Well Doyle,

I have always wondered if John Fann had an earlier wife.
But with the exception of Macky, there are no children's names
to assign to her. Just because someone died in a certain
county does not make them the son of someone else. Willoughby
was also in Warren County. Couldn't he have been his son?
You can speculate that he is John's son, but you have to state that
it is a speculation. Unless you have documention that shows that
he is John's son, then assigning the John who died in Warren County
to John Fann of Orange County is a major mistake in my book. One
of my cousins says that I shoot holes in all her theories all the time.
It's true. I believe that a good genealogy should be properly researched
and documented. If it is done any other way, then it is just a tale.

I believe the William mentioned in John Fann's estate papers
is the same as Wiley, who was mentioned in the will.
Whether his real name was William or Willoughby has been
something we have wondered all along. But I have never found
but the one person. If I am not mistaken, he is the one that there
is the debate in the court case about whether or not he survived
Elizabeth. And I do believe it calls her 'his mother' at that point.
The witnesses state that they had seen him alive and well at
his home in Green Co, AL on a certain date. That ended the
debate and the person holding his share of the estate was
declared to be legally entitled to it. I looked for him a little in that
county but didn't readily find anything and I have not pursued it
again.
It sounds as though you got John's probate file from NC. There
is a separate file with Elizabeth's name on it. If you don't have it,
then you need to get it. There appear to be papers in both of them
that should have been put together in one file. In my opinion these
two files should have been merged and filed under John's name.
It is clear from reading the names of the heirs that they are
concerned with the same estate. If you have only one of the files
then you are missing the complete picture.
Back in 1989 I spent a couple of days at the NC archives looking
at all this Fann stuff. It was another cousin's wife who put me onto
it. I called her to tell her where I was and what all I had looked at that
day. One of the first things she asked me was if I had looked at Fanns.
When I asked her why them, she stated that she had noticed that
Judith Walker lived next door to Elizabeth Fann in more than one census
and that she suspected that there was a connection. So the next day I
requested all the Fann files and started reading. It was a VERY
productive day. I had to ask to have the files copied and sent to me
because the number of pages in them far exceeded the number of
pages they allow you to have copied in one day.
i don't know if you have done any research at the NC archives, but they
make the copies for you and at that time you were only allowed 50
copies a day. They also charge different rates for in-state versus
out-of-state residents when they are making copies and sending
them to you. They are quick to inform you that that is the way it is and
if you don't want to pay it then you can do without your copies. They
are there to serve the people of NC, and anyone else can pay through
the teeth. But they were very helpful and made lots of suggestions
about things that I found.
I do have a list that I have made of John's children. But as I told you,
I have recently moved and even the things I have with me are still
in boxes. So I will have to wait until I run across it to send you a copy.
Between his will, the probate files, and the marriage records in Orange
County I even managed to marry nearly all of them off. I found an additional
one in the marriage records who I suspect may belong to him also and
I put her at the end of the list with a note.
Re the other children you think belonged to John Fann:
There was a Nancy Fann who appears in one of the other counties in NC
also. I think I have some notes I made after reading the wills and probate
files. I will take a look when I find which box they are in.
I also made notes from Willoughby's files and many of the other Fanns
that I read files on in the other counties.
Which Elizabeth Fann's estate settlement are you referring to when you
mention the two unnamed daughters? If it is the Elizabeth in Orange
County, then you should have already had the 1837 death date.
If it is a different Elizabeth Fann, then they are not children of John Fann,
because she would not have been his wife.
I do not recall any of the daughters of John Fann marrying men of those
names, but I will look when I run across my notes.
Patsey is a nickname for Martha in that day and age. There is no further
mention of her under either name after the will and no marriage on
record for her. My assumption is that she died. Even if she did marry
she apparently had no heirs because neither she nor they are
mentioned in the court case.
I know you are going to publish a book and that you want people to buy
it, but I am interested in where you found the information that makes
you think/know that these children belong to John Fann. I would be
interested in knowing the actual sources so that I can see if they are
what I have. I hope you have some additional ones that I don't have,
because except for the will and the probate files in NC, and a couple
of entries in deed books in TN where some of his named children
sold off their shares of his estate, I have not run across anything with
strong enough evidence to assign anyone to him who is not already
named in the will or the probate files.
There are people in my family who would probably be interested in
buying the book, as long as I tell them that it is worth it. But I can't
honestly do that until I feel that the research is accurately done.
I have been fighting wrong info and family "tales" for years now, and
I am not keen on adding anymore to the pot.

Carol Sullivan