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