Here are the children of Thomas Snipes & Susannah Thrift involved in this matter:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&d...(From here you can find William Snipes’ children & spouses, referred to below)
Here's Drury Thrift:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&d...[Isham Thrift is probably a sibling, Jane could be a sibling or daughter, William is probably a relative but the relationship is less clear]
Here's what I'm interested in:
http://www.ncgenweb.us/chatham/willndx4.htmCHATHAM COUNTY ESTATE RECORDS 1782-1799 ( 2 VOLS.)
Microfilm # 022.50001 - Vol. 2 - 1795-1799
Thrift, Drewry, dec of Dinw.Co.,VA -pg. 114b, 115a [ heirs of his & Snipes estate] 13 Feb 1799
Snipes, William, deceased -pg. 114b, 115a[heirs of his & Drewry Thrift's estate] 13 Feb. 1799
Snipes, Thomas Sr. 115b [POA to bro. Nath. Snipes in est of Snipes & Thrift] 13 Feb. 1799
Snipes, Nathaniel -pg 115b [POA from bro. Thos Snipes in est of Snipes & Thrift] 13 Feb 1799
Snipes, Nathaniel -pg. 114b,115a [POA from heirs of Wm. Snipes & Drewry Thrift] 13 Feb 1799
Bynum, James -pg. 114b,115a [heir of Wm. Snipes & Drewry Thrift's estate] 13 Feb 1799 [husband of Sarah Snipes]
Snipes, John - pg. 114b,115a [heir of Wm. Snipes & Drewry Thrift's estate] 13 Feb 1799
Lacy, Phillimon - pg. 114b, 115a [heir of Wm. Snipes & Drewry Thrift's estate] 13 Feb. 1799 [husband of Susannah Snipes]
Snipes, William, -pg. 114b, 115a [heir of Wm. Snipes & Drewry Thrift's estate] 13 Feb. 1799
Hatch, Alexander- pg. 114b, 115a [heir of Wm. Snipes & Drewry Thrift's estate] 13 Feb 1799 [husband of Rhoda Snipes]
Justice, Allen - pg. 114b, 115a [hier of Wm. Snipes & Drewry Thrift's estate] 13 Feb. 1799 [husband of Tabitha Snipes]
(I don't know why Thomas Snipes, oldest son of William, doesn't appear in the list. Maybe the transcriber missed the item?)
I have a transcription of part but not all of the complete record abstracted above. I am missing the POA of Thomas Snipes, Sr. The following partial transcription was obtained from Chatham County NC Estate Records 1782-1799, graciously transcribed by Sue Ashby.
Power of Attorney – Snipes et al – Feb 1799
Know all men by these presents that We, Thomas Snipes, John Snipes, William Snipes, Philemon Lacey, James Bynum, Alexander Hatch and Allen Justice of Chatham County in North Carolina all of us being heirs and Representatives of William Snipes, Dec. late of Chatham County have constituted made and appointed our Loving & trusty friend Nathaniel Snipes of Granville County our true & Lawful Attorney, for us and in our name and to our own and to ask demand sue for and receive all such sum or sums of money and likewise every other species of property both real and personal which all as heirs and Representatives of William snipes, Dec. are entitled to or which may be Law descend to us out of the estate of Drewry Thrift, dec’d late of Dinwiddie County in Virginia, given and granting unto our said attorney our whole power Strength and authority in and about the premises to take all Lawful means for the Receiving thereof and upon the receiving or receipt of any money or property as aforesaid acquitances or other sufficient discharges to make and in our names to do all (there?) acts or things, needful or necessary to be done in or about the premises, as amply and as fully as we our selves might or could do were we personally present ratifying and confirming whatever our said attorney shall lawfully do by virtue of these presents . In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 13th day of February 1799
Thomas Snipes (Seal)
John Snipes (Seal)
Wm. Snipes (Seal)
Philemon Lacey (Seal)
James Bynum (Seal)
Alexander Hatch (Seal)
Allan Justice (Seal)
Here are my questions about the above:
***Does anyone have evidence bearing on whether or not Elizabeth Snipes b 1740 (daughter of Thomas Snipes) married Drewry Thrift, or anyone else? Or more to the point, do you have any clues why Elizabeth's siblings (Thomas, Nathaniel, & William) would expect to inherit a significant portion of Drewry Thrift's estate?***
Based on the info above, one explanation would be that Elizabeth may have married Drury Thrift and left no male heirs; if he did have a female heir (Jane Thrift is a possible daughter, and his wife may have survived him), then perhaps he left no will.
***Does anyone have any other reasonable explanation for the Power of Attorney transcribed above? Does anyone have more info, such as death date, about this Elizabeth Snipes?***
A reasonable interpretation of the above is that Drewry Thrift (born before 1760 & possibly ~1740, died ~1798) married Elizabeth Snipes, they left no (male) heirs, and after he died Elizabeth's siblings were attempting to get control of (some of) their estate. The abstracts name 3 siblings (Thomas, Nathaniel, & the heirs of William). The ONLY child of Thomas & Susannah not named is Elizabeth, although the Snipes believed that females could be heirs since other female heirs (daughters of William, who died before Drewry) WERE represented (by their husbands). It seems to me that Elizabeth is probably represented by "Drewry Thrift's estate" What other reason would there be for Drewry's name to appear?
There does seem to be a relationship between Drewry Thrift and the Snipes, but it probably wasn't a debt since the whole family (except Elizabeth) is expecting to inherit, and the stakes are SO nebulous: "all such sum or sums of money and likewise every other species of property both real and personal which all as heirs and Representatives of William Snipes, Dec. are entitled to or which may by Law descend to us" If Drury owed a business debt to the elder Thomas or Susannah Snipes, wouldn't that have been settled much earlier? I've seen one statement that Thomas died in 1758, suggesting that any debt to Thomas and his heirs would have been settled LONG before Drury's death.
IF Elizabeth can be shown to have married someone else, that would mean my hypothesis is probably wrong. Bill Snipes wondered if this Elizabeth Snipes was the one who had married John Smith & settled in Georgia. Is there any real evidence for that? There’s this:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.geo...But, given how much of that info seems questionable, the evidence for THIS Elizabeth Snipes' marriage to Smith seems nonexistent unless you can provide more than the coincidence of names and dates, 600 miles apart. (We've already gone through a similar issue with Robert T. Thrift.)
Others claim Drury Thrift’s wife’s name was Mary, and she died after 1809. If Drury’s wife WAS Mary who lived another 10 years after his death, it would put a whole other meaning on this proceeding. What is the source for this info? I've seen this stated many times, so SOMEBODY must have a source. It's not trustworthy without the source info. This info may be on documents pertaining to his land; does anyone have access to this? In 1809 Colson Tucker, husband of Drury's relative Jane Thrift, was conveyed 238.5 acres as part of Drury Thrift's estate, so the Mary story could be true. But we need documentation. (Hmm, maybe Elizabeth was his 1st wife & Mary was 2nd?)
Apparently Drewry Thrift (and wife) left no (male) heirs, since the Snipes family was expecting an inheritance. This may be evidence that Isham Thrift was not Drury's son, in contrast to claims by some of Isham's descendants. There is other evidence stating Isham & Drury are brothers,
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.thrift/231/mb.ashxand this relationship fits the dates for each that I am aware of. Further evidence is that it appears that much of Drury's estate was conveyed not to Isham, and not to the Snipes, but to Jane Thrift or rather her husband Colson Tucker; this is shown in Dinwiddie Co land tax records.
It's known that Isham Thrift's daughter Elizabeth married Jesse Snipes, May 15, 1802, Orange Co, NC. Isham's son William moved to Jackson Parish, LA and had a large plantation. Robert Snipes, 23, was included in the 1850 census there; he was overseer for the plantation. I suspect this Robert was William's nephew, son of Isham's daughter Elizabeth Thrift Snipes.
As mentioned above, Isham's father is controversial. Some claim that Isham's father is Nathaniel Thrift of Northampton Co, NC. I've seen no evidence for this, and Nathaniel's will is evidence against this claim. The association of BOTH Drury & Isham with the Snipes family (as evidenced by the above POA's, WHETHER OR NOT Drury and Elizabeth were married) is circumstantial evidence that Isham & Drury are related, and that Isham is, like Drury, from the St George Co /Dinwiddie Co VA region. They may be nephews of Susannah Thrift who is said to have married Thomas Snipes.
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.thrift/230/mb.ashxThanks!
Richard Thrift