records at Virginia Chancery file.
Additional pages in the Chancery file show that Temperance is the wife of George Deaton.
I hope this Deaton blog has offered new ideas and new information that was not previously known or documented. The Deaton family in Montgomery County, North Carolina, has deep roots dating back to the late 18th century, with Joseph Deaton Sr. (1755–1832) purchasing land on Little River in the 1790s. Joseph is the son of Thomas Deaton Jr. and his unknown Gibbs wife.
In 1833, Joseph Deaton provided an affidavit for Joseph Parsons’ Revolutionary War pension claim alongside Henry Frasier. Both men swore that they were acquainted with Joseph Parsons during the Revolutionary War and knew him to have served as Captain in the Militia and that they both served under him a tour of three months each.
The Deaton’s are a prominent early family in the region, with a dedicated Deaton Family Cemetery in Montgomery County, North Carolina and many members buried throughout the county of Montgomery. Joseph Deaton is buried at Laurel Hill Baptist Church Cemetery in Troy, Montgomery, North Carolina.
Early settler, Joseph Deaton Sr. is a central figure in the Montgomery County family branch, with descendants including John Calvin, Francis Jordan, and Dison Deaton.
Considering that Joseph Deaton lived close to Haton Morris in Montgomery County, North Carolina, I wonder if there may be a connection between Haton Morris and the Morris and Pollard family in Amelia County, Virginia.
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