For context, I encourage you to read the previous posts.
Wheaton states that James's son Benjamin reported to the census that he was born in North Carolina. The Jerseys, Virginia, North Carolina -- this is quite a bit of traveling.
If the chronology is correct, James was born in New Jersey (my assertion; see earlier post), settled at one point in Winchester, Virginia (see earlier post), and later, in the 1780s, moved to North Carolina. Wheaton states that many settlers from the north used the Great Wagon Road to travel south. Interestingly, Winchester was a hub of this trail. Many from Pennsylvania and Virginia traveled this road to move away from the conflict of the war and to find cheap land in North Carolina. I need to mention that after the last post, I did a little digging and discovered that Captain Vause was from Winchester, Virginia. Since James was living there at the time, the two men likely knew each other well. The desertion ad placed by James's superior officer was probably not just a cold, official account, but a personal and trustworthy one.
At some point in the late 1780s, He and his family moved to Indian Creek. Indian Creek is located in the Bluestone Reservoir Camping Area at Indian Mills.
As for James's wife, Wheaton states: "James's wife, our ancestor's grandmother's name, is unknown. She was counted in the Monroe Census of 1810 as female along with their female free slave, both being over age forty five. In that year, James would have been about seventy years old. Who was our first grandmother? Could her name have been Nancy? Her three sons would each name a daughter Nancy. Was she a member of one of the families living nearby who had come the Greenbrier with them?"
Wheaton could find no deed, marriage record, or other document uncovering her name. I think Wheaton's hunch is a good one. Their daughter Elizabeth* and son John had daughters named Nancy. However, James's son Amos was married to Nancy Ellis. This complicates the matter.
*In a later post, I will cover Elizabeth (was she a daughter or sister to James?)
There is a great deal of confusion online. First, let's deal with Susannah Miller. Susannah Miller was married to James Halstead of Albany, New York. Yes, there are two James Halsteads, and both served in the Revolutionary War! This James Halstead served in the 12th Regiment of Albany County, New York Militia. Because both Jameses served in a 12th militia (one the Virginia, the other the New York Militia) the two Jameses get confused. This James and his wife Susannah moved to Ohio and had the following children: James, Jr., Mary, and Jacob. Our James had the following children: John, Amos, Benjamin, and, possibly, Elizabeth (to my near cousins: we descend from his son Benjamin).
Sometimes, family trees indicate his wife as Elizabeth Steppe (or Stipp). There is only one glaring problem. There are absolutely no primary sources for this. Personally, I agree with Wheaton. I think her first name might have been Nancy.
Be careful using Ancestry.com! Those names are sometimes attributed to James's wife, but one is incorrect, and the other is unprovable at best.
Wheaton writes, "The first mention of him was in Greenbrier County [my note: a portion that would become Summers County] tithables in 1787, and he could have been in the area some years before that date. His tithable assessment was made April 14, 1787, his neighbors assessed the same day were: Reuben Booten, James Ellison, Jr., Francis Farley, John Farley, Matthew Farley, James Haynes, William Lacy, Sr., William Lafferty, Samuel Pack, David Tremble, and James Wilson."
What was a tithable? The original meaning of the word comes from the church term "tithe" or offering to the church. In the 1700s, the head of the household was responsible for paying a flat tax for every person who lived on their land. The head of the house was the taxpayer, and he was responsible for the tithables, who were the taxable people on his land. This was a tax used for numerous purposes, and it was later replaced by the property tax. Tithables can be very helpful for researchers, although they often lack key information. Only white men and slaves 16 and older were tithable. Except for the name of the head of the household, only ages and "boy" or "girl" or some such description were given. White women were typically excluded. Slaves were not.
Wheaton continues: "James and his sons John, Amos, and Benjamin were found in many old records of Greenbrier, and later Monroe, County" (part of Summers Co. was once a part of Monroe Co as well). In 1789 Lewis Booten was ordered to pay James Halstead two hundred pounds of tobacco for eight days of court attendance as a witness in Booten's suit with James Haynes (both were neighbors of James). Seven months later on March 31, 1790, James Haynes was ordered by the court to pay Samuel Pack and William Lafferty three hundred pounds of tobacco and to James Halstead three hundred fifty pounds of tobacco as a witness in the suit against James Byrnsides. Brynsides was also required to pay Matthew and John Farley two hundred fifty pounds of tobacco in the same case. (This was a land dispute)."
Although this information lacks details, Booten and Haynes were close neighbors of James Halstead. James Byrnsides was involved for many years in legal battles regarding overlapping landgrants.
Wheaton recounts a case of debt involving James Siers (Sawyers) and John Sawyers to James Halstead.
"By 1803, John, the oldest son of James was living further down on Indian Creek with his wife Elizabeth, near the Mann and Miller families. That year John gave his farm to his brother Amos and by 1813 Amos and his wife Nancy left for Kanawha-Boone County with other families going westward. Amos gave his farm to Benjamin. Benjamin became owner of his father's farm [James Halstead], the ninety six acres and his own farm, eventually nearly two thousand acres in all."
Wheaton recounts that the Red Sulphur Baptist church was first organized at the home of Benjamin and was called the Union Baptist Church. It stood "at the east end of the present old iron bridge across Indian [Indian Creek]". She writes that it had a stone chimney in the middle with a fireplace on each side. The name was changed in 1845. "The present church is a handsome white structure near Ballard. (O. Morton) The family cemetery was located on James farm near Indian Creek. James and our first grandmother were buried there."
According to Wheaton, the cemetery was relocated by the Army Corp of Engineers to nearby higher ground when the Bluestone Dam was built. You can find this cemetery. There is a plaque for James on a hill coming through the camping ground at Indian Creek. There is a little knoll to the left as you drive in. It has been quite a while since I drove over there. It can be a little tricky to find. Just keep your eye fixed on the left.
In the next post, I will cover some of the details Wheaton gives for the children and grandchildren of James.
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