[Childress Research] Surry/Stokes Co NC Childresses and Joel Childress
by Conduff G. Childress, Jr.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Conduff G. Childress, Jr." <cchldrss(a)mindspring.com>
To: <CHILDRESS-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 7:54 AM
Subject: Surry/Stokes Co NC Childresses and Joel Childress
Fellow Listers:
In response to Lee Rau's posts on Joel Childress, I felt
obligated, since I live in Raleigh, NC, to post the actual (not abstracted)
court minutes regarding Joel Childress in 1789. In addition, I have been
working for some time on trying to sort out the Surry/Stokes Co. Childresses
(I have circumstantial evidence that my ancestors may be there amongst the
William Childresses) and will provide some preliminary data. And of course,
I will have to throw in some interpretation and speculation as well.
Data on Joel:
From the Surry County Court Term of May 1789.
Wednesday May 13, 1789.
"Ordered that Joel Childress Orphan of Benjamin Childress Decd be bound to
Stephen Childress untill the third day of March 1798 at which time he
arrives to 21 years of age to learn the Art & Mistry of a House Carpenter &
Joiner the said Stephen agrees to give him L__10 worth of Tools & Clothes at
his freedom & also learn him to read write & Cypher as fore as the rule of
three Included."
Saturday May 16, 1789.
"Ordered by the Court that Joel Childress of Benjamin Childress Decd who
was at this Term bound to Stephen Childress still remain in the possession
of Abraham Childress untill the next Court and that the said Indentures be
Cancelled. And that the said Orphan be brought to next Court for their
futher direction."
From the Surry County Court Term of August 1789.
Wednesday August 12, 1789.
"Agreeable to an Order of the last Term to cancel certain Indentures then
made & to bring said Orphan, Joel Childress, to this Term for futher
Direction, according said Orphan was produced. Ordered that he be bound to
Abraham Childress until he arrives to the age of 21 years, he being now 12
Years old the 22nd of last March. The said Abraham agrees to give said
Orphan at his freedom, a Horse & Saddle worth L15 & to learn him to read,
write & Cypher etc."
Tax Record data (organized conservatively with other data) showing currently
known cast of characters: (* before date indicates Stokes Co. -- formed from
Surry Co)
Capt. James Gaines District (1782 Tax List)
1782 (Gaines) David
1784-1787 (Gaines) none listed in NC 1784-1787 State
Census
Capt. Lovells District (1783-1986 Tax Lists)
1783 (Lovell) Joseph
1784 (Lovell) Abraham(1 2 3 0 0 -NC State
Census)
1785 (Lovell) Abraham, Joseph
1786 (Lovell) Matthew
Capt. Carsons District (1784-1786 Tax Lists)
1784 (Carson) Richard, Thomas
1785 (Carson) Thomas
1786 (Carson) Thomas
Capt. Thompson Glens District (1788-1789 Tax Lists)
1788 (Glen) Thomas
1789 (Glen) Thomas
*1795 (Glenn?) Matthew SR
Capts.William Hickman-Charles Beasley-Elisha Childress District(1785-1801
Tax Lists) - Referred to later as the Childers/Childress group
1785 (Hickman) David(1 0 0 0 0-NC State Census),
John(1 6 2 2 3-NC State
Census)
Patterson(1 1 1 0 0-NC State
Census)
1786 (Hickman) David, John, Mary(0 0 2 1 0-NC State
Census), Patterson
1788 (Beasley) David(?11200-1790 Fed Census), John
*1790 (Beasley) Mary (10201-Fed Census),
William(10101-Fed Census)
*1791 (Beasley) Elisha, Mary, William
*1792 (Beasley) Elisha, Mary, William
*1793 (Beasley) Elisha, Mary, William
*1794 (Beasley) Elisha, William, (Mary in Capt.
Dearings District)
*1795 (Beasley) Elisha, Henry, Mary, William
*1796 (Beasley) Elisha, Henry
*1797 (Beasley) Elisha
*1799 (Beasley) Elisha
*1800 (Childress) Elisha(401101111000-Salisbury
District-Fed Census)
*1801 (Childress) Elisha
Capt. Martins District (1794-1798 Tax Lists)
*1794 (Martin) Matthew
*1796 (Martin) Matthew
*1797 (Martin) Matthew
*1798 (Martin) Elisha, Henry
Capt. Absalom Bosticks District (1785-1802 Tax Lists) with likely
substitutes for him
1785 (Bostick) Abraham, Major (1 3 4 0 0-NC State
Census)
1786 (Bostick) Major
1789 (Bostick) Stephen
*1790 (Bostick) Stephen
*1798 (Robinson) Thomas
*1799 (Robinson) Thomas
*1800 (Bostick) Thomas(100102010003-Salisbury
District-Fed Census)
*1801 (Smith) Thomas
*1802 (Bostick) Thomas
Capt. Morgans District (1792 Tax List)
*1792 (Morgan) Stephen
Capt. William Hughletts District (1789-1790 Tax Lists)
1789 (Hughlett) Abraham, Armajor,
Matthew
*1790 (Hughlett) Abraham JR(11400-Fed Census),
Armajor(17500-Fed Census),
Matthew(11300-Fed Census)
*1791 (Hughlett) Armajor, Matthew
Capt. Vests District (1792,1798-1800 Tax Lists)
*1792 (Vest) Matthew
*1798 (Vest) Matthew
*1799 (Vest) Matthew
*1800 (Vest) Matthew
Capts. Charles McAnnally-Campbell-Moore == Shores Reed District (1789-1815
Tax Lists) - referred to later as slave owning Childress group.
1789 (McAnnally) William
*1790 (McAnnally) William(21505-Fed Census)
*1791 (McAnnally) William,
William JR(10100-Fed Census)
*1792 (Campbell) Joseph, Major, William, William JR
*1793 (Campbell) Joseph, Major, Matthew, William,
William
*1794 (Campbell) Benjamin, Joseph, Major, William,
William JR
*1795 (Campbell) Benjamin, Major, William SR, William
JR
*1796 (Campbell) Benjamin, Major, Stephen, William SR,
William JR
*1797 (Campbell) Benjamin, Major, Stephen, William SR,
William JR
*1798 (Campbell) Benjamin, Major, Stephen, William SR,
William JR
*1799 (Campbell) Armajor, Benjamin, Stephen, William
SR, William JR
*1800 (Campbell) Armajor(222011000000-Salisbury
District-Fed Census)
Benjamin(100103010000-Salisbury District-Fed Census)
Stephen(201000010000-Salisbury District-Fed Census)
William
SR(00101002120,55--Salisbury Dist.-Fed Census)
William
JR(300101011000-Salisbury District-Fed Census)
*1801 (Moore) Armajor, Matthew, Stephen, William
SR, William,
William (yes he is listed twice)
*1802 (Moore) Benjamin, Josiah, Matthew, William
SR, William
*1803 (Moore) Benjamin, Matthew, Stephen, William
SR, William JR
*1804 (Shores Reed) Benjamin, Jessee, Matthew, Stephen,
Thomas, William SR,
William JR
*1805 (Shores Reed) Benjamin, Jessee, William SR, William
*1806 (Shores Reed) Benjamin, Jessee, William
*1807 (Shores Reed) Benjamin, William
*1808 (Shores Reed) Benjamin, Jessee, William SR
*1809 (Shores Reed) Benjamin, Jessee, William
*1810 (Shores Reed) Benjamin(210101211000-Shores Reed-Fed
Census)
Jessee(100104010000-Shores
Reed-Fed Census)
William(00002000210,10-Shores Reed-Fed Census)
*1811 (Shores Reed) Benjamin, Jessee, William
*1812 (Shores Reed) Benjamin, William
*1813 (Shores Reed) Benjamin, Jessee, William SR
*1814 (Shores Reed) Benjamin, William SR
*1815 (Shores Reed) Jessee, Lucy (Walker m. Benjamin 9 Nov
1793),
William SR
Capt. Shouses District (1795,1797 Tax Lists)
*1797 (Shouse) Joseph
*1797 (Shouse) Joseph
Richmond District (1805-1815 Tax Lists)
*1805 (Richmond) Stephen (listed as retailer), William
*1806 (Richmond) Matthew, Stephen, William
*1807 (Little Yadkin) Jessee, Matthew, Stephen, William
*1808 (Richmond) Matthew, Stephen, William
*1809 (Richmond) Matthew, William
*1810 (Richmond) Matthew(300101201000-Shores Reed -Fed
Census)
(Richmond) William(William J
111012100100-Richmond-Fed Census)
*1811 (Richmond) Matthew, William
*1812 (Richmond) William
*1813 (Richmond) Elisha, William
*1814 (Richmond) Elisha, William
*1815 (Richmond) Elisha, William
Comments:
The early tax records for Surry Co are mostly missing and what
is there is fragmentary for lots of years. Unfortunately this doesn't
improve until about 1815. No data for Surry Co after 1789 were included,
but then almost all the Childresses, if not all, were in the Stokes part of
Surry Co.
For those who don't have it the code for the 1784-1787 NC State
Census is
1st column WM 21-60 yrs.
2nd column WM under 21 & above 60
3rd column WF all ages
4th column Blacks 12-50
5th column Blacks under 12 & over 50
Thanks to Lee I now have a lot more searching to do since in the
quick pass through the court records looking for Joel I discovered
exemptions from poll taxes (possible both Abrahams) and 2 deed transfers
(this may have been the Childress way since the regular deed transfer
process records show almost no deed transfers for the Childresses). Since
there are some 21 volumes of handwritten records to wade through it will be
some time before I can update the above data with what I can gleam from the
court records. In this regard if anyone knows where the abstracted court
records for Surry Co can be found this would greatly speed up this process.
I asked one of the workers at the Archives if he knew of any such book and
he didn't - said it is possible if one had been done that a copy may have
been donated to them and if so it would be in the upstairs collection - will
check..
Interpretation and speculation:
Now to stir up a little controversy. So far, I have seen no
data that would link Joel Childress with the Childers/Childress group and I
question, at least until shown some, Lee Rau's suggested connections with
that group. In particular, there are at least two Abrahams present and two
Stephens, with the likely ones in Bostick's district and connected to the
slave holding Childress group. I think the key is to tract Armajor and who
is around him. Also, it looks very likely that Armajor and Major are
actually the same person (There is a precedent in adjacent Patrick Co VA -
Armajor (Major) Hancock b 18 Jul 1770). At no time do both names appear
(except that Major shows up on a tax list in KY in 1800 while Armajor is in
the Fed Census in NC-probably easy to explain away since there is also a
Benjamin and William nearby and no Childresses are found there
subsequently-a move they didn't end up making even though they acquired some
land). The name switches are a!
ctually more than shown here. In Rutherford Co TN, Armajor (Armatage in
some transcriptions) shows up in the 1810 census with Joel (Noel) and
Stephen and then Major, with William and James (?200001101000 -- no adult
listed present --1800 Stokes Co Fed census), shows up in the 1820 census,
while the Joel and Stephen are in other counties in the 1820 census.
Futher, I would also argue that the Stephen present with Armajor in TN is
likely his son and not the Stephen involved in the court dispute. He was
likely an older Stephen than the one who went to TN. Thus Joel's
connections appear to be with the slave owning Childress group. As to who
Benjamin (Joel's father) is, that is still a mystery. The one in Stokes Co.
is much too young and I know of no other one. While, I didn't include for
now any of the records past 1815, I will note that a B. William (later
listed as William B.) and a B. Edmund do show up - so I guess Benjamin John
or John Benjamin is still an option.
I am still open to the possibility that all the Childresses in
the area may be closely related. As you can see from the data on the two or
more Matthews above there may be a connection through one of them or not - I
am trying to trace the various districts history as a way of handling the
less than clear cases unlike the two major groups outlined above. There is
also the problem of Stephen and William in 1805. While it would appear they
belong to the slave holding Childress group why did the name Elisha appear
(most likely William's son) which is seen only in the Childres/Childress
group.
I would appreciate very much data that anyone has that might
impinge on what I have posted and hope that this data (which I haven't seen
posted anywhere) will breathe new life and interest into research on the
Surry/Stokes Co Childresses. In particular, I would appreciate posts from
those who have data supporting their roots coming out of these counties
(such as those in TN and MO - a later Major Childress here).
One futher note, a casual glance at the Surry Co Fed census data
from later seems to indicate a lot of use of the name Childers. I don't
know the significance of this but will point out one little thing I noticed
in the Tax Records. The first year that Campbell was in charge of the
district where the slave owning Childress clan lived he listed all the
Childresses as Childers - not so for any year after that.
Con