Remember also that James Ward was the son of Nathan Ward, born 1713 in Prince George's
County, MD, the biological son of George Wells and Susannah Swanson Ward. Y-DNA results
confirm that Zachariah Wells was a kinsman of George Wells and also a direct descendant of
George's father, Thomas Wells, who was born in Southwark, Surrey, England, in 1653.
James Ward married Sarah Osborne, supposedly the daughter of Solomon Osborne, the brother
of Enoch Osborne. Therefore, Zachariah Wells and James Ward were connected both through
the Ward/Wells and Osborne families. All citations for the previous statements are
included in my narrative about the Thomas Wells family posted earlier. Do you have the
citation for the oaths of allegiance. I love citations. John B. Wells
IIIwellsga(a)bellsouth.net
On Tuesday, May 16, 2017 9:20 AM, "ajweyer(a)aol.com" <ajweyer(a)aol.com>
wrote:
I concur that the Zachariah Wells in Sullivan County, Tennessee is not our
Zachariah Wells citing the same reasons you give. I knew that the Zachariah Wells in
Wilkes County lived next door to Micajah Pennington but I did not know that he also lived
next to Enoch Osborne. This would suggest to me that Enoch could be Zachariah's
brother-in-law being that his wife was named Abigail Osborne. I also believe that
Enoch's parents have been listed as Ephraim Osborne and Elizabeth Wells Howard. Being
that there are almost no Wells in the New River area of Virginia and North Carolina it
would be interesting to know more about her. There are two reasons I can think of why
Zachariah may not have served in the Revolution. The first would be that he might have
been a Quaker. I believe that I have read that Micajah Pennington was a Quaker. Secondly
the early years of the Revolution in this part of the country was mainly against the
Cherokee Indians. Many raids were made against these Indians and in some cases the raids
were against peaceful Indians. Some opportunists took the war as a chance to rid the area
of Indians opening up the way for western expansion. Some locals disapproved of this
policy and thought it was wrong. Many of the locals had traded with these Indians for
years and in some cases intermarried with them. There was a group of men called "Long
Hunters" who went on lengthy trips through the area hunting and collecting furs.
These men were friendly with the Cherokees and were allowed to proceed without being
harassed. Some of those people who disapproved of attacking the Cherokees actually went as
far as joining the Tories and fighting against the Revolutionaries. Below is a list of
people who took an oath of allegiance while serving in Enoch Osborne's company. Our
Zachariah had a daughter who married the son of Francis Sturgill and two other daughters
married sons of William Landreth. "A list of persons who have sworn allegiance
to the State 1777 in Captain Ozborn's company were Ezekjial Young, Frances Stegil,
Jeremiah Ozborn, William Landreeth, Robert Baker, John Medly, Isaac Weaver, William Hash,
Stephen Ozborn Jr., Joshus Pennington, James Ward, Ephriam Ozborn Jr., Timothy Roark,
George Ewing Jr., Henry Long, Josiah Ramsey, and Samuel Newberry.A few names from
Coxe's Company refused to sign. Next to one of the refusers name was written "an
old inoffensive ignorant man". Could be that our expression of "Coxe's
Army" could have originated here". Excellent start. I am guessing that
between 1772, when Zachariah is listed in Fincastle County, Virginia, and 1779, when he
buys land in Wilkes County, North Carolina, Zachariah is among the missing. Also where he
was before 1772 is also a blank page. Zachariah and Abigail marriage date is listed as 1
January 1770. I believe this just to be a random date set up to have one. Looking at the
birth years of his children I believe it could be 1770 - 1772. If we knew exactly where
the Osborne clan was at that time there is a good chance that is where Zachariah was.
Thanks John. Andy Weyer -----Original Message-----
From: John Wells <wellsga(a)bellsouth.net>
To: zachariahwells <zachariahwells(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Mon, May 15, 2017 6:44 pm
Subject: [ZACHARIAHWELLS] Zachariah Wells links from Fincastle, VA to Wilkes County, NC
I think there can be little doubt that the Zachariah Wells who appeared in the Fincastle
County, VA tax list in 1772 is the same man who later received land in Wilkes County,
North Carolina. According to North Carolina Land Grant Book 59, page 244, Grant #636, the
land for Zachariah Wells was entered on 4 December 1779. It was surveyed on 24 March 1783
and was described as adjacent to land of Micajah Pennington. The next land grant (#637)
was entered for Enoch Osborne and it also bordered the land of Micajah Pennington. It was
surveyed on 28 March 1783 with Zachariah Wells acting as chain bearer. Enoch Osborn(e) was
the captain of a company of Montgomery County, VA Militia during the Revolutionary War
with muster rolls dated 1777, 1781, 1783 and 1785. Abraham Sturgill, Francis Sturgill,
James Sturgill, Ephraim Pennington, Joshua Pennington, Richard Pennington and Robert
Pennington were members of his company. A note in "New River Notes" states that
"some of Osborn's Company actually lived on the North Carolina side of 36 degrees
30 minutes", but lived closer to Osborn's Fort that North Carolina muster
places.Now to the toughest part. I have found NO evidence that Zachariah Wells ever served
in the Revolutionary War. Many genealogists have mistakenly claimed that the Zachariah
Wells of Sullivan County, Tennessee, was the same man as the Lee County, VA Zachariah. The
facts do not bear this out. The Sullivan County veteran served in a unit from Loudoun
County, Virginia, while at the same time the Zachariah Wells of Lee County was already
living in western Virginia and North Carolina. Secondly, the Sullivan County veteran was
living in Whitley County, KY, and in Tennessee while the Zachariah Wells of Lee County was
living in Virginia. Thirdly, the death dates of the two men do not match. They were
different men. Comments?More to come ...John B. Wells IIIwellsga(a)bellsouth.net
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