Monday, July 5, 2010

The Spouses of Anthony Haden's Children

Some of the spouses of the proved children of Anthony Haden have been documented with reasonable reliability.  Others are a bit of a puzzle.

The following are the well-established spouses:

Eldest son John married Jean Moseley, the daughter of John Moseley and Mary Nichols.  Jean was baptized Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County VA.  The marriage between John Haden and Jean Moseley is shown by deeds of gifts from both sets of parents.  A date was given to me as 31 Jan 1745, but with no documentation - they were certainly married by 1747 when the deeds of gift were presented.

Eldest daughter Ann married Thomas Blakey, 12 Jan 1746.  He was the son of Churchill Blakey and Sarah George.  The Blakey Family Bible has been digitized on the Library of Virginia website. 

Ruth Haden married Jacob Farris.  His parentage is not known.  A direct descendant and researcher of this line gave me a marriage date as 27 Jan 1753, which is realistic based on other records, although I have never found the actual documentation.  A deed of gift from Anthony to Ruth and son-in-law Jacob Farris is conclusive.  Jacob Farris helped to provide food for the Revolutionary Army in Bedford County, and has descendants in lineage societies.  His will was proved in Henry County, VA, September Court 1813.  He didn't mention his beloved wife by name, but did name five children.  

Zachariah Haden married Elizabeth Poore, 27 Jan 1763, the marriage recorded by Rev. William Douglas, in The Douglas Register.  She was the daughter of Thomas Poore, Jr. and Elizabeth Moseley.  Elizabeth Moseley was a younger sister to Jean Moseley who married Zachariah's eldest brother John.  There were two more Thomas Poores, both of whom married Susannahs and one of the Susannahs was a Haden, daughter of Zachariah.  The other Thomas-Susannah marriage took place three generations earlier and that Susannah's surname is unknown.  The Poore lineage is horribly confused in many places.  I have sorted out many of the problems but this is not the place to discuss the Poores.  Feel free to email me if you want to know more about my research on the Thomas Poores in Goochland.

The other Haden children's marriages are less clear.

William Haden married Unity and she seems to have been his only wife.  Her surname has been under much speculation for years.  Lane is a possibility, but no definite documentation can be found.   There is an entry in The Douglas Register that has been interpreted as possibly being that of William Haden & Unity Lane,  "Born to Will: Harton and Unity Lane, Jeremiah Harton on 19 Feb 1757, baptized 17 Apr 1757."  Since there is no record of a Haden named Jeremiah, and no other children of William Haden baptized at St. James Northam, I have reservations regarding making such an assumption.  The Rev. Douglas recorded several events in the Haden family and recording the name as "Harton" seems questionable - the name could have been transcribed wrong, though, and I've never discovered the repository that holds the original register, so I could look at it.  There are many Lane entries in the register, as well, but none of the others mention Unity, so no possible parents have been discovered for her.  William and Unity Haden lived for a time in Louisa County VA, before moving to Rowan County, NC, and there are several Lane families in Louisa County.  There is some evidence of the use of the given name Unity in ancestors of the Lanes.  An Edward Lane gave a deed of gift of slaves to several children and William Haden was one of the witnesses to the deed - however, no daughter Unity was named and no Haden received a slave.  This deed is in Louisa Co Deed Book B, p.267, 12 Apr 1758.   A descendant gives the name of a grandchild, daughter of William and Unity's youngest daughter Mary, or Molly, as Unity Lane Marshall.  There are some curious conflicts about some of William & Unity's children, but I'll leave those for another Blog post.

The marriages of Anthony and Margaret's son Joseph are not clear.  The Ancestral File of the LDS Church shows a record to a Mary Tulley - this apparently from the error-prone Hayden Quarterly.  Mary Tulley born in 1749, married abt 1756 (at age 7...!) and died 1820.  Only the marriage date can be even remotely possible and no other record can be found regarding this marriage.   Joseph did marry Elizabeth Hundley [Huntley/Handley are also seen, but I believe Hundley to be correct].  3 Feb 1764 is seen as the date of marriage to Elizabeth Hundley, but that is the birth of a daughter Elizabeth who was baptized at St. James Northam - this is one of those "implied marriages" listed in the book, not a marriage record. There were children born earlier whose baptisms were evidently not recorded.  There is a deed when Elizabeth released dower, and the will of Joseph makes plain that he had a former wife and a present wife, so there is little doubt he did marry Elizabeth Hundley.  Various records after Joseph moved to Rowan County, NC, indicate a probable daughter Sarah Haden who married Richmond Pearson, 5 Nov 1772, recorded in The Douglas Register.  If she was at least sixteen when married, then she was born circa 1756, indicating Joseph was likely married to someone about 1754-55.  Sarah Haden Pearson died prior to her father's death and neither she nor any of her children were named in Joseph's will; Pearson was a quite wealthy man and could likely provide for his children.  In 1777, Joseph Haden and wife Elizabeth, then of Albemarle County, VA, sold their property there and moved to Rowan County, NC.  Elizabeth is not found in subsequent records, and Joseph at some point married Margaret Maxwell, in Rowan County.  Margaret was the daughter of Thomas Maxwell, who named her as "Margaret Haden, wife of Joseph Haden" in his will dated 2 Mar 1800, Rowan County.  Joseph Haden died in 1803, and Margaret subsequently married on 14 Aug 1804, to William Brown.  This marriage has sometimes been ascribed to their daughter of the same name, Margaret Haden, but court records of the settlement of Joseph's estate prove that his widow had remarried.

Elizabeth Haden, daughter of Anthony and Margaret, is often shown as married to a Rea, or Rex.  Without doubt the name was Rea, as I've read the microfilm of Anthony's deed of gift to Elizabeth Rea's daughter Ann, cited in a previous Blog post.  The deed of gift dated, 29 May 1756, states Anthony was then of Hanover, Elizabeth lived in Goochland County.  Anthony does not mention Elizabeth's husband by name.  However, a Goochland deed exhibits a strong possibility for the given name of Mr. Rea [there were only two or three entries in the Goochland deeds for this surname, none of the others indicated an Elizabeth]. 
Goochland Deed Book 7, p.61 20 Jan 1756.   William Ray [sic] of Goochland to Ambrose Hundley of Hanover. 40£ North side James River. Maj John Bollings line, John Burks, Joseph Woodson, Ebenezar Adams Dec'd. 150 acres part of 300 acres granted to James Nowlin by patent 12 Mar 1739. Signed: William Rea.  Wit: Geo Colebrooke, Thos. Pleasants. Ro. Abraham.  Ack. By William Rea. Wife ELIZABETH privately examined and released her dower rights.
It's interesting that this deed was to an Ambrose Hundley, and Elizabeth's brother Joseph had married Elizabeth Hundley.  However, I've found no further documentation on either Hundley.  Descendants of all the other children of Anthony & Margaret Haden down through several generations are known.  Nothing else is known of this daughter Elizabeth Rea, or her daughter Ann.