Mary A. White

Notes:

Often spelled "Dempsy"; sometimes "Demcey" or "Demcy".

Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives for Whitley County, in 1833, 1835, 1838, and 1839. [Collins's History of Kentucky, volume II, page 758]

Moved to Hardin County, Tennessee in 1843.

"Probably the very wealthy Demcy found in the Whitley tax lists from 1819 through 1840." [Steven C. Perkins]

Dempsey married Nancy Perkins on 28 Jan 1819 in Whitley County, Kentucky. Nancy (daughter of Jabez Perkins and [Unknown first wife of Jabez Perkins]) was born in 1803 in Grayson County, Virginia; died after 1860 in Hardin County, Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1860, Wayne County, Tennessee

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 2 May 1753, Granville County, North Carolina

Notes:

Called "John Calvin White" in some sources.

*****

According to "familywest" on ancestry.com, his first marriage to Mary Hendrick is recorded in the Hendrick family Bible.

*****

From Ancestry of Elizabeth Louise White by Steven C. Perkins:

He was probably born 1750-55, as Nancy Jonckheere states that in 1777 he sold land inherited from his father, Richard. Was this the 330 acres in Bute County that he was devised? At that time he was stated to be a planter from Craven County. CHECK

He was probably born in Warren County, N.C., and about 1798 he came to the portion of Knox that is now Whitley County. He died between June and October 1829, based upon his appearance in Whitley County Court as a Commissioner in June and an Order in October that his son, Dempsey, return court records. CHECK whitley order book 1 for his signature. He is probably in an unmarked grave at Redbird; there is a marker for a John White, but the date of death appears to be 1896.

A John White was a taxpayer in Warren County, North Carolina in 1784. North Carolina Taxpayers, supra, v.2, p.217. A John White was a purchaser at an estate sale in Franklin County, N.C., confirmed in June of 1796, Bradley, Will Book B of Franklin County, North Carolina 1784-1804, 929.375654 qB811b 1988, p.16 and at a sale on 10 January 1799, p.38.

A John White is on the Knox tax rolls for 1804, with 300 acres of 2d class land on the Cumberland, 2 horses and 6 slaves. A John White appears in the 1810 and 1820 Knox County censuses, and in Lincoln County before that; a John White is on an 8/3/1790 Lincoln tax list. John White and John White, Sr. appear on an 1816 Knox County tax list. A John White appears on a 1788 Fayette County tax list, as do two Williams and a James. Some Pre-1800 Kentucky Tax Lists, supra, p.11. CHECK

On 28 September 1826 he granted Demcey (sic) White (a Whitley County resident) a Power of Attorney to deal with legacies he might be entitled to from the estates of his father, Richard White, or his mother, Elizabeth, in Franklin County, North Carolina. Whitley County Deed Book 1, p.145-6. Mark White was stated to be the Executor of Richard and Sherrod Celly/Kinney the administrator of Elizabeth. Decker (p. 305) says that Knox County Revolutionary War Veterans included John White of Virginia, and says that he is thought to have settled in Knox in about 1804; if so, that would not [may not] be our John.

*****

The "Demcey" White mentioned above is almost certainly the Dempsey White who is recorded in Collins's History of Kentucky as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives for Whitley County in 1833, 1835, 1838, and 1839; he was a son of this John White, and his daughter Nancy White (1838-1928) was the second wife of Patrick's greatX3-grandfather William Henderson Parker (1824-1898).

John married Mary Shelton. Mary was born about 1760 in Virginia; died about 1824. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 13 Feb 1836, Jellico Creek, Whitley, Kentucky

Notes:

The ultimate genealogical curiosity connecting Teresa's and Patrick's known ancestry isn't a common ancestor, but a common relative. Jabez Perkins was born in 1766 in New Haven, Connecticut and died in 1835 in Whitley County, Kentucky. His parents, Timothy Perkins (1736-1782) and Miriam Sperry (1743-~1783), had moved from Connecticut to North Carolina, probably between 1771 and 1773, as part of a general emigration of Tory sympathizers from Connecticut as the colony's politics came more and more under the control of supporters of separation from Great Britain. Through his mother, Jabez Perkins was a descendant of six of Teresa's direct ancestors, and fully three of his offspring married the children of direct ancestors of Patrick. Adding a genealogical cherry on top, one of his grandchildren was the second wife of one of Patrick's GX3 grandfathers.

To go into more detail, Jabez Perkins was a great-great grandson of Teresa's ancestors Richard Sperry (1606-1648) and his wife Dennes (1631-1707); a GX3-grandson of Teresa's ancestors Samuel Hotchkiss (1623-1663) and his wife Elizabeth Cleverly (d. 1681); and a GX3-grandson of Teresa's ancestors James Clark (d. 1689) and his wife Sarah (d. 1661). Jabez Perkins's son Solomon Perkins (1786-1824) married Nancy Freeman (1798-1870), daughter of Patrick's 4XG-grandparents James Brigham Freeman (d. 1830) and Mary Polly Moore (d. 1835). His daughter Amy Perkins (1798-1862) married Harrison White (1788-1853), son of Patrick's 4XG-grandparents John White (1750-1829) and Mary Shelton (1760-1824). His daughter Nancy Perkins (1803-1860) married Dempsey White (1798-1860), Kentucky state legislator, also a son of the aforementioned 4XG-grandparents of Patrick John White and Mary Shelton. And, improbably, Nancy and Dempsey's daughter Nancy White (1838-1928) was the second wife of Patrick's GX3-grandfather William Henderson Parker (1824-1898). To put it another way, the second wife of Patrick's GX3 grandfather--his mother's father's father's mother's father--was Teresa's fifth cousin five times removed. We strongly suspect time travelers were involved.

In the archives of pre-Internet research by PNH's mother Jeannette White are two indentically-sized slips of paper. One reads, in part, "1776. Born Conn. Died -- Ky. Perkins." The other reads, in part, "Connecticut. Sons of John White. Jo Walter, conference call." As seen above, Jabez Perkins was born in Connecticut in 1766 (not 1776), and two of his daughters married sons of John White. It would appear that Jeannette was onto at least some of these details.

From Steven C. Perkins:

Born in New Haven, CT, before the American Revolution, he was raised in a Loyalist household in the North Carolina back country. As a child he saw his father, Timothy, and paternal uncle, Joseph, join the Loyalist forces against the Americans. According to contemporary accounts, his father and uncle were "notorious Tories" who one time captured Col. Cleveland, an American commander and virtual warlord in the New River settlements. While being held for trial by the Loyalists, Cleveland was able to escape, supposedly with the help of one of the women of the household. The family were early Methodists.

By 1784 a guardian was appointed for Jabez in Wilkes Co., NC. Normally, one would assume this to mean that his father was dead. However, there is some evidence that Timothy Perkins was alive and living in Grayson Co., VA. [See our entry for Jabez's father Timothy for David R. Evans's argument to the contrary. —PNH] Shortly after the guardian was appointed, Jabez appears to have married and moved to Grayson Co., VA, where several of his children were born. In 1789, he was appointed administrator to the estate of his maternal Uncle, William Sperry, in Wilkes Co., NC. It is not yet known if William Sperry was a Loyalist or if he supported the Americans in the Revolution.

By 1813 he was in the Knox/Whitley Co. KY, area. Sometime after 1830, already 65 years old, he moved his family to the Bureau/Putnam Co. Illinois area. He and his sons purchased land in 1835 and 1836. By December of 1835 he had returned to Whitley Co., KY, where he made his will and died before February 13, 1836. Jabez's son William returned to Whitley Co. and remained there the rest of his life. The rest of Jabez's children remained in Illinois or moved further West.

Some researchers have identified Jabez's wife as Nancy Ann Creekmore. I am not convinced that this is correct. I am also not convinced that his wife at the time he made his will is the mother of his children. [...] There is the possibility that there were two wives named Nancy. There is a renunciation of the will dated in Feb 1836 from Nancy Perkins in Whitley Co., KY, Will Book 1. There is a report of a marriage license for Jabez Perkins and Nancy White dated the same day the will was made. It is supposed to be in the KY Archives. This compiler has not seen it.

Jabez married [Unknown first wife of Jabez Perkins]. [Unknown died about 1830; was buried in Jellico Creek Cemetery, Jellico Creek, Whitley, Kentucky. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From Ancestry of Elizabeth Louise White by Steven C. Perkins:

RICHARD WHITE, JR. A resident of North Carolina, his will was recorded in Warren/Bute Will Book 2 at 73, dated 17 July 1775. (Olds, An Abstract of North Carolina Wills, supra, p.316.)

He acquired land on Cedar Creek by deed in Warren Deed Book 5, at 167, in January of 1775. In a deed from John Wait (sic), John recites that his father, Richard White, acquired the land by grant from the Earl of Granville County in November of 1760 (this is Richard White, Jr. as Richard White, Sr. was dead by 1757). See The Granville District of North Carolina, supra, v.2, p. 159. None of this narrows down his birthdate much. The most that can be said is that he obviously was born well before 1754, when his father named him in his will. A Richard White was listed as a taxpayer in Bute County in 1771. (North Carolina Taxpayers, 929.3756 R233, v.1, p.216.)

The will names his wife as Elizabeth and his children as John, Mark, Harrison, Richard, Nicholas, Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, Drusilla and Nancy. It also recites that he died owning land on Buffaloe Creek, on Burnt Coat, on Franko Creek and between Franko and Cedar Creeks. Some other useful information is found in Bradley, Will Book C of Franklin County, North Carolina 1804-1812, supra, p. 1. There it is recited that White's Negroes were willed to his wife, Elizabeth, and that she was dividing most of them among her daughters. It was stated that one of four lots was drawn by Thomas Hardin, husband of Salley, and that Elizabeth, Drucilla (sic) and Nancy White drew the other three. The date of the drawing is stated to have been 24 February 1801; however, the recording of the event was at the March 1804 term of court. Apparently, only Sarah (Salley) was married. Perhaps the order of the draw indicates seniority. It would appear that Elizabeth was still alive in 1804. However, she may have been alive much closer to 1826. Material from Nancy Jonckheere indicates that the division, pursuant to an award by the commissioners, was at the September term in 1826; that Sarah Harding, Steven Sparks and Elizabeth, his wife, Drucilla White and Crofford Kearney and Nancy, his wife, took at that time. This seems to be a second effort to divide the slaves, this time not by lot or agreement, but by court order. Also note the power of attorney John gave in 1826 to settle his mother's estate. These actions would indicate a possible residence in Franklin County, North Carolina.

This site says:

73 (A) Will of RICHARD WHITE, planter. Dated 17 July 1775. Recorded Nov. Court 1775. Land on Buffaloe Creek to son JOHN WHITE. Land bought of WILLIAM WHITE to son MARK WHITE. Land on Burnt Coat to son HARRISON WHITE. Land between Franko & Cedar Creek to son RICHARD. Land where I now live, on Franko Creek, to son NICHOLAS. To my wife ELIZABETH WHITE and then to my five daughters MARY, SARAH, ELIZABETH, DRUSILLA, NANCY. Exors: Wife ELIZABETH WHITE, THOMAS SHERROD, and son MARK WHITE. Wit: WILLOUGHBY SELF, ISAAC HUDSON, JOHN HUDSON, WILLIAM HUDSON.

Richard married Elizabeth. Elizabeth died after 1775 in Franklin, North Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1782

Notes:

He has to have left Connecticut before 1776, because in that year the will of his father-in-law Abel Sperry refers with evident bitterness to the removal of his daughters Miriam and Lois, "contrary to my desire," to North Carolina.

He and his brother Joseph may have been the Timothy and Joseph Perkins who were Loyalist soldiers in South Carolina in 1781-82.

"By all accounts, probably between 1771 and 1773, Timothy Perkins, along with his wife and children, his brother, Joseph, other relatives and in-laws, and, perhaps, even his parents, left Connecticut and settled in northwestern North Carolina in probably what was then either Rowan or Surry County. Their migration is confirmed by the will of Abel Sperry, Sr., father of Miriam Sperry Perkins, made January 29, 1776, in which he states that, 'my Second son namely Wm Sperry and two of my Daughters Namely Merriam Perkins the wife of Timothy Perkins & namely Lois Sperry has made a remove to North Carolina contrary to my desire'. The reason that they moved is not definitely known; however, it has been suggested that it was a consequence of the general political ferment and disorder prevalent in New England in the decade preceding the Revolutionary War. Within this context, there is strong evidence that the Perkins brothers were dedicated loyalists, i.e., Tories. Moreover, it is further suggested that a Whig faction sympathetic to rebellion became politically ascendant in Connecticut in the late 1760s and persecuted those who expressed loyalty to the Crown. However, the southern colonies were less rebellious and, therefore, would have likely been attractive to those having loyalist sentiments. In addition, there had been some migration, including other members of the extended Perkins family, southward from New England to Delaware and the Valley of Virginia throughout the eighteenth century. Although the story has never been adequately substantiated, it has also been reported that the Perkins brothers had been tax collectors in New England, which, then as now, would have made them unpopular and, perhaps, motivated them to leave the community to escape political persecution and social condemnation." [David R. Evans, citation details below]

"According to Wilkes Co, NC, Deed Book 1, 1778-1783, Timothy Perkins received grant no.55 on Gap Creek in the area that would become Ashe Co., NC. His brother-in-law, William Sperry, received grant no.127 in the Old Fields." [Ancestry of Jabez Perkins, 1766-1836, by Steven C. Perkins, citation details below]

"J. D. Perkins, Esq., an attorney at Kendrick, Va., in a letter to his brother, L. N. Perkins, at Boone, N. C., of date December 1, 1913, says that his ancestors Joseph and Timothy Perkins were tax gatherers under the colonial government of Massachusetts about the commencement of the Revolutionary War, but removed to Old Fields, Ashe county on account of political persecution. They remained loyal to the King during the whole of the Revolutionary War, and Timothy was killed somewhere in Ashe in a Tory skirmish. Timothy left several sons and one daughter, Lucy, J. D. Perkins' great grandmother, who married a man named Young. Joseph also left sons and daughters. 'I have forgotten the names of most of our great grand uncles,' wrote J. D. Perkins in the letter above mentioned, 'but I remember to have heard our mother tell about seeing "Granny Skritch," a sister to our great-great-grandfather, and who was very old at that time, and living with one of her Perkins relatives up on Little Wilson. Our mother was then quite small and the old lady (Granny Skritch) was very old and confined to her bed; but our mother was impressed with Granny Skritch's loyalty, even then, to King George, and the manner in which she abused the Patriot soldiers in her talk.'" [History of Western North Carolina by John Preston Arthur. Raleigh, North Carolina: Edwards and Broughton, 1914. Chapter V.]

Regarding the above, as David R. Evans notes (citation details below), the Perkins brothers were from Connecticut, not Massachusetts, and Ashe County, NC, didn't exist at the time of the Revolution, but these are minor lapses of generational memory. "Granny Skritch" was probably Timothy Perkins's sister Charity, b. 1756 in New Haven, who married a man named Screech.

From A Factual History of Early Ashe County, North Carolina -- Its People, Places and Events by Eleanor Baker Reeves (West Jefferson, North Carolina, 1986):

Why did they leave Connecticut? I found the following by Dow Perkins in the Wilkes Co library:

"As one considers the Connecticut genealogy and realizes New Haven was one of the oldest and most enlightened areas of this land before the revolution, one wonders why families that had been in the New Haven area for over 100 years should migrate to the still wilderness of S. W. Virginia and North Carolina. There is a possible explanation in the history of Connecticut.

"New Haven was the mother town of the New Haven colony, which was early independent of the Colony of Connecticut, but consolidated into the Connecticut Colony when John Winthrop Jr became governor of it. The Congregational Church (Puritan) was made the 'State Church'. Its members were the leaders and political power in the colony. As its population increased, the old problem of the 'haves' and 'have nots' caused a split in the church between the conservatives (loyalists and tories) and radicals (Whigs) in increasing social and political conflict. In 1776 [sic - 1766] the Whigs defeated the Tories politically, and the Whigs instituted a persecution of the Tories. The history of the Colony records that some 2000 to 2500 paid dearly for their loyalty to the King. This undoubtedly accounts for the disappearance of so many ancient families from Connecticut soon after 1766, an exodus that continued long after the Revolution, directly westward and down the Ohio River, and southwest down the 'Wilderness Road' from the 'Great Road of Virginia' to Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky.

"Why these Perkins went to S. W. Va and western North Carolina is also probably explained by the fact that kin folk had earlier migrated to Delaware and then to the Valley of Virginia ... Thus when Timothy and Joseph left Connecticut they probably took the course of joining kinsmen in these areas, especially as at that time, 1769-1773 this area was loyalist and tory in sympathy."

The [John Preston] Arthur story that they were tax collectors in New England and had to leave has not been confirmed. But they were historic tories, very dedicated. There is an undertone of bitterness from which I conclude they probably left after the 1766 defeat. Miriam's father Abel Sperry bitterly says in his will in Jan. 1766 [sic - 1776] that his daughter had gone to North Carolina against his wishes.

Further from David R. Evans (citation details below):

The death of Timothy Perkins, Sr., is a particularly vexing question for historians of this family. In particular, it has been asserted by Mr. Dow Perkins and others that Timothy Perkins, Sr., survived to a great age, dying in 1834, after which he was reportedly buried with his second (and much younger) wife, Ann Sturgill Perkins, in the "Sturgill Cemetery" (also known as the "Zion Hill Baptist Church Cemetery"). Moreover, it is further reported that Ann was born in 1794 or 1795, that they married about 1812 and had one daughter, Lydia, and that Ann died about 1813. (Nothing specific seems to be known about the daughter beyond that she was said to have married someone named Price.) Furthermore, there are at least two Sturgill Cemeteries proposed as burial places for the couple, viz., along Helton Creek about one mile north of the village of Sturgills in Ashe County, North Carolina, and about two miles south of Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, just over the border in Alleghany County, North Carolina, near the New River. (Alleghany County was formed from eastern Ashe County in 1859.) Indeed, it seems that a stone has been recently erected in "Old Sturgill Cemetery" in Alleghany County which, along with others, explicitly includes the name of Ann Sturgill Perkins. Even so, the preponderance of documentary and circumstantial evidence indicates that none of this is correct. In particular, George Morris was appointed as guardian for Jabez Perkins, minor son of Timothy, Sr., in Wilkes County in either 1783 or 1784 and, according to the common law prevailing at the time, this is an almost certain indication that Jabez Perkins was an "orphan", i.e., a minor whose father was deceased, regardless of whether his mother was living or not. (In addition, it has been asserted that Miriam Sperry Perkins had died in 1777 in childbirth; however, this is also a debatable proposition and, in any case, is of little significance here.) Furthermore, in her book, Ms. Reeves has published a particularly sound analysis put forward by Judge Paul M. Perkins, who also cites original manuscripts from the Eller Collection as well as family tradition in support of the death of Timothy Perkins, Sr., in a skirmish during the Revolutionary War. In contrast, it appears that the primary documentary evidence in support of the survival of Timothy Perkins, Sr., into the nineteenth century comes from the diary of Dr. Elisha Mitchell, a geologist who surveyed western North Carolina in 1827 and 1828. The diary is in the form of a series of letters and was published as a monograph with footnotes in 1905. The first mention of Timothy Perkins came in the entry for July 11, 1828, in which it was stated that he was living on Helton's Creek with "an army of maidens". In addition, an associated footnote states, "Ancestor of a number of Perkinses on Helton Creek. All wealthy." It appears that later researchers have, perhaps, misinterpreted this footnote as an indication that the Timothy Perkins mentioned in the diary was Timothy, Sr. However, the footnote was likely added to the text at the time of publication of the diary, that is to say, more than seventy-five years after its composition and hardly qualifies as convincing evidence that Timothy Perkins, Sr., was still alive at the time of Mitchell's tour. Furthermore, Timothy Perkins, Sr., settled in the Old Fields, which lies a considerable distance from Helton Creek. Since, he is believed to have had significant land holdings in this locality, of which there is no evidence that he ever sold, it seems improbable, although not impossible, that he would have been living on Helton Creek. Other younger members of the Perkins family were subsequently also mentioned in the diary; in particular Stephen Perkins, whose grandfather, Dr. Mitchell said, came from Connecticut. Clearly, this was a reference to Timothy, Sr., since his brother Joseph had no known grandsons named Stephen. Nevertheless, the context does not explicitly indicate that either of them were then still living. Of course, there can be no doubt that Dr. Mitchell actually met Timothy, William, and Stephen Perkins when he was traveling in the vicinity of Helton Creek; however, it is likely that these men were the sons and grandson, respectively, of Timothy, Sr. All things considered, it seems most plausible that Timothy Perkins, Sr., was a casualty of the American Revolution and was killed in Wilkes County in the summer of 1782 fighting for King and country.

Timothy married Miriam Sperry about 1764 in New Haven County, Connecticut. Miriam (daughter of Abel Sperry and Miriam Hotchkiss) was born on 19 Feb 1743 in Cheshire, New Haven, Connecticut; died between 1783 and 1784 in Old Fields, Ashe, North Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: North Carolina
• Alternate death: Virginia
• Alternate birth: 19 Feb 1743, Wallingford, New Haven, Connecticut
• Alternate death: Between 1783 and 1784, Grayson County, Virginia