Hi Wells Researchers,
In reference to Zachariah N. or Z.N. Wells: In 1958, I had an elderly
Boggs researcher send me a lot of info on the descendants of James L.
Boggs. James L. Boggs was in Captain Enoch Osborne's Company during the
Rev. War. James had a son John O. Boggs born 31 Mar 1778 and married
Nancy Wells 1 Mar 1799. In the data this Boggs researcher sent me he
inter-changed Nancy Wells' parents in some places as Zachariah Wells and
in others as Nelson. I always used Zachariah but could his full name
have been Zachariah Nelson Wells????????
Kenneth Maggard
Greg Scalf wrote:
Researchers,
Sorry for my absence in the dialog. I have been extremely busy with
school and another project that has kept me from the Zachariah stuff.
However, some of the info recently has intrigued me, but my server was
down for about a week and I have missed some of the latest info. I
would like to pass along some stuff I already sent. There are a lot of
new people and they can see some of the stuff I worked on.
I did find the old Zachariah Wells Cemetery ( The Good News ) However
it
> is in awful shape with only five stones having any legible markings
and
all
> of them broken except for two in native stones from the hillside.
> Unfortunately I could not find a stone for Zachariah. ( The Bad News
).
>
> I did however find a stone that brings more questions to the
research
than
> answers. A stone read:
>
> Elizabeth
> wife of
> Zachariah
> died
> Apr 3, 1858
>
> This person does not fit into the three Zachariah's wives ( Sr.,
Jr., III
> )(The Mysterious News )
>
> Another interesting finding was of a reference to the heirs of Jacob
Wells
> in Deed Book 1 for Lee County from 1799. This is the earliest entry
for a
> Wells in the Lee County Deed Books. John Ostendorf has come across
this
> also recently. This Jacob was from Sullivan County, Tennessee.
>
> Perhaps the most promising finding could be from the Surveyors
Record
Book
> 1794-1814 for Lee County. John Crabtree and Martin Beaty surveyed
land
for
> Zachariah. the record reads:
>
> Nov. 8th, 1808
>
> By virtue of a Virginia Land office Treasury Warrant No 9789 ( or
9989 or
> 7789, hard to read )dated 18th Dec. 1781. I have surveyed for
Zachariah
> Wells 100 acres of land in Lee County on the North fork of Powel's
river
> about the big Stone Gap. Beginning at a hickory and two dogwoods on
a
hill
> side thence S70E90poles crossing Looney's Creek to a white Oak and
two
> pointers on the river Clift S70W162 poles crossing the river to some
> Laurels N70W90 poles to a stake N70E162 poles to the beginning.
>
> It also comes with a drawing of the rectangular property and the
> measurements.
> Perhaps there is information on the Land office Treasury Warrant.
Does
> anyone know what this is or where to look for it ?
>
> Also after looking at the signatures I feel Zachariah Sr. was alive
as
late
> as 1827. His signature has the Z using a rounded cursive style.
Zachariah
> Jr. used a more angular and fancy style cursive Z. the Deed
signatures of
> Sr. appear to be Zachariah Sr. through 1827. In 1829 the references
are
> Zachariah et al which may imply Zachariah Jr. was representing
others,
and
> the signature is the fancy Z. So it appears Zachariah Sr. died
somewhere
> between and including 1827-1829.
>
> Another interesting piece of info came from The Southwest Virginian
page
> 1339.
> May 3, 1799 Robert Preston to Zachariah Wells $1,000, 900 acres both
sides
> Powell River. Lee County, Formerly Washington County.
>
> This transaction does not appear in the Lee County Records, so there
may
be
> more to offer in Washington County.
>
> Another notes of interest form The SWVirginian September 24, 1796
Jonathon
> Osborn married Agnes Wells Grayson County.
>
> Scott County 1787 Tax List Upper district - William Webb's List
> John Wells
> Also appears in 1789 Tax List as well.
>
> I also came across references (two) that mentioned the counties
changing
> and the problems it causes in hunting records.
>
> " A very good example of such conditions was the early settlers
living
> along the Clinch river, beginning in 1769. At that time all of
Southwest
> Virginia was in Augusta County. Then came in succession
Botetourt-1770,
> short-lived Fincastle-1773, Montgomery-1776, Washington-1777,
Russell-1787,
> and finally Scott County 1814 and Wise 1856. During that period
settlers
> along Clinch River lived in all of those counties, yet they had
never
> moved. Partial records on them might be found in any one or all of
those
> counties. Unfortunately records from the old county did not move to
the
new
> one.
>
> I feel this is also true of the Powell river residents as well.
>
> While writing this e-mail, my mother called with two interesting
updates.
> 1. The Southwest Virginia Museum in Big Stone Gap called my mom and
> verified they have in storage the minute books of the Three Forks
Baptist
> Church. They are arranging a meeting and hopefully a reference will
tell
us
> something. I am hoping they mention the death of Zachariah in it
somewhere.
> 2. In contacting people in the area my mother came across a person
that
> said they knew where Zachariah was buried ( which one ??) It is in
Ewing,
> Virginia which is in Lee County. ( Orin the person is the daughter
of
Naomi
> Wells ) My mom is also working on a visit to Ewing.
>
> I have a ton of info from people and I plan to compile it before
doing
any
> more searching. I want to get all the stuff I have organized. I
think
> getting it organized will help make the picture clearer when
researching.
>
> Please feel free to contact me or ask questions about the trip. When
I
get
> my stuff organized I will be happy to share with all.
>
> Hope my work has opened some doors the rest of you can take
advantage of.
>
>> I did some digging on Sullivan county on the net tonite. <<
Cool. Where exactly did you find this information? Orin,
A - Okay.
I did some digging on Sullivan county on the net tonite. Interesting
finding that Sullivan county used to be part of :
1738-1769 Augusta co Va
1769-1772 Botetourt co Va
1772-1777 Fincastle co Va
1777-1779 Washington co Va
1779-1796 Sullivan co NC
1796-present Sullivan co Tenn
So I bet the Jacob Wells that has come up was in the same neck of the
woods
as the first four counties would be the same dates for all of SW
Virginia
as well. Just the government divided the land up separating them on
paper.
>> Sullivan County Genweb Site. <<
I want to either eventually add this sort of stuff to the Website or
link
to anyplace
that has already done the work.
>> This was on a page , I believe, with other stuff. No direct
hyperlink<<
It looks like he may NEVER have moved! Bought land in Washington Co.
and
it migrated into Sullivan Co., TN. or he had a second piece that he
lived
on that did this and the other bet stayed behind. I think it would be
useful to identify the properties that Jacob, Zachariah (et. al.) and
this
John Wells (1783), mentioned in my last message to the group, owned
and
overlay this with the changed county/state boundaries to see what it
shows.
> Orin,
>
> Mom found Naomi. Led mom to the gravesite in Ewing. It read :
>
> Z. T. Wells
> 1796 - 9/18/1899
>
> Carved into a headstone made from native stone. Grave was all alone.
> Which Zacahriah is this ?? Is this the son of Thomas that married
Agnes
> Culbertson ? Or is this someone else???
>
> In the book " The Bear Grass" by Lawrence J Fleenor copyright 1991
he
> refers to Zachariah Sr. & JR as Zachariah N. Wells. What is your
take on
> this ?? Have you heard of this reference before, the Z.N. Wells ??
>
> Naomi loaned my mom the book " Annals of Southwest Virginia
1769-1880
> published 1929. Author I forgot to write down. Mom is making copies
of
all
> Wells references.
> In it is a reference to our newly found Jacob. Mom relayed the
following
> Jacob info from the book via telephone. Page 214 Deed Book (
assuming
> Washington County, but.... will wait for copies ) July 19th 1791.
James
> Armstrong, Robert Preston, Robert Campbell. Trustees - town of
Abingdon.
> Jacob Wells. 5 pounds. Lot #4 In Abingdon, Virginia.
>
> Mom said all Wells' have been very interested and helpful with her
> inquiries.
>
Hope this helpful and opens some doors. My thoughts are that the
answers we are looking for are in the counties that Wise County was
born out of, which could be one of many.
Later,
Greg