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.
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