Monday, January 27, 2020

52Ancestor: William A GHOLSON 1705-1795, Virginia

Today my focus is in my ex-husband's maternal RICE line, William A[nthony] GHOLSON.  William is the 6th great-grandfather of my children and their Lewis first-cousins. The Gholson surname seems to have morphed from Goldstone, and the spellings are varied: Golston, Gholston Gulston, etc.

Gholson and Allied Families, written/published in 1950 by Virginia Baker Mitchell before her untimely death, and edited by Margaret Ann Scruggs, has a wealth of details and collected possibilities in regard to the relationships between the Gholson/Gulston families who moved to Virginia. I have it as an e-book on my computer. Here is a snippet from one page - someone wrote all over this, which I find both annoying and yet, very interesting!


William's parents were known to be Anthony GHOLSON Sr. and wife Jane. Both Anthony and Jane appear to have lived in Virginia all their life, from the late 1600s. I have not yet found detailed histories or documents of their parents or other past ancestors, except from this book, plus a will and several land records. However, it is widely thought that they may have been related to the original Gholson settlers from England to the Virginia region, several generations earlier. There are many spellings for Gholson, although Gholston is the more common variant in this family line in Spotsylvania county.

William, the eldest child of Anthony GHOLSON/Gholston, was born approximately 1705 in the region of what is now Spotsylvania County, in Virginia. At that time, Virginia was known as the Colony of Virginia and statehood was declared in 1788.  He was the eldest of five known children.

About 1728 or so, William married Susanna COLLINS, one of the daughters of Capt. Joseph COLLINS and Susanna LEWIS. Currently I know very little details about William, although he was a farmer and land-owner, owning several large plots of land. His name has been found in the Virginia Land Record Deed Books, regarding a number of records of buying and selling land.

William is not mentioned in any way in regard to the Revolutionary War, although he may have supported the militia. His relatively advanced age would have limited his ability to join the militias in active campaigns.

Known children of William and Susanna, born in Spotsylvania County, VA:
    1.  [Sgt.] William Gholson, b. abt 1728
    2.  John Lewis Gholson, b. 1730
    3.  Anthony GHOLSON jr [ancestor], b. 1733, d. abt 1815 Steubenville, KY;
              m. abt 1759 to Elizabeth [unknown surname]; 12 children
    4   Frederick Gholson, b. abt 1735
    5.  James Gholson, b. abt 1743
 
The birth order of William and Susanna's children is not necessarily correct, but is assumed by other records, marriages, etc. There is a single girl sometimes attached on online trees to William and Susanna, named Philadelphia, b. abt 1754, but this has not been confirmed as far as I have been able to find online.

Tax records show that in 1782/3 William was permitted to conduct an ordinary [pub].  In addition, in  Order Book 6 of Orange County between 1747-1760, there are a number of records of his numerous slaves.  Note his property was around the boundary line for Orange County and Spotsylvania County. He held a great deal of land, with a number of records of buying and selling land. However there has not been found a probate or will, to date.

Searching through Virginia Road Record Books [for road maintenance mainly], I have not found William mentioned, only a John Gholson - and there is more than one John in each generation of the Gholson children.

In 1786, William's wife Susanna died.  Apparently, shortly after, William took a second wife, Jane/Joan Perry, who  outlived William.  In approximately 1795 before 1800, William died. I have not found a will or probate as yet for either William, Susanna, or Joan.

Although William, Susanna, and Joan were most likely buried in either Orange County or Spotsylvania County, no gravesite/cemetery has been found as yet for any of them.

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I would love to find more details about William GHOLSON, and if you have any information and/or sources on this early Virginia family, I would be very happy to learn more!  My blog is not allowing me to reply directly to your comments, but aside from commenting, you could email me using the email address at the very bottom of the line of blogs [several blogs below today's blog post].

Thank you so much for reading today's blog post in the #52Ancestors challenge.

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Welcome!

Family, friends, and others - I hope you enjoy these pages about our ancestors and their lives. Genealogy has become somewhat of an obsession, more than a hobby, and definitely a wonderful mystery to dig into and discover. Enjoy my writing, and contact me at celia.winky at gmail dot com if you have anything to add to the stories. ... Celia Lewis