Thomas watkins (B: around 1740 D: 1809 Mecklenburg va, age 69) Married to Elizabeth

Watkins Family Information from
Andy Watkins - awatkins6@gmail.com

Colony map at time Thomas Watkins was born

THOMAS WATKINS (B: around 1740 D: 1809 Mecklenburg VA, age 69) Married to Elizabeth Watkins (maiden name not identified) Probably married around 1762

Thomas Watkins Senior Last Will and Testament written on Nov. 9, 1805 and recorded Feb. 13, 1809 Mecklenburg County Virginia. Elizabeth, his wife had died prior to will being written.
Nine Children born in Mecklenburg VA: Married

George Watkins (1763- )

Susanna Watkins (1764-1842) John Baynes Jr (1760-1840) Married 1782 VA

Thomas Watkins Jr (1766-1801) Eleanor Farrar 8 Nov 1790 in Mecklenburg VA

Joseph Watkins (1772-1839) Sally Mills from Amelia/Nottoway Co VA

Nancy Watkins (1785-after 1870) Starkey Hayes (1774-1845) Married approx. 1803

Elizabeth Watkins (- ) Not married as of 1805 per Joseph Watkins Will

Mary Watkins (- ) Yancey

Jane Watkins (- ) (Possibly Andrew) Knight

Sally Watkins (- ) (Possibly James) Hunt

George Watkins first added to Tithables on his own in 1784 therefore birth date estimated 1763 + 21 = 1784

Thomas Watkins Jr first added to Tithables on his own in 1787 therefore birth date estimated 1766 + 21 = 1787

Joseph Watkins first added to Tithables on his own in 1793 therefore birth date estimated 1772 + 21 = 1793

Information about daughters derived from will of Thomas Watkins “to be Equally Divided between Mary Yancy, Elizabeth Watkins, Nancy Hayes (wife of Strake Hayes) Jany Knight, Susanna Baynes and Sally Hunt to them and their heirs forever”. Husband names from other researchers. Other than John Baynes Jr and Starkey Hayes, I was unable to verify husband names. John Baynes and Andrew Knight witnessed the will of Thomas Watkins Jr in 1801 Absolam Yancy Security.

Thomas Watkins Sr was born abt 1740 and his son Joseph died in 1839. To imagine how life would have been for them consider that this was the time period of George Washington (1732-1799), Daniel Boone (1734-1820), Thomas Jefferson (1743 –1826) and Andrew Jackson (1767-1845).

Thomas Sr would have been:

12 when Ben Franklin discovered electricity in 1752.

35 when Daniel Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into

Kentucky from Virginia in 1775. Daniel Boone was six years older than Thomas Watkins.

36 when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

49 when George Washington became the 1st President of the United States in 1789

61 when Thomas Jefferson became the 3rd President of the United States in 1801
Joseph and Sally (Mills) Watkins Children: Mary Polly, Martha, Nancy, Sally, John, James, Samuel, and William Thomas. Sally Mills is Daughter of John Mills and Mary Leath Mills (Amelia/ Nottoway/Lunenburg County). Mary Leith is daughter of Arthur and Sarah Leath of Nottoway Parish.
Thomas Watkins Jr and Eleanor Farrar Children: Thomas, William and George (moved to Montgomery Co TN).

Son of Thomas Jr and Eleanor: Thomas Watkins married Mary Northington  (b.1792 - d.1872) (Father Nathan Northington) of Lombardy Grove,

Mecklenburg,Va, married Aug10, 1819 moved to Granville County NC: Children: John A.; George W.; Thomas; Emma W. (Daniel); Mary W. (Hart).
Suzanna Watkins and John Baynes Children: Elsworth Baynes, Sarah Baynes . . He moved to Sumner county, Tennessee, and then to Perry county, Illinois, where he died September 2, 1840. He served in the North Carolina troops. He was pensioned.

Parents: John Baynes Sr and Mary (Yancey) Baynes - Married abt 1755 North Carolina.

Brothers: Thornton,William,James and Phillip Baynes Sisters: Mary and Nancy Baynes

Son Elsworth Baynes (Born 1783 VA) Daughter Sarah Baynes (Born 1786 VA).

George Watkins- appears to have left Mecklenburg in 1795 (this is when he stopped appearing on tax list) It is possible he moved to Chesterfield Co. South Carolina. He sold land in 1800 and 1802 in Mecklenburg and was listed as being from Chesterfield SC. There was no mention of a wife’s release of dower rights so he may not have married. He had a license to operate an ordinary(tavern) in Mecklenburg in 1791.

Nancy Watkins married Starkey Hayes son of Winkfield “Starkey” Hayes and Mary Molly Vaughn. They appear to have moved to Kentucky around 1803. Their son William was born in Taylor County KY in 1804 and a daughter Dianah Hayes was born in Green County KY in 1823. Other children were possible but not identified. They lived in the adjacent Kentucky Counties of Green, Taylor, Marion and Washington. Nancy appears on the 1870 Taylor County KY census with her daughter Dianah Hayes Tucker widow of Edwin Tucker. Their son William married Nancy Kennett in Taylor Kentucky. Starkey’s sister Lucy Hayes married Revolutionary War Soldier John Carter "Johnsie" Hall and they also lived in Taylor Kentucky.
General Information

Based on the amount of land, slaves, cattle, horses etc we can determine that this Watkins family would have been considered average middle class in Colonial times, not a part of the upper gentry’ class or the lower indentured class. They were not rich nor were they poor. They were land owners and not tenant farmers. They were of the Baptist religion as opposed to adhering to the British imposed Church of England and they were also Patriots that contributed to the American Revolution. They mostly stayed together on their land in Mecklenburg VA as a planter farming family for 75 years from 1765 to around 1840.

Thomas Sr, Thomas Jr, Joseph, John and James Watkins died in Mecklenburg VA. George moved to Chesterfield County South Carolina and William Thomas moved to Tippah County Mississippi. Samuel Watkins moved to Granville County NC (adjacent to Mecklenburg VA). James and Mary Watkins and their 5 children John, Ann, George, Sarah and Miles were still in Mecklenburg in 1850.
Religion - Buffalo Baptist Church

It was not until 1784 that marriages were recognized if not performed by the Church of England. Thomas Watkins Jr and Eleanor Farrar were married by the Baptist Minister James Read Nov 1790 in Mecklenburg Co VA. Children of Joseph Watkins: Sally, John, James, and Samuel Watkins were married by the Baptist Minister Pleasant Gold in Mecklenburg Co VA. Pleasant Gold was ordained at the request of Buffalo Baptist Church in 1819. Buffalo Baptist Church built 1778 was only a couple of miles from the home of the Watkins Families and they were probably members of this church.

In 1768, there were only about 10 Baptist churches in all parts of Virginia. Through the work of the Reverend James Reed, a society called Buffalo was formed, on or near Buffalo Creek, west of present day Clarksville. The original Buffalo Creek building, erected in 1778, was of log construction. (Number of Baptist churches in Virginia in 1774: 54). In 1825, 1894 and 1967 succeeding churches were built on the same land. Present day located at a dead-end on Rt 730 about 0.8 mi south of Rt 58, west of Clarksville.

It was not easy being a Baptist in the 1700’s since the Church of England was the established accepted religion. Parish affairs were governed by elected vestries that maintained a great deal of control over local life. Of the various religious sects in America, Baptists were the most persecuted, and thus became the most vocal advocates of religious liberty. But after they began their operations in good earnest, so rapid was their increase, that by 1790, Baptist churches in Virginia had increased to 210, their ministers, ordained and licensed, to about 250, and their communicants to upwards of 20,000.

Our Watkins Family connection to President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Watkins Jr married Eleanor Farrar 1790 in Mecklenburg County VA– Sons Thomas, William and George.

Eleanor Farrar's Grandmother was Judith Jefferson wife of George Farrar and sister of the father of “Thomas Jefferson, 3^rd President of the United States" making Judith the Presidents maternal Aunt. Thomas Jefferson, wrote the Declaration of Independence and was one of it signers July 4, 1776.

Eleanor’s father was Colonel Thomas Farrar (son of George and Judith Jefferson Farrar) who commanded in the Revolutionary War. Thomas Farrar was security for his daughter Eleanor's marriage to Thomas Watkins Jr in 1790 and was a resident of Mecklenburg VA. See story later in this outline on Thomas Farrar.

Soldier in Revolutionary War-John Baynes:

John Baynes married to Susanna Watkins 1782 VA-See story later in this outline

Thomas Watkins was born abt 1740 (Virginia did not become a state until 48 years later in 1788). This was British territory at the time and the currency was pounds and shillings. He and his family lived on 450 acres purchased in 1768 in Mecklenburg County VA, about two miles south of Clarksville VA, in an area near Beaver Pond Creek and Grassy Creek below the Dan and Roanoke Rivers. This is a few miles north of the North Carolina boarder. The land went from Sandy Fork Road (still called this today) leads from Clarksville to Sandy Fork, Fields Mill Road, and Church Road and then south crossing Beaver Pond Creek. Thomas also owned at least 750 more acres of land in Mecklenburg acquired in 1765 according to land records. Thomas would have been 25 when he bought this land so this is probably about the time he came to Mecklenburg. He does not appear on the Tax List of 1764.
In 1764, Mecklenburg County was formed from Lunenburg County. The area in 1764 was mainly open country for even as late as 1834; Clarksville had only fourteen private houses, nine mercantile stores, a wheelwright, and a boot/shoe manufacturer, among a few other establishments in the town. Clarksville was not incorporated as a town until 1818. Thomas was one of the first settlers in the county as there were 410 land owners in Mecklenburg in 1764 with 297 owning less than 450 acres and 36 owning over 1000 acres.

. Clarksville, Mecklenburg County VA in red

Even though the towns were small, several large Plantation homesteads were established in the county.