Mann Family, Settle Family, Hamilton Family, WooleyFamily, Woolley Family. Green County Kentucky, Botetourt county virginia, Greenbriar County Virginia.
The Mann Family of Botetourt County, Virginia
JOHN MAN, PIONEER AND PROGENITOR
Celtic Moon
The earliest mention of the Mann Family in Augusta County is the entry in the Orange County order book dated February 17, 1735 when John Man, among others, declares his importation direct into the colony from Ireland and Great Britain for the purpose of claiming land. John Man and the others then directly and immediately assign their land rights to Robert Green. Here is the exact rendering from the Orange county order book: “James Mitchell, James Vorttiau (illegible), David McMurrie, John Latham, Joshua Thomas, Charles Ffloyd, John Man, Thomas Pitchor, Joseph Phillips, John Welch and John Doalworon (illegible) severally made oaths in open court that they were immediately imported into this Colony from Great Brittain and Ireland and that this is the first time of proving their importation in order to obtain rights to Land which said Rights they Assign to Robert Green, Gent."
The Council, meeting in Williamsburg, entered in its minutes: “November 3, 1740. Upon consideration of the petition of John Smith, Zachary Lewis, William Waller, Robert Green and Benjamin Waller, Leave is granted to them to Enter for and Survey One Hundred thousand acres of land in that part of Orange County which will be in the County of Augusta when that County shall take place on the River and Branches of Roanoke and the Branches of James River.” No further mention of this grant is found in the minutes of the council and no record is made in the county surveyor’s books or in the land office, except that it is stated in each survey made for these men that the tract surveyed is a part of the 100,000 acres allowed to them. Small tracts were entered and surveyed for individuals or for the company at desirable locations selected and the sum of the acreage taken to make up the whole. From the beginning John Smith was the agent in the field to show purchasers over the land and have their surveys made. This order of council was renewed in May 1745 to John Smith and others for 50,000 acres and again renewed in 1750, this time to Zachary Lewis for 50,000. By purchasing the parts of all the partners, except Smith and Lewis, Colonel James Patton got the whole grant in his hands and became the director for the affairs of the company. In 1761 Lewis released to William Thompson and John Buchanan, executors of James Patton, all his right in the grant. According to the agreement patents for tracts of land were to come out in Colonel Patton’s name and he was to give deeds to the people who bought the land on the payment of their respective sums with the interest due. Buyers thus avoided the trouble of entering and surveying the land and the payment of the surveyor’s and quit-rent fees. Money received from the sale of the lands was to be divided into six shares, after expenses, and 10% commission for Colonel Patton had been deducted.
The company finally played out and we do not know how much land to charge to its account. The exact procedure used by these men in handling this land is not made clear by any records we have found. John Smith was the only one of the group who was actively interested in the settlement. Presumably he was in the territory from the time the grant was made. Where he first lived cannot be ascertained. He owned land at the Great Lick on Roanoke and at Looney’s Ferry where in 1755 he was found building a fort around the house. Later in the same year, Govenor Dinwiddie referred to himas an experienced woodsman whose judgement could be followed in planning against the Indians. In the summer of 1756 after his return from the Shawnee expedition, he and his sons helped to defend Fort Vause.
In 1745 Robert Green of Orange country, William Duff of Frederick county, Jost Hite of Frederick and Robert McKay of Augusta county established thriving settlements on different branches of the Shenandoah, especially on Linvell’s Creek, a total of 7000 acres. Patents were issued to Robert Green who made conveyances to purchasers and others of this group. There was another patent to Robert Green which supported an advanced settlement on the southernmost branch of the south branch of the Potomac. The settlers were John Patton, Senior and Junior, Roger Dyer, William Dyer, William Stephenson, Matthew Patton and John Smith.
The above information comes from Kegley’s “Virginia Frontiers” but the 1735 Orange county court order book demonstrates that Robert Green appears to have begun land speculation before1740, at least as early as 1735. Robert Green came from England to Virginia in 1712 with his uncle William Duff, a Quaker. He represented Orange county in the House of Burgesses in 1736 and 1738. He died in 1748, leaving six sons.,p>
From a petition by William Beverley to the government of Virginia it appears that the area of the Calfpasture River was already named and the rudiments of settlement present by 1726. However, according to Wilson’s “Tinkling Springs: Headwaters of Freedom”, in 1738 only eleven heads of household had obtained their titles to the land from Beverley. However, the year 1740 saw a rush of heads of household to register their importation into the colony for the purpose of gaining headrights to their property. Therefore, even the phrase immediately imported into this colony may be misleading when it comes to the date that a certain emigrant actually arrived in Virginia. Still, not every head of household obtained title to his land as witness the fact that in 1744, of the 77 heads of household who were subscribed members of the Tinkling Springs congregation (Presbyterian), only 47 of them held title to their land. This means there must have been a substantial class of tenant farmers, indentured servants, merchants and the like.
The emigrant John Man, having assigned his land rights to Robert Green, promptly disappears from court records until he is mentioned as the deceased father of Thomas Mann in May 1751 when Thomas is to be bound on the parish. Most likely he was one of those inhabitants of Augusta County who did not, for some reason, become a landholder. A history of the German Mann family which lived in the same general area as our British or Scots-Irish emigrant says that on May 18, 1749 a petition was filed. The author of the book says the John Man mentioned is not related to his Mann ancestors. The petition reads: “Petition of the inhabitants of North River and Picot (Peaked) Mountain to build a road from John Mann’s smithy on the south side of the mountain, eastward to John Wigard’s joining the mountain road and from the smith shop westward to the Stone Meeting House. Jacob Rogers, Robert Scott and James Berd to lay it out”. One of the petitioners was a Jacob Mann, a German. The road was of chief interest to the settlers north of the Beverley Manor grant and to the Germans of Peaked Mountain. It would appear that our John Man, after serving out his indenture, if such were the case, applied himself to the trade of blacksmith and thereby amassed some material wealth. There is little doubt that this John Mann is ours since the location of the smithy is near the Stone Meeting House which was located on the Beverley Manor and served as the focal point of the early settlement of Scots-Irish.
There is one tantalizing mention of another Mann in the earliest generation of settlers. Waddell, in his “Annals of Augusta County” says that the record book of courts martial held by officers of Augusta militia from 1756 to 1796 has in part escaped destruction. From this volume, we learn that a council of war was held at Augusta Courthouse (in Staunton) on July 27, 1756, by order of the Governor, to consider and determine at what points forts should be erected along the frontier for the protection of the inhabitants. The council was composed of the most prominent men of the county and it unanimously agreed that forts should be constructed at the following places: “At Peterson’s, on the South Branch of Potwomack, nigh Mill Creek”, two miles from the northern county line as it was drawn at the time; “at Hugh Man’s Mill on Shelton’s Tract, 18 miles from Peterson’s”, “at the most important pass between the last named place and the house of Matthew Harper, on Bull Pasture” (the place afterwards designated was Trout Rock, 17 miles from Man’s); “at Matthew Harper’s, 20 miles from Trout Rock” and at Captain John Miller’s, on Jackson’s River”. The description of forts continues, but this is the portion of interest to us. The length of the frontier to be protected was estimated by the council as two hundred and fifty miles, and the number of men to garrison the forts as six hundred and eighty. The scheme was abandoned later and only one or two new forts were erected. Mill Creek is, according to the gazeteer, a left hand tributary to South Branch of Potomac River in Hampshire county, West Virginia. Nearby stood Fort Defiance, where the minutes of the Augusta court show that Thomas Mann, son of John Man, was stationed for at least a brief period of time. This could of course be coincidence, but Hugh is definitely not a German name. It could be either Scots-Irish or English. Another thing the council minutes fail to tell us is what sort of mill this Hugh Man operated. It was probably a grist mill as those were very common even early in the settlement, but if it were a gunpowder mill, perhaps that is the point of origin for our Manns in the New World. Perhaps some of the earliest Manns remained in present day Hampshire county while others moved into present day Monroe county to operate the gunpowder mill near Greenville and still others, our John Man included, removed to the vicinity of Staunton. Whoever this Hugh Man was, he could not have been too young a man in 1756 since he is shown already established with a Mill. Was Nathaniel Mann HIS son? Do some of the unaccounted for Manns in Montgomery county later on belong to his line? For every fact I uncover it raises two or more questions!
There were some Manns christened at the Peaked Mountain Church in McGaheysville who were clearly German. All were the children of George Adam Mann and his wife Elizabeth Herman. George was baptized on October 9, 1763 and it is probably he who married Betsey Moyer in Montgomery county in 1790. After she was widowed, Betsey married Peter Harmon in 1797. Magdalene was baptized on March 11, 1765; John on July 30, 1771 and David on March 10, 1784. Adam Miller, whose descendants intermarried with the Manns of Monroe county (Germans) originally came to Virginia from Schierstein, Germany around 1726, according to the naturalization papers.
According to the Houchins family history, around 1770 the Manns, Maddys and Millers moved from Rockingham county, Virginia into present day West Virginia, near Greenville in Monroe county. John Mann came to Pennsylvania from Germany and his son Jacob married Barbary Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller, emigrant. Jacob and Barbary Miller Mann had Jacob Mann, Junior who married Mary Kessinger on August 24, 1779; Adam, who married first Mary Maddy on December 9, 1783 and second Polly Flinn on May 3, 1790; Elizabeth, who married William Maddy on February 25, 1783 and a daughter who married a Mr. Low. Jacob Mann owned a gunpowder mill. Saltpetre was supplied from Maddy’s Cave during the Revolution. This cave had formerly belonged to the Manns of Springfield. This is an intriguing mystery since there is a story that William Mann and his father and/or uncles and brothers lived in a saltpetre cave when they first emigrated from Ireland to Virginia. I do not know what, if any, substance this story has. It may have been influenced by the presence of the German Manns at Greenville or it may be an authentic tradition. Springfields abound, both in the United States and in Ireland. There were Scots-Irish Mann emigrants to Springfield township in Bucks county, Pennsylvania and Scots-Irish Manns living in Springfield township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. Moses Mann, son of William, one of the sons of the emigrant John Man, bought 26 acres of land on both sides of Jackson’s River, including a saltpetre cave, on December 10, 1792, in Botetourt county. Some of the children of William Mann stayed in Bath and Alleghany counties, and some went to Greenbrier county in the vicinity of present day Monroe county. A Moses Mann bought 22 acres in Monroe county on March 4, 1831, adjoining the land of Adam Mann and Adam Miller. This may or may not be a descendant of William Mann.
The Mann family which ended up in Bucks county is described as the family of James Mann and his wife Mary Carroll. The Manns and Carrolls were from Scotland and in childhood James and Mary emigrated with their families to county Antrim around the year 1690. He married her about 1709. The names of their children were James, born in 1710; John, born in 1712; William in 1714 and a daughter named Mary. John, the second son, became the progenitor of the family in Bucks county when he embarked from Donegal in 1732 in the company of the McNairs and others bound for America. They landed at Philadelphia and proceeded to Bristol in the autumn of the same year, locating at different points in Bucks county. Although our John Man was imported immediatelyinto Virginia, perhaps he was related in some fashion to these Bucks county Manns.
THE FOUR SONS OF JOHN MAN
In this chapter I will address the four known children of John Man, emigrant to Virginia in 1735. According to Kegley and supported by court records, John had at least four sons. Their names were John, Moses, William and Thomas. Moses, the second son, as stated in another portion of this manuscript, purchased land from William Beverley on February 3, 1748 on the Grassy Lick Run in the Beverley Manor land grant. He is described as Moses Mann, planter, which implies at least that he was moderately well-to-do. This land was inherited to his brother John, eldest brother and heir-at-law. Moses was a wanderer and explorer, helping to settle Draper’s Valley, near Christianburg in present day Montgomery county. He was captured by the Indians in February 1756 according to the Preston Register recorded in Lewis Preston Summer’s “Annals of Southwest Virginia”. Moses Mann was captured on Reed Creek in the New River Valley. According to family lore, he escaped from the Indians and returned to his home near Covington but died before August 1756, when his eldest brother and heir-at-law John Mann was appointed administrator of his estate. Since no widow or children are mentioned, it is certain that Moses died without issue. John Mann, with surety Adam Dickenson and bond with Adam Dickinson and John Dickinson qualified as the administrator of Moses’ estate on August 19, 1756, as found in Augusta County Will Book II. John served as an ensign in Captain Cunningham’s expedition of 1764 against the Indians. He lived on Jackson River and is shown there on the 1773 Botetourt county list of Tithables. Also living in William Huggard’s (Hughart) district from the river to the county line and to the western waters were Robert Armstrong and his son Robert, Junior, Joseph Carpenter, Senior and Junior, Nathaniel Carpenter, Zophar Carpenter, Thomas Carpenter, David Glassburn, James and William Graham, Andrew Hamilton, Ezekiel Johnston, John Kinkead, William Mann, William McClintock, Thomas McCalester, Jacob Parsinger, William Robinson, Senior and Junior, two John Robinsons, James Robinson, John Sprowl, William, Christian and Henery Whooley, Peter, Thomas and James Wright. The following year, John and William Mann were among those whose residences were described as being located in the Cowpasture and Jackson River areas and this list was taken by William McClenahan. Again, familiar names appear as neighbors, including Jacob Parsinger, John Sprowl, the Robinsons, the Wooleys and the Wrights. The reason that Thomas Mann, youngest brother of John, Moses and William, is not listed is simply that he died in 1772, as the court books make clear.
John Mann died intestate. Had he left a will, much speculation would have been avoided. Ah well. The estate was inventories by John Robinson and Peter Wright and contained the following articles:
One brown horse @ 9 pounds, one cutting knife of steel @15 shillings, two boxes irons @16 shillings, one pair of silver shoe buckles @ 1 pound 2 shillings, one plow and tackling @2 pounds 5 shillings, eleven pewter plates @ 1pound 13 shillings. The total value of 15 pounds 11 shillings was carried over to the second page which continued listing the contents of John’s estate thus: five basins, four plates and two dishes @3 pounds 3 shillings 6 pence; three large dishes @ 1 pound 7 shillings; one pair of old (illegible) @ 3 shillings; one stone jug @ 3 shillings; one stock fork @ 5 shillings; two old chest locks @ 4 shillings; three old books @ 1 shilling; one bed @ 1 pound 10 shillings; one woman’s saddle @ 2 pounds, etc. for a total of 30 pounds, 3 shillings and 6 pence. John Mann died a widower, as is apparent both from the lack of feminine articles listed in the inventory save for one saddle and the fact that no widow is named in the administration of the estate.
This was not the total monetary value of what John Mann left his heirs, however. Included in the inventory is a list of the (illegible word) due to the estate of John Mann, deceased: John Jemison’s bond, Gabreal Smither’s bond, William Allen’s bond, Edward Willson’s bond, Francis Bowen’s bond, John Clark’s bond and Arthur Woods’ bond, for a total of 41 pounds 10 shillings 5 pence. Proven accounts were George Minsher, William Fullen, James Meckks, Patrick Willson, James Robinson and Asa and John Mann are listed “by Account” for the respective sums of 2 pounds 15 shillings and 3 pounds 2 shillings 1 pence. Including the sums listed for Asa and John, the sum of the accounts totaled 16 pounds 4 shillings.
This was filed by Peter Wright and James Robinson on October 20, 1781, three years after the death of John Mann.
A subsequent tallying up of debts owed and owned by the estate of John Mann was submitted to the Botetourt court on May 31, 1784 by Moses Mann, administrator of the estate. The court examined the accounts and found a balance of 218 pounds 7 shillings and 5 ½ pence was due to Moses Mann. The names mentioned on this list of debtors and debtees were as follows: Zophar Carpenter, estate of William Mann, deceased, David May, James McAfee, Reuben Smithers, Christopher Persinger, Thomas Kelly, John Doughtery, Thomas Carpenter, John Stewart, Crane Brush, James Bambridge, Joseph Hamm, John Sprowl, Jacob Parsinger Senior and Andrew Edmundson.
William Mann, third brother, was the most successful materially, judging from the amount of his estate when he died. The estate was valued above 700 pounds, quite a bit of money for the time. William served as an Indian spy, or scout, and as a sergeant in Colonel William Peachey’s Frontier Battalion in 1759. He also served in Dickenson’s Company of Rangers for several years prior to 1759. The frontier was under constant threat of Indian attack during the decades from 1750 to 1780 and all able bodied men served in the militia. It is estimated that the entire pre Revolutionary population in the area west of the Blue Ridge was about one thousand. William served as a sergeant at Fort Young (Covington) and in 1762 he erected a small stockade fort on a portion of his land near Jackson River. The log cabin has been wonderfully preserved and is still standing, the oldest house in Alleghany county. William Mann was probably born around 1729 or 1730, judging from the fact that his next oldest brother Moses could have been born not later than 1727 in order to purchase that land on the Beverley Manor in 1748. William married Jane Hamilton, daughter of William and Alse Hamilton, possibly in 1755, if the tithable in his household on the 1772 Botetourt county tax list was his son Moses. This would make Moses’ year of birth 1756. However, the will of William Mann makes it clear that his son Thomas was not yet ten years old at the time the will was written, making all of those tithables found in William’s household from 1772 onwards merely indentured servants, farmhands or apprentices. Depending on the source, William married Jane Hamilton anywhere between 1750 and 1760. According to the Mann-McClintic genealogy, which gives precise birthdates and presumably may have been taken from Bible records, the ages of his children were as follows: Moses, born January 17, 1761; Alice, born November 5, 1762; Jennie, born September 7, 1764; Thomas, born March 8, 1771; William Junior, born October 4, 1773; Sarah, born in 1774; John, born December 2, 1775 and Archibald, born August 29, 1778.
William, son of John Man the emigrant, died about March 1778 and his will, written February 3, 1778, was probated in November of that year. The text is as follows:
“I, William Mann, of the county of Botetourt and colony of Virginia, considering the uncertainty of mortal life, and being of sound mind and perfect memory, thanks to Almighty God for same, do make and publish my last will and testament in the form and manner following: that is to say, I give and bequeath my soul to Almighty God and my body to receive a decent Christian burial at the discretion of my Executors, hereafter named; nothing doubting but I shall receive the same agan at the General Resurrection. Imprimus: I give and bequeath to my beloved wife Jane, one black mare and colt and saddle, two sows and all the household furniture and wearing apparel, and her living upon the land I now live on, during her life. I give and bequeath to my oldest son Moses, one tract of land containing 235 acres being formerly possessed by James Boggs, with a survey over the mill, on the new road of 160 acres and one mare and a yearling, a two year old colt and one black mare known by the name of the Morris Mare.
I give and bequeath to my second son, Thomas, one plantation nigh to Second Creek Gap, purchased of Isaac Burns, and another tract of land lying at Wolf’s Creek Knobs, if obtained, now in dispute with James Ewing; if not obtained then he is to have two other tracts of land, the one lying on Sinking Creek where it sinks and the other on the Sinks, purchased of Christopher Bryan, and one valuable breeding mare when ten years old. I give and bequeath to my third son William, the lower half of the plantation I am now living on, except 15 acres (the upper parties to have most) and one small survey adjoining the lower end, and an entry along the side to go with the lower end. I give and bequeath to my fourth son the upper part of the plantation I now live on.
I give and bequeath to my oldest daughter, Ealsie (Alice), one little wench, Venus, and fifty pounds cash. If said wench should die before she is of age; then to be given the valuable breeding mare. I give and bequeath to my second daughter, Jinny, one mare and colt known to be called hers and seventy pounds in cash. I give and bequeath to my third daughter, Sarah, one hundred pounds in cash.
If my wife Jane is with child, as supposed to be, if a boy to receive one hundred and fifty pounds in cash; if a girl seventy pounds in cash over and above. I give to my daughter, Ealsie, one bay filly with a star and white feet, and the price of a saddle.
As to all the rest of my personal estate, goods and chattels of what kind so ever, I leave to my executors to be equally divided among my sons. If it should please God that any of my sons should die, their part or parts to be equally divided among the rest of the brothers; and likewise, with my daughters if they should die.
A certain tract of land lying in Indian Draft containing 115 acres, before omitted, to be equally divided between my two sons, William and John, and each to pay the estate thirty pounds after they become of age. All of which legacies I have given to my sons and do bind them, their heirs and assigns forever.
I appoint my trusty well-beloved wife, Jane, executor with Thomas Mattison, James Graham, and Robert Armstrong, whom I appoint whole and sole executors of this my last will and testament, revoking all former wills by me made. In witness whreeof set my hand seal this third day of Feb. one thousand seven hundred and seventy eight”. (Signed) William Mann (Seal)
Witnesses: Richard Morris, John Stevenson, John Scott
Bondsmen: John Sevenson, John Ballor (Bollar), James McCallister
This will was admitted to record at the November term of the County Court of Botetourt in the year of 1778, Fincastle, Virginia.
It is uncertain from this as to exactly how old the sons of William and Jane were in 1778, with the exception of Archibald, who was born posthumously. If Moses was born in 1761, as per the Mann McClintic genealogy, then Stoner’s list has him listed falsely as the senior Moses.
Moses, son of William and Jane, married Jane Kinkead in 1779. His will is dated 1816 and is the oldest recorded in Alleghany county. Moses obtained the following land grants, per the Virginia Land Office: December 10, 1792 26 acres on both sides of Jackson River including a saltpetre cave; 835 acres on both sides of Jackson River adjacent to William Taylor, Richard Morris and Robert Kinkaid; April 28, 1798 land on Falling Spring Run (about ten miles north of Covington) adjacent John Mann; April 26, 1815, 200 acres in Bath county (Bath from Botetourt in 1790) on Indian Draught, a branch of Jackson River; April 30, 1795 55 acres on south side of Jackson river near the land of James McCallister; October 10, 1820 400 acres in Bath county on Falling Spring Run adjacent his and Henry Massie’s land.
The second son Thomas married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Armstrong and had one son, William Thomas Mann. Thomas and Elizabeth were the great grandparents of the New York multimillionaire Isaac Thomas Mann, who built a large mansion in Bramwell, West Virginia, which stands today as a tourist attraction. Elizabeth married for the second time to James Steele and had nine children by this marriage. After his marriage to Elizabeth, Thomas moved to Monroe county, West Virginia, four miles south of Fort Springs.
William died unmarried. The story of how Thomas and William Mann met their fate goes something like this: After Thomas had moved to present day Monroe county, he and his brother William went to Ohio to fight the Indians. They probably served under General Wayne, who in 1794 overcame the hostile Indians who had broken out about three years before and cut to pieces St. Clair’s army. It appears that the two brothers were on the south side of the Kanawha river when a man named Simon Girty appeared on the opposite side of the river and gave the sign of distress, requesting them to come over in a boat for him, saying that he was being pursued by Indians. After much persuasion, they along with others, agreed to go. As they approached the other shore, the Indians came out of hiding and fired upon them. Thomas is supposed to have been instantly killed. William was badly wounded, but with the assistance of his companions, turned the boat amid a fusillade from the enemy and finally reached their own shore again. William, though suffering from his mortal wound, tried to return to Fort Donally, Greenbrier county, but got only as far as present day Fayette county. There he succumbed to his wounds and was buried at the foot of a beech tree at Stretcher’s Neck. The tree on which his name was cared stood until 1870 when the C&O Railroad was building Stretcher'’ Neck Tunnel. The tree was cut down and the grave lost sight of by his relatives.
The Simon Girty in this tale was the notorious “white Indian” and renegade, a traitor to his own people. He had been a sergeant in the British Army at Fort Pitt and for some reason deserted. His infamy has come down in history; I first made his acquaintance in the novels of Zane Grey, bequeathed to me by grandma Ann Scott. Zane Grey’s own ancestors were instrumental in building Wheeling, Ohio and saw many encounters with hostile Indians.
John, fourth son of William and Jane, married Jennie Johnson of Monroe county, West Virginia and drowned in Jackson River. His land, as already mentioned, lay on the Falling Spring Run in present day Alleghany county, next to his brothers Moses and Archibald.
Archibald was the posthumous child’s name and he was born on August 29, 1778. He got a grant of land on August 8, 1799 of 400 acres adjacent John Mann on the south side of Jackson river, in Bath county. He married another daughter of Robert Armstrong and was shot to death by his father-in-law in a tavern which he frequented. Robert apparently objected to Archibald’s ill treatment of his daughter. He was found innocent of murder by a jury. When Thomas and William Mann were killed in 1794 a lawsuit brought against them by Jemima Poo of Bath county for assault was dropped, due to the death of the defendants. Perhaps some of these sons of William were not very well behaved towards women.
As for the three daughters of William and Jane Hamilton Mann, they all married McClintic brothers. Jane married Robert and settled on Culbertson’s Creek in Greenbrier county; Alice married William and Sarah Mann married Alexander McClintic and lived on Jackson River. Alice’s husband William died in 1786 of wounds received in the Revolutionary War and her second husband was William Hunter Cavendish.
Thomas Mann, the fourth and youngest son of John the emigrant, was a minor when his father died in 1751. He became the ward of John Graham. The Augusta county Will Book I says that on the 18th day of (month unknown) 1752 John Graham’s bond as guardian (appointed) to Thomas Mann, orphan of John Mann, with surety Adam Dickenson. The continual involvement of the Dickensons, particularly of Adam, in the affairs of the Manns may simply reflect the fact that the Manns and Carpenters, among others, served in Captain Dickenson’s company of rangers during the French and Indian Wars in the 1750’s and 1760’s. On the other hand, it also lends some credence to the claim on the World Family Tree CD that John Mann’s first wife was Abigail Dickenson. Thomas is found on the 1771 Botetourt county list of tithables with only himself as a tithable male, but is absent from the 1772 list due to his death.
AUGUSTA COURT ORDER BOOK ENTRIES
There is no other mention of John Man, or any other Mann for that matter, in the Orange county record books. When Augusta split off from Orange in 1749, we turn our eyes in that direction for there is where the Mann’s trail can be picked up. John Man, emigrant, does not appear on a list of Augusta county militia in 1742, although he would probably have only been in his late 30’s or early 40’s at the time. One explanation for this is if he were indeed the blacksmith he would have had his hands full forging the weapons of war and farming implements required by his neighbors and would probably thus have been exempt from active service. This may also explain the story of the Manns living in a cave and making gunpowder; these activities would accord well with the work of a militarily oriented blacksmith. Perhaps John Man plied his trade in present day Monroe county for a time. The earliest land purchases of the German Manns who operated the gunpowder mill near Greenville were made in present day Monroe county.
The mention of John Man, blacksmith, in the 1749 petition places his smithy east of Staunton, but this was fourteen years after his arrival in Virginia. If the story told me by another Mann researcher, Wayne Mann, has any validity in that William Mann was said to have started out his life in the New World in a saltpetre cave with his father, brothers and uncles, then perhaps they first lived in the Monroe county area and later removed to the vicinity of Staunton. There is no record of a sale between the German Manns and our Manns of this saltpetre cave in West Virginia, but the German Mann history does not say that they bought it of the Springfield Manns, but rather that the Springfield Manns had owned it before the German Manns.
Also, there is no mention in the old court records of John Man or anyone else importing his family and yet they undoubtably existed. Perhaps the court clerk did not feel it noteworthy to record every family member who arrived in the colony unless they were claiming land. I have not read the original Augusta court books but instead have relied on Lyman Chalkley’s extracts. Perhaps a through search of the original documents would yield more mention of the early Manns and their neighbors and in-laws than these following:
Adam Dickenson, David Davis, Peter Wright and Joseph Carpenter lay off a road from Wright’s Mill to the Cowpasture near Hughart’s or Knox’s (Volume I, p. 48, no date).
Benjamin Scot, security for Judith Scot, administratix of John Scot, deceased, who has since married Joseph Carpenter, prays counter-security (Volume I, p. 63, not dated).
Joseph Carpenter committed on charge of having supplied Indians with ammunition (Volume I, p. 68, not dated).
Joseph Carpenter, guarding of Joseph, James and Jacob Scott, orphans of John Scott, summoned to account (Volume I, p. 116, not dated).
Joseph Carpenter, Senior and William Whooley appointed road surveyors from Fort Defiance to Handley’s Mill, with these workers and their tithables: Peter Wright, Solomon, Thomas, Nathaniel Carpenter and Thomas Umphries, Thomas Carpenter, Zophar Carpenter, Ezekiel Johnston, Edward and John McMullin, James Williams, Joseph Leeper, John Fieler, William Christian and Peter Whooley, William McMurray (McMurrie), Thomas Wright, Robert Gallasby (Gillespie), Patrick Corrigan and Joseph Carpenter, Junior (Volume I, p. 130, not dated).
William Hughart versus Joseph Carpenter- decree for plaintiff for sale of 160 acres on Jacksons river, part of 782 acres patented to Joseph on June 1, 1750. Memo-the land was sold by Edward McMullen, January 1771 at public auction and bought by plaintiff for 90 pounds (Volume I, page 162). Peter Wright versus Joseph Carpenter-Thomas Carpenter, son of Joseph, 1763.
William Beverely to Moses Mann, planter, Beverley Manor patent line, William McCutcheon’s line, Grassy Lick Run. Teste: John Brown, Adam Dickenson. Volume II, page 102.
John Stewart and Sarah to William Mann, 152 pounds 10 shillings for 320 acres on Jackson’s River and mouth of Falling Spring, 17 February 1762. Volume II, page 381.
Joseph Carpenter to John Mann 230 acres on Jacksons river for 70 pounds. August 17, 1762. Volume II, page 388. Did this sale of land indicate the time frame in which John Mann married Frances Elizabeth Carpenter and/or Damis? John Mann would have had to have been in at least his mid thirties by then. Moses, his younger brother, purchased land in 1748, making Moses’ year of birth no later than 1727. This means John was born probably around 1725. Since Adam Dickenson is one of the witnesses in 1748 to Moses’ land purchase, quite possibly John was married to Abigail Dickenson then, if the information from the World Family Tree CD is correct.
February 4, 1748 William Beverley to John Brown, 300 acres in Beverley Manor. Beverley Manor patent line, Robert Young. Teste: Moses Mann, Robert Graham, William Elliote.
John Mann versus Jeremiah Seely-ejected 25th May 1763 from Fort Young. Fort Young became Covington later and Jeremiah Seely was the brother-in-law, according to Carpenter records, of Frances Carpenter. Jeremiah had married Hannah Carpenter, daughter of Joseph Coles Carpenter (Joseph Carpenter, Senior) prior to the Carpenter’s removal from New York state.
Seely versus Carpenter-Jeremiah Seely married the daughter of Joseph Carpenter, lately of the province of New York. Joseph, in 1746, and after above marriage, moved to Jackson’s river, where he and most of his children, then unmarried, settled. Jeremiah came in 1748. (Volume I, page 339).
Thomas Mann, orphan of John, to be bound out on parish, May 28, 1751.
John Graham to deliver a horse to John Mann. August 28, 1751.
18th June 1752. John Graham’s bond as guardian (appointed) to Thomas Mann, orphan of John Mann with surety Adam Dickinson.
20th August 1760. Widow Swoob’s appraisement by Joseph Carpenter, Peter Wright, John Mann.
John Graham fined for calling Israel Christian a rogue, cheat and rascal. May 19, 1761. William Mann worked for Israel Christian.
On the motion of William Mann, John Graham, late guardian of David Graham, summoned to account. February 15, 1763.
Robert Graham, assignee of Timothy Sullivan versus Thomas Mann, abates by death of the plaintiff. June 25, 1763.
16th March 1768. John Mann’s bond, with William Mann, as administrator of Caleb May.
Fulton versus Mann-Fort Defiance, August 28, 1764; Sir-Please pay to William Fulton 4 pounds 15 shillings for a rifle gun and you will much oblige, sir, your humble servant (Signed) Thomas Mann to Captain Walter Cunningham. This is some evidence that John Man, smithy, may have been the father of Thomas since the location of the smithy is near to Fort Defiance.
Christian versus Mann-This my note shall oblige me to pay unto Mr. William Mann at the rate of fifty pounds a year for whatever time he shall be by me employed to assist in Indian trade, hunting, or whatever service he shall be by me directed to perform. Given under my hand, at Staunton, the 19th day of February 1762. (Signed) Israel Christian. Teste: W. Christian. I do promise that if I keep any hands employed in the above service the whole year, William Mann shall be preferred and kept as long as any other in said service, he complying as well as he can with my directions (Signed) Israel Christian, February 19, 1762.
To William Hughart, John Hamilton, Samuel Hamilton, Robert Gillaspy, George Douthat, James Burnsides, Joseph Milehan, John Lewis, John ?, James Jackson, James Miller, David Howell, Robert Gillespey, Corporal Samuel McMary, Eldad Reade, Zophar Carpenter, Henry Lawless, Robert Gay, John Stevenson, John Weems, John Taylor, William Kinkead, John Kinkead, James Clements, James McKnight, William Mann, Thomas McMullin, each 300 ? (Volume I, page 528).
Wright versus Carpenter-This day Mr. Solomon Carpenter swore before me that at the time of Mr. Joseph Carpenter giving a warrant to Peter Wright to apprehend two deserters at Fort Young said Wright gave ye warrant to Thomas FitzPatrick to read and said he could not make out some words, and he read it out over in public and begun it again, when said deponent went off, and he further sayeth yt ye deserters were not far off at ye time. Given under my hand this 17th April 1763 (Signed) John Dickinson. Wright versus Carpenter-James Graham deposes, 7th April 1763, before John Dickenson, that at ye time of Mr. Joseph Carpenter, Sr. giving a warrant to Peter Wright, which he brought from John Dickenson to apprehend John Humpreys and Joseph Garrit, two deserters, he saw Carpenter give ye warrant to said Wright, and he the said Wright looked on it for some time and then gave it to Thomas FitzPatrick to read and he read a part of said warrant over out in public, when said Wright took it out of the other’s hands and put it up; the deponent further sayeth that he verily believed, and still thinks, said Wright did not do it, or divulge it in order or with any intention of giving notice to said deserters; the deponent sayeth this, etc. etc.
10th September 1763. John Mann and Damis to Thomas Meek, 73 pounds 15 shillings for the 254 acres conveyed by Beverley to Moses Mann, 4th February 1748 and descended to John as eldest brother and heir-at-law of Moses (this would have been in 1756); corner William McCutcheon’s land, Grassy Lick Run. Teste: Hugh Johnston, Robert Reed, William Mann, John Smith, James Graham. Delivered: Thomas Meek, March 1773. On November 20, 1764, Damis relinquished her dower right in this land. This entry is correct from the original as I checked it to ensure that Chalkley had not made a mistake in his extracts! The name Damis as opposed to Frances Elizabeth given by the Carpenter Chronicles written by Amos B. Carpenter in 1898 is the main sticking point in understanding the wives of John Mann II. Moses Mann and Frances Bland did have a daughter named Demia, which could be argued to be a form of Damis, or simply misspelled in the records. John Mann II had such a close working and litigious relationship with the Carpenters that he almost certainly had to be an in-law. My best guess at this juncture is that John was married to first Abigail Dickinson, secondly to Frances Elizabeth Carpenter, who for some reason preferred to use the name Damis. Remember my grandpa James C. Mann who went by Uncle Tom and thus made himself a bit elusive in the Scott county records? If living kin had not told me that he used the name Tom for some reason lost to us, I would never had known it and might have spent untold hours agonizing over whether he was the James C. Mann, son of James B. Mann who appears in the household of Samuel Robert Mann on the 1900 census. That in spite of the fact that all of the other facts fit perfectly, such as his birthdate of November 1885 on the census, which was about all I had to go on at the time. And then there was Tandy Flanary, great grandfather of James C. Mann, whose nickname was DeKalb for some reason also lost in time. The only way this is known is the mention in Addington’s “History of Scott County”.
BOTETOURT LAND AND COURT ORDER BOOK ENTRIES
The following land records are found in the Botetourt records.
Some of the following entries may look entirely familiar, since the information discussed in them was referred to in previous chapters. However, to truly understand the character of the men who were our ancestors, I include all pertinent entries dealing with our three surviving brothers as they leave Augusta county and become citizens of the newly formed Botetourt, while never leaving their homes. I do not know about other researchers of family history, but I confess to a soft spot in my heart for our lovable rogues. They would have been very interesting to meet and spend time with. I state with some pride that of all of the families mentioned in the Botetourt county order books from 1770 until the deaths of the last two Mann brothers in 1778, none was so well represented in the court books. They were apparently a headstrong, contentious lot, taking no guff from others and quick to deal with problems by throwing the first punch, judging from the number of assault, trespass and battery cases brought against them. The Carpenter family, a bit more numerous in that time frame than our three brothers, was probably the second most colorful lot.
Botetourt County Order Book I, 1770
Page 4: John Mann’s sale of land to Michael Carnes testified to by Robert Ewing and Michael Yoakum. Robert Cowan testifies and is paid for travelling 45 miles one way to be a witness, by Carnes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 25, #2
Email: shirleyjean@sbcglobal.net
