Hi folks,
I'm casting my nets wide and hope that posting this might generate some answers or leads.
My Gupton line runs from Abner(1757-1859 Cheatham Co., TN) m. Judith Hunt (1777-1841). Their daughter Sarah "Sally" Gupton (b. abt. 1804 NC? - d. bef. 1852, TN) married John "Jack" Pardue Jr. (b. abt. 1798 NC - d. 1865 Cheatham Co., TN). Their son, John W. Pardue (abt. 1827 - 1902, Montgomery Co., TN ?) married first, Martha Pace (b. abt. 1821 - d. 1873, Montgomery Co., TN). They had many children including my great-grandfather Jefferson Lee Pardue, and another son John T. Pardue.
I have an old pocket-sized ledger book that belonged to this John T. Pardue that was passed down to my father. John apparently used it as an occasional diary as well as a ledger. One of the things written in it is what my family always called "The Legend".
It's written in pencil towards the back of the ledger and undated. The other dated entries in the book range from approximately 1884 - 1890. The pencil wasn't very sharp and the writing is somewhat smudged but is mostly legible and I've tried to transcribe it verbatim (notes in parantheses are mine).
"The Legend" as transcribed by Suzanne Pitt Whitehead
"GrandFather Gupton came from Scotland. Grandma Gupton came from Wales.Met on a Ship Corted and were married by John Wesley the founder of the E (?) Church her maiden name was Mary Persons (?) Gran Pa Gupton died Aug 26-59 Gran Pa Guptons great gran mother was a Kings Daughter King (next page) of Irland her name was Sarah Cooper She was sold on a ship and her teeth sawed off and she got away and made her escape to the U.S. GranFathers Pa was a bound boy bound to a man by the name of Gupton. So we don't know whether his real name was Gupton or not. there is Great welth for us in the old country if not (?) now."
So that's the legend.
It's difficult to know for sure which Gupton he is calling "Grandfather" and "Grandma" Gupton. His fathers' mother was Sarah "Sally" Gupton, but because she married a Pardue, I doubt that he would refer to her as Grandma Gupton. So, could her parents (Abner and Judith) be Grandfather and Grandma Gupton? That doesn't seem to make sense as all the research that I've found on the web says that Abner was born in either VA or NC and Judith was born in NC.
Based on the other entries in the ledger, I have a very faint, vague sense that this entry might be something that was told, almost dictated to John and he wrote it down. Perhaps he sat down with his grandmother Sarah Gupton Pardue and asked about her family. If that's true, then the people might be her grandparents.
If the part about being married by John Wesley is true (like all family legends, this one must be taken with a grain of salt), that helps narrow the field of possible Guptons down some. John Wesley is known to have been in America about 1735 and left in Dec. 1737. But, in the research that I've done so far, it seems that Abners' ancestors were already here by then and wouldn't be coming on the boat.
The Pardues are connected to the Cooper family. John "Jack" Pardues' parents were John Pardue (1766-1840) m. Clerimon Cooper (1773-1868). All these families - Gupton, Pardue, Cooper and Persons, can be connected by time and place. All are early Virginia familes that had branches migrate to the Bute, Franklin, Granville, Warren County areas of NC in the 1700's and then many on to Tennessee. But so far, I've not found any trace of a specifc connection to a Persons/Parsons/Pearsons family.
The comment about "GranFathers Pa was a bound boy bound to a man by the name of Gupton. So we don't know whether his real name was Gupton or not." raises lots and lots of questions. I was hoping that someone might have a record of some type of bond, maybe guardianship, or bastardy, or something that might help me figure out who this was and if he really was a Gupton.
These are just a few of my thoughts, theories and downright wishes that "The Legend" has prompted. I'm hoping that someone can help me pin them down.
Thanks for your time. :) Suzanne Pitt Whitehead
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My wife is from this family also and a member of the family did quite a bit of research a few years ago. Here is a paragraph from her notes; "February 20, 1662, Captain William Wesley and Captain John Hull were granted 5798 acres of land in Rappahannock County, Va. for transporting 116 persons from England to Virginia. Each person was allowed fifty acres of land. On that ship was William Gupton. William had three sons. William died somtime prior to Feb 10, 1709.
Sons of William Gupton
William Gupton, Jr. married Mary Eliz. Dolan Stephen Gupton married Margaret Coward Francis Gupton"
My wife's father was Dempsey O. Gupton,(John Jerome)(Robert Thomas)(Abner)(James)
It has been an interesting family to follow.
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I recently began to do some family history research for a friend on her Pardue line, and made it back to the Guptons. I happened upon some previous research on the Gupton and allied families that takes the line back to William Gupton who is apparently the immigrant you mention who was transported and ended up in Rappahannock County, Virginia. Unfortunately there is nothing in the research to indicate where William was born, only that he was born about 1650. The research does not give much about William, other than that he died 10 Feb 1707 or 1708 and his wife was named Susannah. It only shows two of his sons - Stephen Gupton and Francis Gupton. There is some discrepancy here, as it says Stephen Gupton, born about 1680 in Old Rappahannock County, Virginia, died about 1717 in Richmond County, Virginia and says he married Elizabeth Hertford and had children Stephen Gupton b.27 Nov 1713 and Joyce Gupton b.17 Feb 1714/15.
The references for this information are as follows:
William Gupton (b.ca 1650) - Registration of North Farnham Parish, 1663-1814, Richmond County, Virginia. son Stephen Gupton (b.ca 1680) - Correspondence from Ann Pardue, August 1, 1990 [probably the Ann Pardue who responded to the Gupton Legend message on another forum] Stephen Gupton's wife Elizabeth Hertford and his children Stephen Gupton (b.27 Nov 1713) and Joyce Gupton (b.17 Feb 1714/15) - also references the same Registration of North Farnham Parish.
There is not really any other actual documentation till the research gets to the 4th generation - James Gupton (b.ca 1734-Orange Co., VA) marr. Sarah Foster. At this point there are all sorts of land records, wills and court records documenting the remainder of the information.
Based on this information so far, it would seem "The Gupton Legend" is either a bit of a fable, or it relates something farther back than this.
Susan Pitt Whithead mentions: "Gran Pa Gupton died Aug 26-59"
This would appear to be Abner Gupton, b.ca1757-Franklin Co., NC; d.26Aug1859-Cheatham Co., TN, but Abner was the 4th generation after William. Abner was the grandfather of John T. Perdue who owned the ledger book where the "Legend" was found written. I wonder if possibly John T. was recording something his grandfather Abner was relating about hearing from His (Abner's) grandfather Stephen Gupton (b.1713) about His (Stephen's) grandfather William....
We could go all out and speculate that William Gupton (b.ca 1650) is possibly the immigrant ancestor, and that perhaps he came from Scotland, and perhaps he or his father was the "bound boy" back in Scotland who was bound to a man named Gupton. Perhaps William did marry a woman named Mary Persons instead of a woman named Susannah, or perhaps her name was Mary Susannah.
Ah well, it is all a very interesting puzzle! I thank you for posting the information about William being brought over on a ship. I would love to learn any further information you have on those early generations.
The research I found was done by Gregory G. Poole, and appears to be the printed research from a computerized genealogy program (such as Family Tree Maker). It is on printer paper in a 3-ring binder and was apparently gifted to the Cheatham County Historical and Genealogical Association. The research is not dated, but I suspect it was printed sometime between about 1986 and 2002.
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