James Lea of Kilgore's Branch
Gloucestor District of North Hico
Timeline - See important updates by scrolling down to the 1788 death date:
The birthdate of James Lea is unknown as are his parents. His death date of 1788 is erroneous
5 March 1753: A man named James Lea and Ann, his wife, sold 200 acres in Spotsylvania to James Chapman. [ed. note: Ann’s maiden name is unknown. Her name in this document is Ann and not Annie. Some theorists have said Talburt or Talbot, but truth be known - even the oldest records do not substantiate or support any one of the theories]. This is likely the time they moved to the area now known as Caswell/Person County. This deed could just as well belong to James Lea of Country Line Creek.
[Lea Family Research for Dr. Cynthia Forde, Raquel Lindaas, Heritage Consulting, Inc. 2006] proving that this James Lea was not James Lea of Country Line Creek in Orange County, NC by March of 1752.
1768: Sheriff of Orange County, North Carolina.
1776: Methodist Circuit Rider Josiah Asbury, stays in his home, on his circuit travels. [cf: Appendix I: The Descendants of James Lea, Kilgore’s Branch Research Reports by Betty Fitzgerald]
1776: James Lea of Kilgore's Branch did NOT serve in the Revolutionary War. The N.S.D.A.R. will no longer accept applicants on military service for James Lea of Kilgore’s Branch. His son, James Jr reportedly did serve in the North Carolina Militia. The DAR applications have the two James Leas confused. No longer will the DAR accept applications for James Lea of Kilgore's Branch.
Bef. 1777: Tax List Appearance as James (Kilgore's Branch) Lea:
[The following is from The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor [1985] at 351 [Article #437, "James Lea" by Katharine Kerr Kendall]:
"It was disappointing to read years of the Caswell County Court minutes, to have published 2 volumes of wills and probates of Caswell, and to have examined every estate file on the Lea family at the NC State Archives and to have found no probates for James Lea of Kilgore's Branch. The progenitor of the Lea family of Leasburg was in the area before 1777 as he appears on the tax list as James (Kilgore's Branch) Lea. In 1778 he entered 600 acres of land on both sides of East Fork of Kilgore's Branch of North Hyco Creek. Kilgore Branch may have been the dividing line of Richmond and Gloucester Districts for on the 1784 tax list he was in Gloucester District owning 470 acres. In 1783 he had deeded land to his son Gabriel and in the same year sold land to Thomas Evans. He lived just south of present Leasburg."]
The following is from Report of Research on the Lea Family in Virginia & North Carolina Before 1800, Ben L. Rose [1984] at 124-125:
James Lea of Kilgore's Branch, by Ben L. Rose
“We can identify this James Lea in 1777 when he appears on a Caswell Co tax list as "James Lea [Kilgore Bra.]" and on Aug 21, 1778 when a survey was ordered for him for 587 acres in Caswell Co "on both sides of the east fork of Kilgore’s Branch joining the line of William Moore and Thomas Kilgore". On the same date [Aug 21, 1778] he entered a claim for 600 acres "on both sides of Kilgores's Branch". The record mentions "improvements" which James had made on the land, so he had apparently occupied the land for some time before this date.
As indicated earlier in this Item, many persons settled on land in the Granville District before 1763 when the Land Offices were closed following the death of Lord Granville, but they did not receive a grant for their land until the offices opened again in 1778. James Lea was apparently one of these. Also, many of the records of early Orange Co NC are missing, having been damaged when they were buried to hide them from General Cornwallis, who for a time made his headquarters in Hillsboro, the county seat. As a result, we cannot be sure when this James Lea first settled in Orange Co NC on Kilgore’s Branch. On Jun 17, 1783, James Lea sold 276 acres "on both sides of Kilgore's Branch of North Hico" to [and this is the way the deed reads:] "Gabriel [his son"]. So we know that James Lea had a son named Gabriel. On the same date, he also sold 327 acres "on both sides of Kilgore’s Branch" to Thomas Evans.”
9 March 1778: James Lea owned land on Kilgore’s Branch, bordering Thomas Kilgore’s Land.
18 May 1778: James Lea, Sr. entered deeds near William Moore and Thomas Kilgore.[rsb James Lea, Sr .is in the deed record]
18 Mar. 1779: William Lea, son of James Lea, Sr., entered three hundred and fifty acres near Thomas Kilgore, which would be in the area of Kilgore’s branch.[1]
29 Oct 1782: James Lea, Sr. received state land grant for 600 acres on both sides of east fork of Kilgore’s Branch, adjacent William Lea, Thomas Kilgore, William McDaniel, William Moore & Thomas Langley.
17 Jun 1783: James Lea sold to Thomas Evans 327 acres on both sides of Kilgore’s Branch of North Hyco, adjacent William Moore, John Johnston, James Sargent, Abraham Fulkerson.
17 Jun 1783: James Lea, Sr. to his son, Gabriel Lea, 260 acres on both sides of Kilgore’s Branch of North Hico, adjacent William McDaniel, Widow Gibson, Abraham Fulkerson, Thomas Evans, William Moore.
13 Oct 1783: William Lea received a state land grant on South Hico Creek adjacent Thomas Langley, James Johnston, John Cooper, George Huston, Timothy Burgess, Thomas Kilgore.j
13 Oct 1783: Herndon Harralson received a state land grant on the Fishing Branch of Adams Creek, adjacent to Robert Huston, Henry Horley, Elkanah Harralson, John Barnett, Thomas Aspin.[This helps to locate the property of James Lea, Sr. since Harralson and Barnett were neighbors.]
24 Nov 1783: William Lea sold to Anderson Ashburn 292 acres on South Hyco adjacent Thomas Langley, James Johnston, Cooper, George Huston, Timothy Burgess, Thomas Kilgore.
5 Jan 1784: James Lea, Jr. purchased from John Cooper, Sr. 345 acres on South Hico adjacent his old corner, William Glen, crossing Cooper’s Branch.
16 Jul 1784: James Lea sold to Henry Cooper 340 acres on South Hico adjacent Cooper, James McCarver, James Johnson.
1786: Herndon Haralson sold to James Currier 78 acres on the north side of South Hico, adjacent to George Huston, Currier’s line, Timothy Burgess.
Oct 1786: William Lea purchased from Joshua Carney 88 acres on Kilgore’s Branch, which property he bought from Abram Fulkerson, Thomas Evans, James Lea.
11 Oct 1786: Gabriel Lea purchased from John Asborn 50 acres on North Hico, adjacent Thomas Kilgore; James Lea and H. Haralson witnessed.
16 Jun 1787: William Lea purchased from Abram Fulkerson 100 acres on both sides of Kilgore’s Branch, adjacent Fulkerson.
1788: James Lea of Kilgore's Branch has been cited as dying in 1788, but there is no documentation. to prove this. He was not the James Lea, whose will was written in 1771 and proven in March 1792, who is known as James Lea of Country Line Creek. Rev. Lorenzo Lea has been cited as the author of the death date [2 June 1788] and his great grandfather’s age of 73. In tracking down the source of the death date, comes the following:
1. Lorenzo Lea’s notes do not contain a death date. Great-grandson Reverend Lorenzo Lea writes, “James Lea was a very small man of temperate habits and lived to be very old. His home was known in the family as The Old Place".
2. Lorenzo Lea’s notes published in the book, Lea Family, a collection of genealogies, articles, and correspondence compiled by Francis Powell Otken, including Albert E. Casey’s book oft-cited, does not include a death date. Otken has included a genealogy from Wilhelmina Lea, written Oct 22 1908 in Leasburg North Carolina in a letter form with Lorenzo's notes, stating, "This genealogical record was compiled by Rev Lorenzo Lea and is not complete, or free from errors. He gave no dates except on the first page, hence the difficulty in getting things straight. I am adding dates from an old family Bible of my grandfather William Lea." Wilhelmina Lea offers no death dates; nor does another contributor, Edwin Holmes Lea.
3. The source of the death date appears in Notable Southern Families, McCall-Tidwell and Knight. and it was published in the book, Lea Family by Otken. The Chattanooga Times published an article from the magazine section dated Dec 15.1935. "Leaves from the Family Tree by Penelope Johnson Allen, State Chairman of Genealogical Records, Tennessee Society D.A.R. In the first paragraph she writes, "James Lea died 2 June 1788." Mrs. Allen continued the same lineage mix-up of the children of James Lea of Kilgore’s Branch and James Lea of Country Line Creek. All but three of the DAR applications on James Lea married to Ann ie Talbot show his death locale as Tennessee. The DAR applications for this man show his son as Luke Lea (erroneously) listing James and Ann Talbot Lea as parents.
4. CVF: Historian Betty Fitzgerald cites 2 June 1788 per Lorenzo Lea; Katherine Kerr Kendall cites death age of 73 years old using Lorenzo Lea from Albert E. Casey. Cynthia Forde disproved this citation by copying the complete notes of Lorenzo Lea located in the Raleigh Archives and sent copies to Rick Frederick showing Lorenzo Lea never, NEVER wrote it. It was a fabrication by Albert E. Casey OR from someone applying for membership in the DAR.
5. "A James Lea gave one of the two depositions in the home of a Gabriel Lea because he was "too old and infirm to travel" to the courthouse. This James Lea apparently lived near Gabriel Lea. Until a death date can be established for James (Kilgore's Branch) Lea by reference to a reliable record, this James Lea must continue to be considered as a candidate for the husband of a daughter of Lawrence Bankston.
Thus, James (Kilgore's Branch) Lea remains a candidate for the husband of the Bankston daughter even though some researchers show his death year as 1788. No primary source has been found confirming that death year. And, James (Kilgore's Branch) Lea did name a grandson Lawrence Lea (otherwise not a common Lea given name).
[E-mail from Rick Frederick NCCHA 10 Feb 2012]
JAMES LEA KILGORES BRANCH DEATH DATE
The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde
We are interested in discovering the origin of the 2 Jun 1788 date of death attributed to James Lea. To date we have not yet discovered any authentic primary source documentary evidence of ANY James Lea dying in 1788. The earliest record discovered is a Sons of the American Revolution membership application dated 1910, as transcribed below. The original application was perhaps devoid of dates since there was no room on the form for dates of ancestors and the dates that are on the application appear in small print as annotations and appear to have been added after the application was received by the SAR.
SAR MEMBERSHIP # 21244 [1]
James Everett Lea, Jr. a student from Huron, Mississippi, filed an application for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution on 12 May1910 based on the military record of James Lea, Jr. of Orange County, North Carolina. His application was approved on 12 May 1910. The petition sent to the Mississippi Registrar General May 18,1910. Certificate of Membership #21244 was delivered 25 July 1910. The file was transferred to D.C. #9080 (1934).
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
TO THE BOARD OF MANAGERS OF
MISSISSIPPI SOCIETY
…OF THE…
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
I, James E. Lea, Jr, being of the age of twenty-one-years and upwards, to wit, of the age of (twenty-one) hereby apply for membership in the society by right of lineal descent in the following line from James Lea, Jr. who was born in North Carolina on the 21 May 1752, (replaced by 1718). And died in Tennessee on the 18 Jan 1790 (replaced by June 1788) and who assisted in obtaining American Independence.
I was born in Huron in the County of Amite, State of Mississippi on the 23 day of Jan 1888.
I am the son of James E. Lea and
Maggie Tate Lea his wife, and
Grandson of James E. Lea b. 7/28/1819 d. 4/25/1878 m. 1826 and
Frances Powell Lea b. 8/22/1827 d. 2/12/1886 his wife, and
Great-grandson of Zachariah Lea b. 1/15/1776 d. 2/5/1815 m. 1/19/1802 and
Sabrina Muse Day Lea b. 1/14/1783 d. 8 his wife, and
Great-great grandson of Luke Lea b. 12/26/1739 d. m. and
Elizabeth Wilson Lea b. 11/26/1739 his wife, and
Great-great-great grandson of James Lea, Jr. (1718-1788) and
No record
Great-great- great-great grandson of James Lea, Sr. and
No record
And he, the said ancestor, James Lea, Jr is the ancestor who assisted in establishing American Independence, while acting as a private soldier in the North Carolina Militia
Ancestors Service
My ancestor’s services in assisting in the establishment of American Independence during the War of the Revolution were as follows:
Served under his brother Gabriel Lea who was captain of a company from Orange County, North Carolina. They watched the enemy and aided Americans by getting supplies. Served under General Griffith Rutherford after July 23 1776 against the Cherokee Indians of East Tennessee. In the valley of the Tennessee River they burned the Indian towns of Natauga, Ellajay, and Estakoe, and routed the Indians at where Franklin, NC now stands, with the aid of General Williamsons troops from South Carolina subdued the Indians and returned home in October 1776. James Lea fought again with General Rutherford on the 20th of June, 1780 at Ramsours Mill against the Tories. Two of the officers were Col. Francis Locke and Major David Wilson of NC. Later James served as a private under Capt. Robert Raiford and Col. Abraham Shepherd of the 10th Continental NC Regiment enlisting Sept 18, 1780 for eighteen months and served throughout the siege of Yorktown, VA. For another record of the services of James Lea see North Carolina Records by Justice Walter Clark, Vol. XVI, p. 1106. It is also said that James fought in some of the battles of South Carolina, but we have no record of service. The surname in some instances is written Lee.
In getting the above data, I have consulted my older relatives, family records, and a genealogist. My ancestor, James Lea, Sr came from England to Virginia after 1708. His son lived in North Carolina and his grandson in Tennessee. Zachariah Lea came from Tenn in 1802 and settled the plantation where we live, which makes this about the only place in Miss where ancestors for over 100 yrs. have lived.
The following are references for the above statements:
Mrs. Chas. Fairfax-Henley, Miss, Tenn
Mr. James Everett Lea, Sr Huron, Miss
Mr. Winchester Everett, Glading, Miss
Mr. Chas Jefferson Thomas, Peoria Miss
Signed James Everett Lea, Jr.
Mississippi, Amite County
National Society, Sons of the American Revolution
According to Dennis Simpson, an official researcher at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C., the first application to the DAR naming James Lea as a patriot was accepted on 15 April 1911.
The second DAR applicant was Frances Powell Otken, probably a first cousin of James Everett Lea, that first SAR applicant.
The DAR has had 105 applications for membership based on the service of James Lea. The first 65 were descendants of his son Luke Lea, and the first 85 declared the service to be as a private and the death date to be 1788, according to a printout found among the two hundred sixty-five pages of data provided by the DAR as the entirety of their files concerning James Lea. All 105 applications were for descendants of James Lea of Country Line Creek, the father of Luke Lea as proved by his will and probate record in 1792. The inventory was recorded in 1792, proving that his death occurred in 1792, not 1788.
About eighty-five of the one hundred and five DAR applicants cite the SAR military record for James Lea, Jr. who died in Tennessee in 1788 for their Revolutionary War Patriot. We believe that the only contemporary James Lea who named a son James Lea was the James Lea who lived on Kilgore's Branch in Caswell County, NC. The one DAR application for James Lea, Sr. of Kilgore’s Branch was rejected.
In 1777 a petition was circulated for the formation of Caswell County. Four of the signers were named James Lea. There were James Lea of Country Line Creek whose father is unknown, James Lea son of William Lea of Cobbs Creek, and James Lea of Kilgore’s Branch and his son James Lea. No wonder that descendants in Mississippi, and their genealogist, one hundred and thirty years later were confused and mistook the James Lea who performed military service for their ancestor. Bear in mind that Luke Lea was born in 1739, so James Lea of Country Line Creek would have been born about 1718 and therefore be 60 plus years old in 1778. It is hard to imagine that a 60-year-old would survive service as a private in the war. The DAR now accepts James Lea of Country Line Creek as an approved patriot based on supplies that he provided to the American cause, and his service as a Grand Juror in 1769.
In The History of Amity County, Albert Eugene Casey assigned that 1788 death date to James Lea of Kilgore’s Branch without any justification and changed the location of his death from TN to Caswell County, NC... ! Apparently since so many people had used that date, he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away, even though it is entirely without merit. We still know nothing about the son of James Lea of Kilgore’s Branch who was named James Lea and moved to Tennessee early according to Lorenzo Lea’s Genealogy of the Lea Family (never published).
In summary, we still don’t know the origin of that 2 Jun 1788 death date and now we also don’t know the origin of the birth date of 21 May 1752 and death date of 18 Jan 1790 as recorded on the original SAR application.
The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Forde
PO Box 598
Hempstead, Texas 77445
[1] Source Citation
Volume: 107
Source Information
Ancestry.com. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Original data: Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls.
Warning: The following may not apply to James Lea of Kilgore's Branch, but the records may indicate he was still living post 1788]:
[note: While James Lea, Jr. was known to be living in Tennessee, the following transactions occurred)
25 Jun 1792: James Lea sold to Samuel Nealey 200 acres on South Hico adjacent Samuel Johnston and James Johnston, Cooper, Huston. [James Lea, Jr. was living in Tennessee.]
1 Feb 1793: James Lea sold to Richard Hamblet 148 acres on Kilgore’s Branch of North Hico, adjacent Kilgore. Gabriel Lea witnessed.
24 Nov 1795: Gloucester County Records: James Lea, a neighbor to Baylor Bird, who sold land to James Sargent, Sr. Other neighbors were William Stewart, Joseph Neeley, John Wisdom, Henry Fuller, Jr., Thomas Phelps. [Last mention of James Lea in Gloucester County area; Gabriel, William, and Lawrence Lea continued to appear in land records there.]
In Gloucester District, there were two James Leas mentioned in the deeds in 1782, 1783 and 1784, designated Jr. and Sr., which does not necessarily mean they were father and son. These may have been the same two James Leas mentioned in St. Lawrence District, as these areas were very close. Cobb’s Creek of St. Lawrence District appears from the map to have been just a ‘stone’s throw’ from the Kilgore Creek area of Gloucester District.
1790 U.S. Federal Census, Gloucester District, Caswell County, NC
Appearing on this list: James Lea, Gabriel Lea, Thomas Kilgore [The James Lea who lived near Gabriel Lee in 1800 was also between twenty-six and forty-five, too young to be the same who gave the deposition; James Lea, son of “Kilgore” was living in Tennessee.
1798: Alexander Rose Bible, Inscription: Jas Lea, died. April 6, 179? We have hired forensic handwriting analysts to decipher the last digit of that date. The numbers that cannot fit into the space are 1, 2, 4, 7, 9. We believe it is is the digit 8, thereby making that date 1798.
Sources:
[1] Documents: Betty Fitzgerald, The Descendants of James Lea of Kilgore's Branch, Research Report.
[2] Katherine Kerr Kendall, "Caswell County "Heritage", by K. K. Kendall, #437 & #437A
[3] Document 3: Raquel Lindaas, Lea Family Research, 2005, 2006, The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Vold Forde
[4] Caswell County Historical Society Website, E-mail communication with Rick Fredrick. [http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=caswellcounty&id=I01641]
[5] Ben L. Rose, Report of Research on the Lea Family in Virginia & North Carolina Before 1800, [1984] at 124-125.
[6] Document 14: Dr. A. B. Pruitt, Abstracts of Land Entries: Caswell Co., NC, 1778-1795, 1841-1863, and Person Co., NC, 1792-1795 [Raleigh: p. p., 1990].
[7] Document 8: Ben Lacy Rose, Alexander Rose of Person County, North Carolina and His Descendants [Richmond: Carter Composition, 1979].
