Biographical
Sketch of Robert Patterson of Craven Co., SC
© 2003, Charles Wesley (Wes) Patterson, Sr.
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So what does this mean? This writer believes the identity of Margaret’s daughters must be re-examined. One possibility is that Catherine "Adams" (Harrison) and Elizabeth Patterson (Harrison) was one and the same person. It seems POSSIBLE (but not likely) that her name may have been Elizabeth Catherine (Harrison), or perhaps Catherine Elizabeth. It COULD be that her first name was used on this Will, but that she went by her middle name Catherine in later years. On the other hand, this writer has only seen one name or the other, never both together. Therefore, this is only a consideration that they may have been the same person. This possibility is not too convincing.
Another possibility would be that there were two women, one named Catherine and the other Elizabeth, and both married Harrisons. That both women would have been sisters, however, does not seem to hold up under closer scrutiny.
Figure 12 - The names of Margaret’s grand daughters (Margaret Dollinson
and Esther Harrisson) and her daughter Elizabeth as seen in the body of the
Will of Margaret Adams; the daughter Elizabeth’s last name is never given
in the body of the Will (unfortunately)
That the grand daughter Esther Harrison is part of this family is very clear. But based on the 9-15-1744 entry (Margaret’s children’s Acceptance of the Will) it is also clear that the daughter (or at least one of the daughters) who married a Harrison was Elizabeth (“Ellessabath”). It also stands to reason that this daughter WAS in fact named in Margaret’s Will after all, as Elizabeth instead of Catherine. This writer is fully aware of the fact that Margaret didn’t necessarily have to name every one of her children in the Will if she didn’t want to. However, for Margaret to have “equally devided” the remainder of her wearing apparel between her daughters Elizabeth and Jane implies that she only had two daughters alive at this time. Perhaps there was a third daughter who bore Margaret Dollinson, but it appears that she had passed away by 1744.
Another possible explanation of the Catherine/Elizabeth issue is this. Jeremiah Harrison may have been married more than one time. The number of wives and children of “Old Jeremiah” have long been a point of debate for many researchers. Was Jeremiah Harrison first married to Elizabeth Patterson? Did they have several children including Esther Harrison, before Elizabeth died? Did Jeremiah remarry, this time to a Catherine _____? Under this scenario, Esther Harrison would have been raised for a certain period of time by Catherine _____ Harrison. As for Esther’s ties to the Adams family, this would still fit, as Esther would have been the daughter of Elizabeth Patterson (Harrison), and grand daughter of Margaret Adams. This type of scenario would also explain the long range of years for the children of Jeremiah Harrison which goes from the early 1730’s to the 1760’s, by most accounts.
J. Houston Harrison (JHH) states in his Settlers by the Long Grey Trail, 1920, (SLGT) that Jeremiah Harrison was born 1707 and died after 1777. JHH goes on to say that Jeremiah’s daughter Lydia Donnell Harrison was born in 1732 (pg. 272). However, the earliest Augusta Co. record that this writer has seen that shows “Catherine Harrison” as the wife of Jeremiah Harrison was in 1757. That was the time when Catherine Harrison was baptized into the local Linville Creek Church, in May 1757. She may have been the only wife of Jeremiah Harrison, but it must be considered a strong possibility that the mother of Lydia Donnell Harrison and Esther Harrison (and the other older children of Jeremiah) most likely was Elizabeth Patterson Harrison, and that Catherine ____ Harrison was their step mother.
This writer leans toward this last interpretation. And yet, there’s another consideration regarding Elizabeth. You’ll notice the “Adams” in quotation marks when referring to Catherine and Elizabeth. Obviously we really don’t know the maiden name of Catherine, so that’s self-explanatory. But for Elizabeth, this writer is becoming more and more convinced that the first three of Margaret’s five children were by her first marriage to William Patterson. If this scenario is true, then Elizabeth would have been a “Patterson” instead of an “Adams”. This means that old Jeremiah Harrison may have been married twice and neither one was ever an Adams!
Jeremiah Harrison married his first wife (regardless of who she was) around 1730, since their daughter Esther Harrison was born 1731-32. It has been shown that the Pattersons and Adams were in Sussex Co DE at the time. It is also known that Jeremiah Harrison was in Sussex Co DE during those same years. How close did they live to each other? The following series of Sussex Co DE land records will show the proximity of such families as Samuel and Lydia Stewart, Robert and Mary Harrison Cravens, Jeremiah (and Elizabeth Patterson) Harrison, and Robert and Sarah Patterson. Mary Harrison (Cravens) was the sister of Jeremiah Harrison, by the way. All of these families moved to LC. Also, Robert Cravens of DE was the eventual father-in-law (and uncle) of Esther Harrison (Cravens).
The previous deeds mention "Broad" or "Broadkill Creek", and specifically "Pembertons Branch" and "Cypress Branch", the "county road", etc. There are other deeds as well that add more to this, but these are the main ones that substantiate the close geographical proximity of the Pattersons and Jeremiah Harrison, and these other families who moved to the same location in VA over the next decade.
In 1744 when Margaret Adams wrote her will, she described three grand daughters, apparently in the order of the age of the applicable parent, such as Robert, then the mother of Margaret Dollinson, then Elizabeth. Margaret's grand daughters were named as Mary Patterson, Margaret Dollinson, and Esther Harrison. It’s pretty certain that Elizabeth was born circa 1708-1712, based on Jeremiah Harrison’s age and also their first child Esther who was born ca. 1731. Given that time frame for a birth year for Elizabeth, then her older sister would have been born ca. 1706-1710. Following suit, their brother, Robert “R” Patterson, would have been born ca. 1705, as we have discussed previously. 1705-1715 is a definite range for the birth years for the three Patterson children of Margaret Adams, but a tighter range for the three of them would perhaps be 1707-1712.
Margaret’s two younger children were Jane Adams and Samuel Adams. In 1744 neither of them had any children, although Jane was married, but most likely very recently at that time. Daniel and Jane Adams Love did have two daughters, Rachel and Ann. Neither of these grand daughters of Margaret Adams were named in her will. They both appear to have been born in the late 1740’s, perhaps even 1750 in the case of Ann Love. Margaret’s son Samuel Adams died only four years later in 1748, but apparently had at least one child between 1744 and 1748 named Samuel Adams Jr. The point is that Jane and Samuel appear to be considerably younger than Margaret’s three older children who all seem to have been born before 1712, perhaps even by 1710. On the other hand, the evidence seems to indicate that Jane and Samuel were born possibly as late as 1720-25. To this writer, that would indicate an obvious time lapse between marriages to William Patterson and John Adams on the part of Margaret.
Based on the evidence and other circumstantial reasoning, the suggestion is put forth that Margaret Donnell Patterson Adams had one son and two daughters (Robert, daughter one, and Elizabeth Patterson) by her first marriage, and then one daughter and one son by her second marriage (Jane and Samuel Adams). The order that is given here is an assumption, based on the order of the children and grandchildren listed in the body of the Will, and other circumstantial pieces of "evidence".
Robert (and Sarah) Patterson had “children” by September of 1744, one of whom was named Mary Patterson. It is not known what happened to Mary Patterson. This writer is yet to see any other document referring to her, including Robert’s 1775 Will. Other children of Robert and Sarah were Thomas, Sarah, Robert Jr., Peter, Elizabeth, Lydia, and William. All were born by 1762, perhaps as early as 1758/59, which means that all of their children from 1744 on were most likely born in Augusta Co., VA. It’s possible that some or all of their children in 1744 had been born there as well. That, of course, depends on exactly when Robert moved to Augusta Co VA. It appears that they moved soon after 1738, perhaps even that year. The only remaining question then is how long did they take migrating to VA? Their son Thomas was this writer's ancestor, born ca. 1740-45.
To digress for a moment, this writer would like to reiterate the easy problem of mixing up the Robert Pattersons of Augusta Co., VA. Robert Patterson of LC (referred to earlier as Robert (A)), and Robert (B1) Patterson were contemporaries. In other words, they were pretty much the same age. The latter was born ca. 1704, while Robert of LC was born 1700 – 1720 (most likely 1705 – 1710, depending on matters to be covered later). Both of these Roberts received land patents, according to the analysis pointed out previously. Both Roberts had a father named William Patterson. Both had a daughter named Mary Patterson. Both had sons named Thomas Patterson. Okay, you get the point…
It can be shown (and has been) that each point of commonality just listed can be explained and differentiated. There are locations to consider regarding the land patents. Robert (B1) left his 193.5 acres to his son-in-law Alexander Stuart in 1767, and other land to his son Thomas. There was no mention in his Will of any other land pertaining to the 1764 patent. On the other hand, Robert of LC who died in York Co SC in 1775 still owned land in Virginia according to his Will. He left his Virginia land and claims to his sons Robert Jr. and Peter. As mentioned in the beginning of this writing, both of the Roberts’ fathers (Williams) had reasonably discernable death dates, and spouses. While it is unclear what happened to Robert’s of LC (A) daughter Mary Patterson, it is known that Robert’s (B1) daughter Mary married Alexander Stuart (no relation to the Stewart family of LC as far as is known). Both sons Thomas can be differentiated as well. Thomas the son of Robert (B1) died in Augusta Co., VA about 1794. Thomas the son of Robert of LC (A) moved to York Co., SC with his father. This Thomas died 1807-1810 in Buncombe Co., NC.
Once again, the first key to keeping the Robert Pattersons separated is the location, specifically Linville Creek regarding Robert Patterson, son of Margaret Donnell Patterson Adams.
Biographical
Sketch of Robert Patterson of Craven Co., SC
© 2003, Charles Wesley (Wes) Patterson, Sr.
Page 9 of 17
Table of Contents | Previous
Page | Next Page | End
Notes